Robins Environmental Consulting

Dr Lisa Robins has been Principal of Robins Consulting since 1998, and an Honorary Senior Lecturer (formerly, Visiting Fellow) at the ANU’s Fenner School since 2009. She has 28 years experience working in natural resource management (NRM) as a researcher, science communicator, facilitator, and program and project manager. Lisa holds a PhD from the ANU (2005–09), and was awarded a MSc in Environmental Change & Management with distinction (1994–95) from Oxford University. In addition to an extensive record of engagement and publishing in Australia, she has worked internationally in the Mekong Region, Indonesia, the United Kingdom and Canada.

Lisa co-edited the fifth volume in the M–POWER series, “Water Governance Dynamics in the Mekong Region” (Blake and Robins 2016). From 2011–14, she worked for ACIAR’s Rice-based Systems Research (RSR) Program: Food Security in Lao PDR, Cambodia and Bangladesh, providing knowledge brokering and program coordination services. She has been engaged by ACIAR for a range of activities. Currently, she is a team member of ACIAR’s project “Improving Community Fire Management and Peatland Restoration in Indonesia” (2017–21). She has written a discussion paper on megatrends in Indonesia (Robins 2017), and contributed to manuscript clinics under DFAT’s Knowledge Sector Initiative (Aug 2016–Feb 2017).

Lisa has worked extensively with the Murray-Darling Basin Authority, and was Coordinator of the Dryland Regions (renamed Landscapes & Industries) Strategic Investigations & Education (SI&E) Program from 1998–2004. She was Project Leader (Catchment Team) for the final year of the National Dryland Salinity Program (NDSP) from 2004–05, and Manager, Strategic Planning & Collaborations for the Joint Venture Agroforestry Program (JVAP) from 2008–09.

Organisational Capability

• Researcher – PhD topic ‘NRM governance and capacity building’
• Writer – extensive body of writing, including journals and grey literature
• Research synthesiser – strong publishing record as synthesised science
• Editor – significant expertise in editing, including 2 edited volumes
• Science communicator – writing for different audiences and delivery platforms
• Facilitator – experienced in workshop/event development and delivery
• Program and project manager – long history of efficient and effective delivery
• Project proposals – e.g. climate change and green growth in Central Kalimantan (2015)
• Strategic planning – e.g. ACIAR’s 10-year strategic plan 2018–27 (2017)
• Review/evaluation – e.g. Australian International Food Security Research Centre (2015)

Projects

Indonesian Peatlands Fire Management,Rice-based Systems Research (RSR) Program: Food Security in Lao PDR, Cambodia and Bangladesh,Mekong Water Governance,Review of ACIAR's Research Publishing,2030 Foresighting Study,International Landcare
A 4-yr project focused on improving community-based management of peat fires in Indonesia the context of peatland restoration, and identifying associated sustainable land management practices and livelihoods (with ANU for ACIAR, 2017–Jun 2021); Lisa is a member of the Knowledge Management component/team.,Providing knowledge brokering and program coordination services (ACIAR, Jul 2011–Dec 2014), including: • Overall program strategy development • Annual research syntheses (2010–11, 2011–12 and 2012–13) • Formulation and delivery of a mid-term technical workshop in Lao PDR in June 2012 • Quarterly RSR eNews (Aug 2012–Dec 2014) • An end-of-program policy dialogue in Cambodia in May 2014 • Editing of the Mekong rice futures dialogue proceedings comprising 25 technical papers, published in Dec 2014,Co-editor of the fifth volume in M–POWER’s book series; ‘Water Governance Dynamics in the Mekong Region’ (Nov 2015–Nov 2016),Reviewing 34-years of ACIAR’s scientific publishing to inform future research communication priorities and investments, and providing advice on aspects of publishing planning (Feb–Apr 2015, updated version Nov–Dec 2016),,Writing a discussion paper on major trends influencing change in Indonesia’s economy and society, and outlining possible implications for the status of forestry for smallholders (Jul-Sep 2017),Participating as an invited speaker at the “Global Resilience through Local Self-Reliance – The Landcare Model” conference in Nagoya, Japan (5–8 November 2017), and contributing an academic book chapter