Natasha Stacey

Associate Professor, Leader Communities, Livelihoods and Natural Resources Research Group and HDR Coordinator – Environment, Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods College of Engineering, IT and Environment, Charles Darwin University.

SUMMARY OF EXPERTISE

I am a social scientist with a PhD in anthropology and more than two decades of experience in research and development projects in natural resource management across the Asia-Pacific region. For the last 15 years I have  worked in the Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods at Charles Darwin University (CDU). My PhD research focussed on Indonesian Fishing in Australian waters and I previously worked in the Pacific Islands at the South Pacific Regional Environment Program.

I lead a multidisciplinary group of scientists and postgraduate scholars working on natural resource management, livelihood and food security projects in northern Australia and Southeast and mainland Asia. Our research aims to produce knowledge to enhance the livelihoods and wellbeing of Indigenous and local communities, while maintaining resource sustainability in Northern Australia and the Asia Pacific region, in particular, Indonesia and Timor Leste.

Current and recent research projects and consultancies have included: Supporting development of Indigenous Fishing Enterprises in the Northern Territory; Small-scale fisheries in Indonesia: benefits to households, the roles of women, and opportunities for improving livelihoods (ACIAR); Social Impacts of Small Scale Artisanal Mining (DFAT); Social Impact Study of the Bradshaw Field Training Area (Department of Defence); Improving coastal livelihoods and fisheries management in the cross -border regions of the Arafura-Timor Seas region (CDU);  and knowledge exchange as a tool for transboundary and coastal management of the Arafura and Timor Seas (GEF/UNDP) and  Indigenous perceptions of climate change and aquaculture enterprise development (NCCARF).

I also teach a Masters of Environmental Management unit on “Natural Resources and Indigenous Livelihoods’ focused on practical skills for enabling livelihood diversification in different Indigenous and developing country contexts.

I have supervised more than 20 postgraduate students and have 40 peer reviewed publications including a new co-authored book (2018) on Social Wellbeing and the Values of Small-scale Fisheries and a special journal issue on Understanding Coastal Livelihoods in the Arafura and Timor Seas: Impacts and Opportunities of Contemporary Approaches to Development, Conservation and Resource Governance published in Marine Policy.

AREAS OF RESEARCH INTERESTS AND EXPERTISE

• Sustainable livelihoods and diversification for rural people.
• Gender, food security, traditional food systems and rural livelihoods
• Indigenous livelihoods, natural resource management and ecological knowledge
• Small-scale fisheries, aquaculture, marine conservation and food security
• Applied anthropology, social impact assessment, socio-economic surveys and participatory action research 

ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS

2000   Doctor of Philosophy (Anthropology), Northern Territory University

1992   Graduate Diploma of Museum Curatorship (Distinction), James Cook University.

1989   Bachelor of Arts, University of Melbourne.

CURRENT HDR SUPERVISION/PROJECTS:

• Jenny House (PhD CDU) Principal Supervisor, Community-based fisheries management through a gender lens: examining gendered participation in fisheries management and monitoring in Timor-Leste’, with D. Kleiber, NOAA/WorldFIsh, and D. Steenbergen, UoW
• Emily Gibson (PhD CDU) Principal Supervisor, Under examination. A gendered analysis of small-scale fisheries and food and nutrition security in specialised fishing communities, Komodo District, eastern Indonesia. Co-supervisor Terry Sunderland (CIFOR/UBC) and Dedi Adhuri, LIPI, Indonesia.
• Gianna Bonis-Profumo (PhD CDU) Principal Supervisor. Women’s empowerment in agriculture, animal source food production and child dietary diversity in rural Timor-Leste. Co-supervisors Dr J Brimblecombe (Monash University) and A/Prof R Alders (University of Sydney). 
• Kimberley Hunnam (PhD CDU/ANU) Principal Supervisor. Ecological, social and food-security dimensions of Timor-Leste’s sardine fishery. Co–supervisor D. Mills (WFC/JCU). 
• Benjamin Brown (PhD CDU) Principal Supervisor.  Evaluating Mangrove Forest Landscape Restoration Opportunity in Indonesia, Co-supervisors: Hutley (CDU). 
• Jane Munday (PhD CDU) Co-Supervisor. Under examination  Objective truths or subjective realities? – Social and cultural impact assessment of development in Northern Australia, with R. Gerritson, Northern Institute/CDU, and B. Austin (CDU).
• Clement Bresson (PhD ANU) Co-supervisor, Designing appropriate business models and implementations strategies to support development of remote Indigenous seafood enterprises, Australian National University with S. Kerins (CAEPR).
• Beau Cubillo (PhD Monash) Co- supervisor. Indigenous knowledges and nutritional health and wellbeing benefits and values of seafood with J Brimblecombe (Monash University).