Melissa Nursey-Bray
Biographic Data
| ID | 453787 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Melissa Nursey-Bray |
| GIVEN NAMES | Melissa |
| FAMILY NAME | Nursey-Bray |
| SIGNATURE | NURSEY-BRAY M |
| AFFILIATIONS | The University of Adelaide |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-4121-5177 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 33 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 87 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 33 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2009 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Seeing Sea Country
The idea of the commons – or its tragedy – lies at the heart of many investigations into how to manage global marine and coastal areas. Dominant conceptualisations of the idea of commons – whether relating to unmanaged use or to its collaborative governance – nonetheless revolve around the idea of how to resolve tensions around (primarily extractive) natural resource use. As a form of commons, the marine and coastal estate remains under threat, a…
Evaluative governance for climate action in Australia
Advancing social equity in urban resilience planning: Challenges and opportunities
While considerable efforts have been made to improve urban resilience development, less attention has been paid to evaluating social equity concerns. This issue is particularly relevant for developing countries, such as Ghana, where inequality is growing. Using a mixed methods approach and drawing on semi-structured interviews, survey questionnaires, and document analysis, this study examines how social equity is applied to urban resilience. We f…
Beyond the concept: How boundary spanning is implemented at the science-policy-practice interface to tackle complex societal challenges
Effective responses to today’s complex societal challenges, spanning health, environment, and climate change and social sustainability domains, require evidence-informed policymaking supported by collaboration across disciplinary and institutional boundaries. Boundary spanning offers a promising approach for bridging the science–policy divide, yet its implementation in practice remains underexplored. This review examines how boundary spanning is …
Gendered social capital and adaptive capacity: Exploring the role of women farmers in climate adaptation in Aotearoa New Zealand
Paradox of socially just transition governance in the Global South: A comparative review of policy articulation and implementation gaps in South Africa, Ethiopia and Bangladesh
Animism meets posthumanism: Reimagining the human–nature relationship through shrine gates ( torii ) in the works of Miyazaki Hayao and Shinkai Makoto
How can we rethink the human-nature relationship in the Anthropocene? Posthumanist approaches offer a critique of anthropocentrism, but often implicitly appropriate spiritual approaches, and explicitly dismiss one of these - animism - as premodern, negating the theoretical possibility of exploring the human-nature relationship charged with animistic imagination. We argue that films by Miyazaki Hayao and Shinkai Makoto can work as a medium to tran…
Governance challenges to realising the potential of ecosystem-based adaptation in Bangladesh
Wetlands are under stress due to the impacts of climate change and ecological degradation. This warrants the need for an effective governance that ensures sustainability of these critical ecosystems and supports community resilience. Ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) has been widely recognised as a community-led approach for conserving wetland ecosystems and enhancing community resilience. However, the implementation of this approach is constraine…
Stories of Country: Representing Indigenous cultural values in environmental economic accounting
Towards co-governance: An evaluation of co-management advantages, challenges and ways forward in South Australia
Exploring the realities of urban resilience: Practitioners’ perspectives
Cities in Sub-Saharan African countries, already vulnerable, are under increasing pressure from the impacts of climate change and its associated risks. Urban resilience has emerged as a development strategy for improving the capacity of urban systems to cope with, withstand, and mitigate the impacts of extreme events in cities. Using a qualitative research approach and drawing on semi-structured interviews with 20 practitioners in Ghana, the stud…
Better understanding ocean awareness: Insights from young people
Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are a key conservation policy tool designed to provide protection of ocean and coastal ecosystems globally. Public engagement and awareness of MPAs, especially in regional communities, is critical in improving outcomes and ultimately their overall acceptance. Engaging with young people is essential as they are key thought shifters and positive movers in the future of MPAs, and environmental issues broadly. Further, i…
Feminisation of adaptation interventions in Bangladesh: An intersectional analysis
Responsible environmental education in the Anthropocene: Understanding and responding to young people’s experiences of nature disconnection, eco-anxiety and ontological insecurity
Children and young people today are growing up in an increasingly urban, technical, virtual and ecologically precarious world, leaving many feel disconnected from nature yet anxious about its degradation at the same time. Two distinct bodies of knowledge – namely youth human-nature relationships and youth eco-anxiety – are concerned with the former and the latter respectively. Through a narrative literature review, we bring these fields together …
