Our team

Professor David Schlosberg – Director

David Schlosberg is Professor of Environmental Politics and Director of the Sydney Environment Institute. His work focuses on environmental, ecological, and climate justice; environment and everyday life; and climate adaptation planning and policy. Professor Schlosberg has worked extensively with local and state governments on just adaptation and resilience planning, the social impacts of climate change, and community-based food systems and policy. At SEI, he is one of the Research Leads on Creating Just Food and Energy Policy, Self organising systems to minimise future disaster risk, Concepts and practices of multispecies justice, and Grounded Imaginaries. 

Professor Schlosberg’s authored and co-authored works include Environmental Justice and the New Pluralism, Defining Environmental Justice, Climate-Challenged Society, and Sustainable Materialism. He is co-editor of both The Oxford Handbook of Climate Change and Society and The Oxford Handbook of Environmental Political Theory. Articles on environmental and climate justice, multispecies justice, just adaptation, and contemporary environmental movements are among the top-cited in multiple journals, including Environmental Politics, Global Environmental Politics, WIREs Climate Change, Ethics and International Affairs, and Contemporary Political Theory. Professor Schlosberg has been a visiting scholar at the London School of Economics, Australian National University, Princeton University, University of Washington, UC Santa Cruz, and University of Manchester, among others.

Professor Danielle Celermajer - Deputy Director – Academic

Danielle Celermajer is a Professor of Sociology and Social Policy in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Sydney, and Deputy Director – Academic at the Sydney Environment Institute.

She is the Director of the Multispecies Justice Project and the Research Lead on Concepts and Practices of Multispecies Justice.

Professor Celermajer lived through the 2019-20 NSW bushfires and wrote of her experience of the “killing of everything”, which she calls “omnicide”. She has been widely published on the topic, including her book Summertime: Reflections on a Vanishing Future. 

Associate Professor Rosanne Quinnell - Deputy Director – Education

Rosanne Quinnell is an Associate Professor in the School of Life and Environmental Sciences in the Faculty of Science at the University of Sydney. Her research focuses on the botanical world where she has examined the biology of symbiotic systems and developed ways to improve botanical literacy and human-plant interactions through transdisciplinary partnerships (TREES research group). She was part of a university-wide collaboration, supported by the University’s Sustainability Strategy, to create a curriculum garden on campus.

Associate Professor Thom van Dooren - Deputy Director - Member Engagement

Thom van Dooren is Associate Professor in the School of Humanities (Discipline of Gender and Cultural Studies) in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and Deputy Director – Membership Engagement at the Sydney Environment Institute at the University of Sydney.

His research focuses on some of the many philosophical, ethical, cultural, and political issues that arise in the context of species extinction and human entanglements with threatened species and places. These themes are explored in depth in his books: Flight Ways: Life and Loss at the Edge of Extinction (Columbia UP, 2014), The Wake of Crows: Living and Dying in Shared Worlds (Columbia UP, 2019), and A World in a Shell: Snail Stories for a Time of Extinctions (MIT Press, 2022).

Emma Bones - General Manager

Emma Bones is the General Manager of the Sydney Environment Institute. With a background in consulting and the not-for-profit sector, she has broad ranging skills across operations, strategy and finance. She has worked as a management consultant, developing strategies and designing operating models for government agencies and not-for-profits, and held senior roles in charities with a focus on building impactful and sustainable organisations.

With a keen interest in policy solutions addressing the climate crisis, Emma is passionate about bringing new voices into the conversation on climate change and achieving bipartisan support for meaningful climate action in Australia.

Emma is a registered Chartered Accountant, an advisor to Groundswell Giving and a committee member of Bushfire Survivors for Climate Action.

Kirsten Jackson - Program Manager

Kirsten Jackson is the Program Manager at the Sydney Environment Institute, a Digital Health Consultant at Curtin University, and sits on La Trobe University’s Digital Health Course Advisory Committee. Her background is in digital health and collaborative research having had roles as a Researcher in the Charles Perkins Centre at the University of Sydney, and Program Manager at the Digital Health Cooperative Research Centre. Previous to joining SEI, she was the Senior Program Development Manager at the Sax Institute, an organisation dedicated to translating research and evidence into policy and practice.

