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Contact Johanna Nalau

Email

j.nalau@griffith.edu.au

Phone

(07) 555 27419

Campus

G31 3.07, Gold Coast.

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Overview

Current Work

Dr Johanna Nalau is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow with Griffith Climate Change Response Program (GCCRP) and Griffith Institute for Tourism (GIFT) at Griffith University specializing in climate change adaptation policy- and decision-making processes. Johanna is a social scientist whose research focuses on understanding how policy- and decision-makers deal with some of the central assumptions related to climate change adaptation, and the array of factors and processes that drive and constrain climate change adaptation, including constraints emerging from adaptation science and theory. She is particularly interested how these concepts are dealt with in ecosystem-based adaptation, sustainable tourism, traditional knowledge, and disaster risk management. She previously coordinated and led the first climate adaptation project in Zanzibar, Tanzania before joining Griffith in 2009, and has conducted research in Australia, Fiji, Vanuatu, Samoa, and Kiribati. Johanna is an Editorial Advisory Board Member of the Australian Journal of Emergency Management (AJEM) and Associate Editor of the International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management. She is a contributing author for the IPCC's Fifth Assessment Report (WG II, chapters 16 and 25), and is particularly interested in the notion of adaptation limits and the role different institutional systems play in reinforcing some of these limits and constraints. She also manages the adaptation-list, which is a global network of social scientists engaged in adaptation research.

News

Expertise Keywords

• Adaptation science
• Adaptation theory
• Climate change adaptation
• Climate change adaptation policy
• Ecosystem based adaptation
• Pacific islands

Subject Area Codes

• Environmental Science and Management
• Pacific Peoples Information and Knowledge Systems
• Sociology
• Tourism

Country Affiliations

• Samoa
• Tanzania
• Vanuatu

Research Publications and Outputs

Recent Publications

Publications: 37 (Other: 37)