Coal dust pollution in regional Australian coal mining towns: Social License to Operate and community resistance
Regional economic dependence on coal mining can disempower communities. • Disempowerment can transform community resistance from overt to covert modes of behaviour. • SLO is an unreliable community acceptance metric in the context of regional economic dependence. The mining industry’s generation of environmental risks has galvanised increasing social upheaval worldwide, leading to its Social License to Operate being called into question. The coal…
Best intentions and local realities: Unseating assumptions about implementing planned community-based adaptation in Bangladesh
Community-based adaptation (CBA) has gained traction in the management of climate risks within developing societies, due to its capacity to include local knowledge and build the adaptive capacities of vulnerable groups and communities. Yet little is known about what happens when such projects are implemented on the ground. This paper presents the results of a research project that sought to understand local perceptions and responses to planned CB…
Perceptions of plastic pollution in a prominent fishery: Building strategies to inform management
Overcoming barriers to climate change adaptation policy implementation: Insights from Ethiopia
This paper discusses Ethiopia’s planned climate adaptation interventions and the barriers that impede implementation of adaptation policies at the local level by using the case study of Raya Azebo district. Data was collected through reviews of policy documents, focus group discussions with farmers and interviews with relevant government actors. Results indicate that climate change is addressed in various policy documents but there is limited pro…
Building community resilience through youth volunteering: Towards a New Model
Australian regional communities are changing. The combined impact of out-migration and ageing populations means that the capacity of regional communities to function as they traditionally have is challenged. In this context, volunteer effort remains a vital part of building community resilience and social capital. Yet, volunteering per se is under threat, and encouraging young people to volunteer an even greater challenge. This paper presents the…
Situating climate change adaptation within plural worlds: The role of Indigenous and local knowledge in Pentecost Island, Vanuatu
Scholars, practitioners, and decision-makers are increasingly recognising that Indigenous knowledge can play a significant role in facilitating adaptation to climate change. Yet, adaptation theorising and practises remain overwhelmingly situated within Euromodern ontologies, and there remains limited space, at present, for plural ontologies or alternative ways of being and knowing. In this paper, and using the Pacific as our case study, we presen…
Old Ways for New Days: Indigenous Survival and Agency in Climate Changed Times
This book documents how indigenous peoples are attempting to adapt to climate change, and discusses the unique governance challenges facing them
Socially just community-based climate change adaptation? Insights from Bangladesh
Community-based planned adaptation has become a popular vehicle for building the adaptive capacity of communities vulnerable to climate change. In the global south, planned adaptation interventions are often implemented by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) with the support of bilateral and multilateral donors. This paper examines the influence of external agencies involved in funding, planning and implementation of community-based adaptation …
Scale, colonisation and adapting to climate change: Insights from the Arabana people, South Australia
The role of knowledge in assisting Indigenous people adapt to climate change has been gaining increasing attention and local studies provide rich insights into how and where knowledge is used. This paper reports on the results of a qualitative cross-cultural research collaboration about climate change adaptation for the Arabana, an Indigenous people from South Australia. We find that the Arabana people have a corpus of observed historical knowled…
Uncoupling binaries, unsettling narratives and enriching pedagogical practice: Lessons from a trial to Indigenize geography curricula at the University of Adelaide, Australia
The development of culturally and social inclusive curricula is an important aspect of teaching geography. In countries such as Australia with a history of colonial oppression and dispossession the need to acknowledge Indigenous history and peoples in teaching is vital. This paper reports on the lessons learned from being part of the Indigenous Enrichment of Curricula Project (IECP) for geography curricula at the University of Adelaide, Australia…
Old ways for new days: Australian Indigenous peoples and climate change
This paper explores how Australia's Indigenous peoples understand and respond to climate change impacts on their traditional land and seas. Our results show that: (i) Indigenous peoples are observing modifications to their country due to climate change, and are doing so in both ancient and colonial time scales; (ii) the ways that climate change terminology is discursively understood and used is fundamental to achieving deep engagement and effecti…
Old ways for new days: Australian Indigenous peoples and climate change
This paper explores how Australia's Indigenous peoples understand and respond to climate change impacts on their traditional land and seas. Our results show that: (i) Indigenous peoples are observing modifications to their country due to climate change, and are doing so in both ancient and colonial time scales; (ii) the ways that climate change terminology is discursively understood and used is fundamental to achieving deep engagement and effecti…
Scale, colonisation and adapting to climate change: Insights from the Arabana people, South Australia
The role of knowledge in assisting Indigenous people adapt to climate change has been gaining increasing attention and local studies provide rich insights into how and where knowledge is used. This paper reports on the results of a qualitative cross-cultural research collaboration about climate change adaptation for the Arabana, an Indigenous people from South Australia. We find that the Arabana people have a corpus of observed historical knowled…
Situating climate change adaptation within plural worlds: The role of Indigenous and local knowledge in Pentecost Island, Vanuatu
Scholars, practitioners, and decision-makers are increasingly recognising that Indigenous knowledge can play a significant role in facilitating adaptation to climate change. Yet, adaptation theorising and practises remain overwhelmingly situated within Euromodern ontologies, and there remains limited space, at present, for plural ontologies or alternative ways of being and knowing. In this paper, and using the Pacific as our case study, we presen…
Science into policy? Discourse, coastal management and knowledge
A Guugu Yimmithir Bam Wii: Ngawiya and Girrbithi: Hunting, planning and management along the Great Barrier Reef, Australia
Exploring Discourses in Environmental Decision Making: An Indigenous Hunting Case Study
The challenge of developing environmental outcomes acceptable to stakeholders with different values is well documented. Discourse analysis provides insights into how the views of different stakeholders affect decision making. We studied the discourses of key actors associated with the implementation of a Turtle and Dugong Hunting Management Plan developed by Hope Vale Aboriginal community in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area, Australia. …
Building community resilience through youth volunteering: Towards a New Model
Australian regional communities are changing. The combined impact of out-migration and ageing populations means that the capacity of regional communities to function as they traditionally have is challenged. In this context, volunteer effort remains a vital part of building community resilience and social capital. Yet, volunteering per se is under threat, and encouraging young people to volunteer an even greater challenge. This paper presents the…
The institutions-adaptive capacity nexus: Insights from coastal resources co-management in Cambodia and Vietnam
Toward Operationalizing Resilience Concepts in Australian Marine Sectors Coping with Climate Change
Davidson, J. L., I. E. van Putten, P. Leith, M. Nursey-Bray, E. M. Madin, and N. J. Holbrook. 2013. Toward operationalizing resilience concepts in Australian marine sectors coping with climate change. Ecology and Society 18(3): 4. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-05607-180304
Uncoupling binaries, unsettling narratives and enriching pedagogical practice: Lessons from a trial to Indigenize geography curricula at the University of Adelaide, Australia
The development of culturally and social inclusive curricula is an important aspect of teaching geography. In countries such as Australia with a history of colonial oppression and dispossession the need to acknowledge Indigenous history and peoples in teaching is vital. This paper reports on the lessons learned from being part of the Indigenous Enrichment of Curricula Project (IECP) for geography curricula at the University of Adelaide, Australia…
Towards co-governance: An evaluation of co-management advantages, challenges and ways forward in South Australia
Responsible environmental education in the Anthropocene: Understanding and responding to young people’s experiences of nature disconnection, eco-anxiety and ontological insecurity
Children and young people today are growing up in an increasingly urban, technical, virtual and ecologically precarious world, leaving many feel disconnected from nature yet anxious about its degradation at the same time. Two distinct bodies of knowledge – namely youth human-nature relationships and youth eco-anxiety – are concerned with the former and the latter respectively. Through a narrative literature review, we bring these fields together …
Overcoming barriers to climate change adaptation policy implementation: Insights from Ethiopia
This paper discusses Ethiopia’s planned climate adaptation interventions and the barriers that impede implementation of adaptation policies at the local level by using the case study of Raya Azebo district. Data was collected through reviews of policy documents, focus group discussions with farmers and interviews with relevant government actors. Results indicate that climate change is addressed in various policy documents but there is limited pro…
Old Ways for New Days: Indigenous Survival and Agency in Climate Changed Times
This book documents how indigenous peoples are attempting to adapt to climate change, and discusses the unique governance challenges facing them
Australian Coastal Management and Climate Change
The Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) raised public awareness of the need to consider climate change in coastal management and gained international recognition when it received a joint award of a Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. The raised awareness of climate change surrounding the work of the IPCC was in large part responsible for the focus of the recent Australian national inquiry into coastal managemen…
Managerial Career Choices: Evidence from South Australian Local Government
There are structural and individual factors that contribute to and compound the current and continuing under‐representation of women in leadership and senior management positions. We explore these factors by investigating the beliefs and intentions of male and female senior managers with respect to applying for promotion to executive level in local government organisations in South Australia. Survey data from 148 senior managers indicated that me…
A Guugu Yimmithir Bam Wii: Ngawiya and Girrbithi: Hunting, planning and management along the Great Barrier Reef, Australia
Australia, Climate Change and the Sea Change Phenomenon
Exploring Discourses in Environmental Decision Making: An Indigenous Hunting Case Study
The challenge of developing environmental outcomes acceptable to stakeholders with different values is well documented. Discourse analysis provides insights into how the views of different stakeholders affect decision making. We studied the discourses of key actors associated with the implementation of a Turtle and Dugong Hunting Management Plan developed by Hope Vale Aboriginal community in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area, Australia. …
Australian Coastal Management and Climate Change
The Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) raised public awareness of the need to consider climate change in coastal management and gained international recognition when it received a joint award of a Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. The raised awareness of climate change surrounding the work of the IPCC was in large part responsible for the focus of the recent Australian national inquiry into coastal managemen…
Science into policy? Discourse, coastal management and knowledge
Toward Operationalizing Resilience Concepts in Australian Marine Sectors Coping with Climate Change
Davidson, J. L., I. E. van Putten, P. Leith, M. Nursey-Bray, E. M. Madin, and N. J. Holbrook. 2013. Toward operationalizing resilience concepts in Australian marine sectors coping with climate change. Ecology and Society 18(3): 4. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-05607-180304
The institutions-adaptive capacity nexus: Insights from coastal resources co-management in Cambodia and Vietnam
Managerial Career Choices: Evidence from South Australian Local Government
There are structural and individual factors that contribute to and compound the current and continuing under‐representation of women in leadership and senior management positions. We explore these factors by investigating the beliefs and intentions of male and female senior managers with respect to applying for promotion to executive level in local government organisations in South Australia. Survey data from 148 senior managers indicated that me…
Uncoupling binaries, unsettling narratives and enriching pedagogical practice: Lessons from a trial to Indigenize geography curricula at the University of Adelaide, Australia
The development of culturally and social inclusive curricula is an important aspect of teaching geography. In countries such as Australia with a history of colonial oppression and dispossession the need to acknowledge Indigenous history and peoples in teaching is vital. This paper reports on the lessons learned from being part of the Indigenous Enrichment of Curricula Project (IECP) for geography curricula at the University of Adelaide, Australia…
Old ways for new days: Australian Indigenous peoples and climate change
This paper explores how Australia's Indigenous peoples understand and respond to climate change impacts on their traditional land and seas. Our results show that: (i) Indigenous peoples are observing modifications to their country due to climate change, and are doing so in both ancient and colonial time scales; (ii) the ways that climate change terminology is discursively understood and used is fundamental to achieving deep engagement and effecti…
Scale, colonisation and adapting to climate change: Insights from the Arabana people, South Australia
The role of knowledge in assisting Indigenous people adapt to climate change has been gaining increasing attention and local studies provide rich insights into how and where knowledge is used. This paper reports on the results of a qualitative cross-cultural research collaboration about climate change adaptation for the Arabana, an Indigenous people from South Australia. We find that the Arabana people have a corpus of observed historical knowled…
Socially just community-based climate change adaptation? Insights from Bangladesh
Community-based planned adaptation has become a popular vehicle for building the adaptive capacity of communities vulnerable to climate change. In the global south, planned adaptation interventions are often implemented by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) with the support of bilateral and multilateral donors. This paper examines the influence of external agencies involved in funding, planning and implementation of community-based adaptation …
Best intentions and local realities: Unseating assumptions about implementing planned community-based adaptation in Bangladesh
