Lesley Head is an Australian geographer specialising in human-environment relations. She is active in geographical debates about the relationship between humans and nature, using concepts and analytical methods from physical geography, archaeology and cultural geography. She retired from the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

in 2021.

Biography

Head grew up in the suburbs of Melbourne, Australia and has 3 siblings. She completed her doctoral degree at

Monash University Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university has a ...

in Melbourne. She was in the Victorian public service for two years, then became a tutor at Monash, then was offered a lectureship at the

University of Wollongong The University of Wollongong (abbreviated as UOW) is an Australian public research university located in the coastal city of Wollongong, New South Wales, approximately 80 kilometres south of Sydney. As of 2017, the university had an enrolment of ...

. She became a Professor of Geography at the

and spent 28 years there, also serving as Department Head and directing the Australian Centre for Cultural Environmental Research (AUSCCER). She has also worked in Sweden, as King Carl XVI Gustaf Visiting Professor of Environmental Sciences at Hogskölan Kristianstad (Kristianstad University), from 2005-06. In 2016 she moved to Melbourne to chair the School of Geography at the

, with the title of Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor. She retired and became Professorial Fellow in 2021 when the School was disbanded and merged. She is a former president of the Institute of Australian Geographers and has chaired the National Committee for Geography of the

Australian Academy of Science The Australian Academy of Science was founded in 1954 by a group of distinguished Australians, including Australian Fellows of the Royal Society of London. The first president was Sir Mark Oliphant. The academy is modelled after the Royal Soci ...

. In 2021 she was elected President of the

Australian Academy of the Humanities The Australian Academy of the Humanities was established by Royal Charter in 1969 to advance scholarship and public interest in the humanities in Australia. It operates as an independent not-for-profit organisation partly funded by the Australia ...

. As of 2020 she is co-owner of the Pennyroyal Raspberry Farm in Murroon, Victoria.

Expertise

Head began her research career using

palaeoecology Paleoecology (also spelled palaeoecology) is the study of interactions between organisms and/or interactions between organisms and their environments across geologic timescales. As a discipline, paleoecology interacts with, depends on and informs ...

and

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

to study long term changes in the Australian landscape, then becoming more interested in human-environment relations and moving to research Aboriginal land use, ethnobotany and fire. More recently, she has focused on relationships between humans and plants, such as backyard gardens, and issues of sustainability and climate change. She has been a supporter and mentor of women in academia.

Awards and honors

* Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor, University of Melbourne (2016-2021) * Vega medal, Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography (2015) *

Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow The Australian Laureate Fellowship is an Australia, Australian professorial research fellowship awarded by the Australian Research Council. Up to 17 fellows are chosen each year for five-year awards. Kathleen Fitzpatrick and Georgina Sweet fellows ...

.(2010 to 2014) * Fellow,

Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia The Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia (ASSA) is an independent, non-governmental organisation devoted to the advancement of knowledge and research in the social sciences. It has its origins in the Social Science Research Council of Austr ...

(2011). * King Carl XVI Gustaf Visiting Professor of Environmental Sciences (2005-2006) * Fellow of the

(2004)

Publications

* Head, L., Saltzman, K., Setten, G. and Stenseke, M. (eds). 2017. Nature, ''Temporality and Environmental Management: Scandinavian and Australian perspectives on people and landscapes''. London and New York: Routledge. *Head, L. 2016. ''Hope and Grief in the Anthropocene: Re-conceptualising human–nature relations.'' London and New York: Routledge. *Head, L., Atchison, J., Buckingham, K. and Phillips, C. (eds). 2016. ''Vegetal Politics: Belonging, practices and places''. London and New York: Routledge. *Gibson, C., Farbotko, C., Gill, N., Head, L. and Waitt, G. 2013. ''Household Sustainability: Challenges and Dilemmas in Everyday Life''. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar. *Head, L., Atchison, J. and Gates, A. 2012''Ingrained : A human bio-geography of wheat.'' Ashgate. *Head, L. and Muir, P. 2007. ''Backyard. Nature and Culture in Suburban Australia''. Wollongong: University of Wollongong Press, Halstead Press. *Head, L. 2000. ''Cultural Landscapes and Environmental Change''. London: Arnold. *Head, L. 2000. ''Second Nature. The history and implications of Australia as Aboriginal landscape.'' New York: Syracuse University Press.

References

External links

Official website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Head, Lesley Living people University of Wollongong faculty University of Melbourne faculty Monash University alumni Australian geographers 21st-century geographers Human geographers Women geographers Year of birth missing (living people) Australian women academics Australian women archaeologists Fellows of the Australian Academy of the Humanities Fellows of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia