The first early career researcher has officially kickstarted Natural Hazards Research Australia’s new Early Career Researcher (ECR) Development Fellowship program.
Dr Phillipa McCormack is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Adelaide Law School at the University of Adelaide. Her research focuses on climate change adaptation law and governance, with a particular focus on legal frameworks for bushfire and for facilitating adaptive biodiversity conservation.
Dr McCormack completed her PhD in climate adaptation and biodiversity conservation law with the University of Tasmania. Her current project, Bushfire mitigation and hazard reduction in Australian law, includes analyses of legal mechanisms for the beneficial use of fire, and a comparison of Australia and the United States’ fire mitigation and hazard reduction laws.
This fellowship project will establish a new collaboration between US and Australian fire law scholars, generate insights about hazard reduction laws and policies in Australia in the context of climate change, and develop practical recommendations to improve legal frameworks for bushfire mitigation and hazard reduction in Australia.
As part of her fellowship, Dr McCormack, pictured top right with her collaborator Dr Rebecca Miller from the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West, is presenting at the International Association of Wildland Fire’s Climate and Fire Conference 2022 in Pasadena, California and Melbourne. The Pasadena conference was last week, while the Melbourne conference is from 6-10 June.
The Centre’s ECR Development Fellowships are available to PhD-qualified researchers employed in research positions in research institutions or universities, for up to five years after their graduation. It is also open to full-time PhD students who have successfully completed the equivalent of two years of full-time study.
The Centre also offers funding as part of the ECR Industry Fellowships, available to PhD-qualified researchers employed in industry, for up to five years after their PhD graduation.
The Fellowships recognise the value that can be achieved by supporting early career researchers to expand their research networks, create strong local and international collaborations, and to have the opportunity to compare the opportunities and challenges for natural hazards research in different geographic, societal, cultural and climatic settings. Fellowships are available for up to $15,000 for ECR Development Fellowships and up to $7,500 for ECR Industry Fellowships. Find out more about the Fellowship programs and how to apply here.