Community-based adaptation (CBA) has gained traction in the management of climate risks within developing societies, due to its capacity to include local knowledge and build the adaptive capacities of vulnerable groups and communities. Yet little is known about what happens when such projects are implemented on the ground. This paper presents the results of a research project that sought to understand local perceptions and responses to planned CB…
Perceptions of plastic pollution in a prominent fishery: Building strategies to inform management
Overcoming barriers to climate change adaptation policy implementation: Insights from Ethiopia
This paper discusses Ethiopia’s planned climate adaptation interventions and the barriers that impede implementation of adaptation policies at the local level by using the case study of Raya Azebo district. Data was collected through reviews of policy documents, focus group discussions with farmers and interviews with relevant government actors. Results indicate that climate change is addressed in various policy documents but there is limited pro…
Building community resilience through youth volunteering: Towards a New Model
Australian regional communities are changing. The combined impact of out-migration and ageing populations means that the capacity of regional communities to function as they traditionally have is challenged. In this context, volunteer effort remains a vital part of building community resilience and social capital. Yet, volunteering per se is under threat, and encouraging young people to volunteer an even greater challenge. This paper presents the…
Situating climate change adaptation within plural worlds: The role of Indigenous and local knowledge in Pentecost Island, Vanuatu
Scholars, practitioners, and decision-makers are increasingly recognising that Indigenous knowledge can play a significant role in facilitating adaptation to climate change. Yet, adaptation theorising and practises remain overwhelmingly situated within Euromodern ontologies, and there remains limited space, at present, for plural ontologies or alternative ways of being and knowing. In this paper, and using the Pacific as our case study, we presen…
Old Ways for New Days: Indigenous Survival and Agency in Climate Changed Times
This book documents how indigenous peoples are attempting to adapt to climate change, and discusses the unique governance challenges facing them
Exploring the realities of urban resilience: Practitioners’ perspectives
Cities in Sub-Saharan African countries, already vulnerable, are under increasing pressure from the impacts of climate change and its associated risks. Urban resilience has emerged as a development strategy for improving the capacity of urban systems to cope with, withstand, and mitigate the impacts of extreme events in cities. Using a qualitative research approach and drawing on semi-structured interviews with 20 practitioners in Ghana, the stud…
Better understanding ocean awareness: Insights from young people
Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are a key conservation policy tool designed to provide protection of ocean and coastal ecosystems globally. Public engagement and awareness of MPAs, especially in regional communities, is critical in improving outcomes and ultimately their overall acceptance. Engaging with young people is essential as they are key thought shifters and positive movers in the future of MPAs, and environmental issues broadly. Further, i…
Feminisation of adaptation interventions in Bangladesh: An intersectional analysis
Responsible environmental education in the Anthropocene: Understanding and responding to young people’s experiences of nature disconnection, eco-anxiety and ontological insecurity
Children and young people today are growing up in an increasingly urban, technical, virtual and ecologically precarious world, leaving many feel disconnected from nature yet anxious about its degradation at the same time. Two distinct bodies of knowledge – namely youth human-nature relationships and youth eco-anxiety – are concerned with the former and the latter respectively. Through a narrative literature review, we bring these fields together …
Coal dust pollution in regional Australian coal mining towns: Social License to Operate and community resistance
Regional economic dependence on coal mining can disempower communities. • Disempowerment can transform community resistance from overt to covert modes of behaviour. • SLO is an unreliable community acceptance metric in the context of regional economic dependence. The mining industry’s generation of environmental risks has galvanised increasing social upheaval worldwide, leading to its Social License to Operate being called into question. The coal…
Governance challenges to realising the potential of ecosystem-based adaptation in Bangladesh
Wetlands are under stress due to the impacts of climate change and ecological degradation. This warrants the need for an effective governance that ensures sustainability of these critical ecosystems and supports community resilience. Ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) has been widely recognised as a community-led approach for conserving wetland ecosystems and enhancing community resilience. However, the implementation of this approach is constraine…
Stories of Country: Representing Indigenous cultural values in environmental economic accounting
Political science (18 works) · Environmental resource management (16 works) · Geography (14 works) · Climate change (12 works) · Environmental planning (11 works) · Business (10 works) · Psychology (10 works) · Sociology (10 works) · Climate Change, Adaptation, Migration (9 works) · Ecology (9 works)