Kirsten is an experienced Program Manager, with expertise in managing complex programs of work that bring together research, innovation, education, and knowledge translation streams for real world benefits. She has expertise in health and medical research, industry and community engagement, and project management. Kirsten is focused on supporting the development of new research projects and genuine collaborations between researchers and the community to ensure innovation, creativity and impact.

Genevieve Wright - Senior Project Officer

Genevieve Wright manages some of SEI’s research and strategic projects and its public programming. She is currently leading a project that aims to improve the coordination of climate and biodiversity research at the University of Sydney. Genevieve has a background in project management, communications and filmmaking. She was the Project Officer on SEI’s Grounded Imaginaries project which explored the transformative power of climate imaginaries in empowering communities to take meaningful collective action. The project was in partnership with two Indian organisations, worked alongside eight communities in Australia and India, and mentored 14 youth fellows.

Genevieve holds a Bachelor of Communications majoring in both Media Arts and Production and Journalism from the University of Technology Sydney. She is currently undertaking a Master in Sustainability at the University of Sydney. She is passionate about the transformative power of communication in meeting the challenges of the climate and biodiversity crises and enjoys working alongside a multidisciplinary team of strategists, researchers and external partners.

Eloise Fetterplace - Senior Project and Reporting Officer

Eloise Fetterplace manages projects and reporting for the Institute. Eloise has a background in events, digital marketing and communications. She has a MA in Communications Management from the University of Technology Sydney specialising in public relations, and she is a University of Sydney Alumna who completed a Bachelor of Arts in Socio-legal Studies.

Eloise is passionate about engaging with the different experiences that shape climate inaction and facilitating innovative ways of communicating the climate crisis.

Thanh Whittam - Accounts and Administration Officer

Thanh Whittam manages the institute’s finances and assists with events. Thanh’s diverse background makes her a valued member of SEI’s professional team. She is a graduate of the University of Sydney where she studied Secondary Education and Psychology and has worked in a diversity of sectors including property management, retail management and hospitality.

Thanh has a keen interest in biodiversity, the detrimental impact of climate change on Australia’s native wildlife and ensuring our children have a sustainable future.

Maria Paula Cardoso - Administration Officer

Maria Paula Cardoso is a Colombian student of the Master of Public Policy at the University of Sydney and a Research Fellow and Administration Officer at the Sydney Environment Institute. Maria has a background in law and sociocultural studies with interest in community action and social justice. She has previously contributed to developing evidence-based policy in Indigenous and youth education (Colombia) and domestic violence (Australia).

Currently, she is working on projects related to community action research in environmental matters within SEI's Grounded Imaginaries research project.

Suhasini Gunatillaka - Administration Officer

Suhasini Gunatillaka is the Administration Officer at the Sydney Environment Institute. 

She graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of International and Global Studies and Honours in English Literature. She is also a counsellor and a member of PACFA, the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia. She has worked primarily in social services – in community housing in administration and project coordination – and in employment services as a counsellor. 

Suhasini is passionate about building relational capacity in the climate movement, enabling embodied relationships and the processing of ecological emotions. 

Saimi Jeong - Communications & Engagement Officer

Saimi Jeong amplifies the work of the Sydney Environment Institute through communications. She shapes complex information about environment, sustainability, and climate research into clear messages for broader engagement.

Before joining SEI, Saimi worked for the Sydney Alliance and Jubilee Australia Research Centre – not-for-profits focusing on climate and resource justice. Prior to running strategic communications for these organisations, she worked as a journalist, editor, and digital producer.

As a journalist, she wrote articles about environmental degradation and restoration, and sustainable practices, for publications including The Guardian, The Sydney Morning Herald, CHOICE, and climate change magazine Sweaty City. She won the 2015 Walkley Award for Student Journalist of the Year.

Saimi completed a bachelor’s degree in public communication and a master’s in journalism at the University of Technology, Sydney.