About research
Social and psychological aspects of human-environment interactions
Research Areas
Nerida is a Research Fellow (Environmental Psychology) with interests in the human dimensions of natural resource management and forest management. Her work has application for understanding social and psychological responses to rural landscape change. Her current research combines ecological modelling with social and environmental psychology to incorporate social values for forests within indicators for forest management. In her PhD Nerida investigated factors influencing the social acceptability of plantation forestry in Tasmania, looking in particular at the way evaluations of plantation forestry were related to different perceptions of rural landscapes and place meanings attributed to those landscapes. Other research has examined social and psychological factors associated with urban water use. With a background in the agricultural sector, Nerida has a particular interest in human-environment interactions in rural and regional areas. Nerida has contributed to teaching in the area of natural environments, human behaviour and environment, and sustainable governance and leadership.
Relevant Publications
Anderson, N. M., Williams, K.J.H., Ford, R.M. (2013). “Community perceptions of plantation forestry: The association between place meanings and social representations of a contentious rural land use.” Journal of Environmental Psychology 34: 121-136.
Conference Presentations
2011 “These are not trees, these are weeds”: representations of plantation forestry within a contested rural landscape. 9th Biennial Conference on Environmental Psychology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands, September 26 – 28, 2011.
Education
PhD University of Melbourne (2013)
Bachelor Natural Resource Management (Hons), University of Melbourne (2008)
Graduate Diploma in Audiology University of Melbourne (1980)
Bachelor of Arts University of Melbourne (1979)
Contact
Phone: +61 3 9035 7589
e-mail: neridama@unimlb.edu.au
unimelbenvpsych 