SEI’s inaugural collaborative research fellows announced for 2022

SEI is delighted to announce the award of the inaugural SEI Collaborative Research Fellowships, a new initiative designed to engage researchers across the University of Sydney to develop new, collaborative, multidisciplinary projects with SEI support.

In announcing the successful researchers and projects, SEI Director Danielle Celermajer acknowledged the high calibre of applications received. From this strong field, it was noted that the three projects which have been awarded 2022 Fellowships each ‘exemplified innovative interdisciplinary research and show tremendous potential in terms of its development and impact.’

The inaugural Collaborative Project Fellows and associated projects, commencing in 2022, are as follows.

Associate Professor Paul Rhodes (Faculty of Science (Psychology)) and Dr James Dunk (Department of History) for their project titled, ‘Young People and Climate Distress: What Do Clinicians Need to Know?’

This project is a collaboration between SEI members and youth advisory members for one of Australia’s leading mental health services for young people. It is aimed at developing a set of resources for clinicians when assisting young people who are dealing with eco-distress and climate anxiety.

Dr Katherine Owens (Sydney Law School) and Professor Susan Park (Department of Government and International Relations) for their project ‘Powering a Pacific-led renewable energy transformation’.

Drawing on theories of orchestration and place-based intervention, this project aims to demonstrate how public and private arrangements, from the global to local scale, can be combined and sequenced to deliver renewable energy projects that serve and sustain Pacific Island people.

Dr Alastair Fraser (School of Economics) and Dr Tanya Fiedler (Sydney Business School) for their project titled, ‘Moving from responsibility to accountability: emission reductions and investing for a Net Zero world’.

Propelled by the race towards a low-carbon economy, private and public sector investors from superfunds to university endowments are setting net-zero and Paris-aligned emission reduction targets. This project will use multi-disciplinary mixed-methods research to examine how carbon metrics are assembled, in order to draw out how actual emissions and progress towards actual emissions reductions are measured.

More information about these projects will be available on the SEI website in the coming months. To stay up to date with SEI Fellowship and Funding opportunities subscribe to our newsletter.

Header image: Karsten Wurth via UnSplash.