• Morgan, E., Nalau, J., & Mackey, B. (2019). Assessing the alignment of national-level adaptation plans to the Paris Agreement. Environmental Science and Policy, 93, 208–220.
• Filho, W. L., & Nalau, J. (2018). Limits to Climate Change Adaptation. Limits to Climate Change Adaptation.
• Filho, W. L., & Nalau, J. (2018). Conclusions: Overcoming the Limits to Adaptation. In Limits to Climate Change Adaptation (pp. 401–410).
• Nalau, J., & Filho, W. L. (2018). Introduction: Limits to Adaptation. In Limits to Climate Change Adaptation (pp. 1–10).
• Nalau, J., & Handmer, J. (2018). Improving Development Outcomes and Reducing Disaster Risk through Planned Community Relocation. Sustainability: The Journal of Record, 10(10), 3545–1–3545–14.
• Nalau, J., Becken, S., & Mackey, B. (2018). Ecosystem-based Adaptation: A review of the constraints. Environmental Science and Policy, 89, 357–364.
• Nalau, J., Becken, S., Schliephack, J., Parsons, M., Brown, C., & Mackey, B. (2018). The role of indigenous and traditional knowledge in ecosystem-based adaptation: a review of the literature and case studies from the Pacific Islands. Weather, Climate, and Society, 10, 851–865.
• Parsons, M., Brown, C., Nalau, J., & Fisher, K. (2018). Assessing adaptive capacity and adaptation: insights from Samoan tourism operators. Climate and Development, 10(7), 644–663.
• Tiernan, A., Drennan, L., Nalau, J., Onyango, E., Morrissey, L., & Mackey, B. (2018). A review of themes in disaster resilience literature and international practice since 2012. Policy Design and Practice, 1–22.
• Morgan, E., Hallgren, W., Helfer, F., Sahin, O., Nalau, J., Onyango, E., … Mackey, B. (2017). Implications of the Paris Climate Change Agreement for Adaptation Research and Universities. In Climate Change Research at Universities (pp. 251–262).
• Nalau, J., Becken, S., Noakes, S., & Mackey, B. (2017). Mapping Tourism Stakeholders Weather and Climate Information-Seeking Behavior in Fiji. Weather, Climate, and Society, 9(3), 377–391.
• Nalau, J., Handmer, J., & Dalesa, M. (2017). The Role and Capacity of Government in a Climate Crisis: Cyclone Pam in Vanuatu. In Climate Change Adaptation in Pacific Countries: Fostering Resilience and Improving the Quality of Life (pp. 151–162).
• Nalau, J., Schliephack, J., & Becken, S. (2017). Sustainable tourism growth: Tanna Island, Vanuatu. In Managing Growth and Sustainable Tourism Governance in Asia and the Pacific (pp. 118–126).
• Parsons, M., Nalau, J., & Fisher, K. (2017). Alternative Perspectives on Sustainability: Indigenous Knowledge and Methodologies. Challenges in Sustainability, 5(1), 7–14.
• Burton, P., & Nalau, J. (2016). Public participation in the governance of metropolitan scale climate adaptation: panacea or problem? In Climate Adaptation Governance in Cities and Regions (pp. 317–332).
• Nalau, J., Handmer, J., Dalesa, M., Foster, H., Edwards, J., Kauhiona, H., … Welegtabit, S. (2016). The practice of integrating adaptation and disaster risk reduction in the south-west Pacific. Climate and Development, 8(4), 365–375.
• Parsons, M., & Nalau, J. (2016). Historical analogies as tools in understanding transformation. Global Environmental Change, 38, 82–96.
• Parsons, M., Fisher, K., & Nalau, J. (2016). Alternative approaches to co-design: insights from indigenous/academic research collaborations. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 20, 99–105.
• Nalau, J., & Handmer, J. (2015). When is transformation a viable policy alternative? Environmental Science & Policy, 54, 349–356.
• Nalau, J., Preston, B. L., & Maloney, M. C. (2015). Is adaptation a local responsibility? Environmental Science & Policy, 48, 89–98.
• Preston, B. L., Nalau, J., & Maloney, M. C. (2015). Climate adaptation heuristics and the science/policy divide. Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, 20(3), 467–497.
• Conway, D., & Nalau, J. (2014). Strategies for improving adaptation practice in developing countries. Nature Climate Change, 4, 339–342.
• Howes, M., Tomerini, D., Dodson, J., Eslami-Andargoli, L., & Nalau, J. (2014). Integrating pollution reporting, climate change adaptation, disaster risk management and land-use planning: A case study of the 2011 Brisbane floods. In P. Burton (Ed.), Responding to Climate Change: Lessons from an Australian Hotspot (pp. 85–96). Australia: CSIRO.
• Kitching, R., Newton, P. C. D., Schuster, S. S., Barnett, J., Blackett, P., Boulter, S., … al., et. (2014). Australasia. In Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Part B: Regional Aspects (Vol. 2, pp. 1371–1438). United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.
• Klein, R. J. T., Midgley, G. F., Preston, B. L., Alam, M., Berkhout, F. G. H., Dow, K., … Wolf, J. (2014). Adaptation Opportunities, Constraints, and Limits. In F., C.B., V.R. Barros, D.J. Dokken, K.J. Mach, M.D. Mastrandrea, T.E. Bilir, M. Chatterjee, K.L. (Ed.), Climate change 2014: impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability. Part A: Global and sectoral aspects (Vol. 1, pp. 899–943). United States: Cambridge University Press.
• Nalau, J., & Burton, P. (2014). Show me the benefits: Approaches to public participation in climate adaptation in South East Queensland. In P. Burton (Ed.), Responding to Climate Change: Lessons from an Australian Hotspot (pp. 47–58). Australia: CSIRO.
• Burton, P., & Nalau, J. (2013). Planning for Climate Change: Is Greater Public Participation the Key to Success? Urban Policy and Research, 31(4), 399–415.
• Handmer, J., & Nalau, J. (2013). Is relocation transformation? Presented at the Transformation in a Changing Climate, Oslo, Norway (2013).
• Nalau, J. (2013). Ideal Ideas or Pragmatic Reality? An Exploration of the Role of Adaptation Theory in Policy and Practice.
• Nalau, J., & Handmer, J. (2013). Triggering transformation: Managing resilience or invoking real change? Presented at the Transformation in a Changing Climate, Oslo, Norway (2013).
• Nalau, J., Kuruppu, N., Kramer, A. M., Daron, J., Bruin, K., & Noriega, A. G. (2013). Climate adaptation research for the next generation. Climate and Development, 5(3), 189–193.
• Parsons, M., & Nalau, J. (2013). Historical case studies from Oceania: how to account for the benefits and losses of transformation. Presented at the Transformation in a Changing Climate, Oslo, Norway (2013).
• Nalau, J., Khamis, M., Klein, R. G., Mzee, A. J., Haji, T. A., Asseid, B., & Sitari, T. (2011). Coastal Forest Buffer Zones and Shoreline Change in Zanzibar, Tanzania: Practical Measures for Climate Adaptation? In W. L. Filho (Ed.), Experiences of climate change adaptation in Africa (pp. 133–151). Germany: Springer.
• Dedekorkut, A., Nalau, J., Howes, M., & Byrne, J. (2010). Tempering growth: planning for the challenges of climate change and growth management in SEQ. Australian Planner, 47(3), 203–215.
• Heyd, T., & Nalau, J. (2010). Adaptation and Development: Whose Goals and Priorities Count?
• Nalau, J., Klein, R., Asseid, B., Sitari, T., Khamis, M., Mzee, A., & Haji, T. (2010). Understanding current and future vulnerability in coastal settings: community perceptions and preferences for adaptation in Zanzibar, Tanzania. Population and Environment, 31(5), 371–398.
• Sano, M., Nalau, J., Lazarow, N., & Tomlinson, R. (2010). Adapting coastal policies and instruments to climate change: a case study from South East Queensland, Australia. In N. C. C. A. R. Facility (Ed.), .

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Funded Griffith Research

• (2019). Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Sixth Assessment Report Author Funding
• (2016). Consultancy for Ecosystem and Social-Economic Resilience Analysis and Mapping for Tanna Island and Vanuatu National Level

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