Dr Karen Fisher

BA/MSocSc (Waikato), PhD (ANU)

Senior Lecturer

In: Environment » Faculty of Science

Research | Current

I am a Human Geographer interested in society-environment interactions. My research programme is organised under the general theme: environmental governance and politics of resource use. My research interests fall broadly under the following areas:

Māori co-governance and indigenous knowledge
Environmental governance and development
Political economy and political ecology
Science, knowledge and policy

I have conducted research in the Philippines focused on the sociopolitical dimensions of water governance and development with a particular interest in the role of local government in mediating the needs of local communities with national objectives. Since 2012, I have been involved in collaborative transdisciplinary research projects that focus on knowledge production for sustainability in the context of marine environments and urban water. I also conduct research using feminist and critical theories to explore knowledge production and methodologies. I am also part of the Auckland-based Puāwai Writing Collective, which performs feminist research focused on slow scholarship, care, and the neoliberal university.

Teaching | Current

My teaching reflects my interest in environmental management and governance more broadly and draws on cases from a range of different contexts within the Asia-Pacific Region, including New Zealand and Australia.

At undergraduate level I teach on GEOG324 Critical Perspectives on Sustainable Development and GEOG205(S2C) Environment and Society.

At postgraduate level I coordinate ENVMGT744 Resource Management.

Postgraduate supervision

Completed PhD students

Barbara Hock (2018) - The role of visualisations in eliciting attitudes in sustainable forestry, and the attitudes elicited (Primary supervisor; Co-supervisor Dr Tim Payn, SCION)
Stephen FitzHerbert (2016) - Geographies of economy-making: the articulation of Taewa Maori across Aotearoa New Zealand (Co-supervisor; Primary supervisor Dr Nick Lewis)
Bizhan Rahnama (2016) - Negotiating Co-governance of the Waikato River: Political projects at work (Co-supervisor; Primary supervisor Dr Nick Lewis)
Kathryn Davies (2015) - Many voices of the Manukau: participatory modelling, ecosystem services and decision making in New Zealand (Primay supervisor; Co-supervisors Dr Mark Dickson Prof. Richard Le Heron, Prof. Simon Thrush)
Roger Baars (2015) - The Good Citizen: Citizenship Education and Youth in Singapore (Primary supervisor; Co-Supervisor Dr David Hayward)
Claire Gregory (2013) - Enabling sustainable river futures: exploring institutional interventions (Co-supervisor; Primary supervisor Prof. Gary Brierley, Co-supervisor Prof. Richard Le Heron)

Current PhD students

Andrew Allison - Identifying the controlling dynamics within social-ecological coastal systes (Co-supervisor; Primary supervisor Dr Mark Dickson, Co-supervisor Prof. Simon Thrush)
Claudia Gonelli -The social construction of wind energy in China and New Zealand: Development and perceptions in the political culture context (Co-supervisor; Primary supervisor A/Prof. Hong-Key Yoon)
Danielle Johnson - Exploring indigenous health, wellbeing and climate change adaptation in the Kaipara Catchment of Aotearoa New Zealand (Primay supervisor; co-supervisor Dr Meg Parsons)
Victoria Jollands - Fisheries governance and food security (Co-supervisor; Primary supervisor Prof. Simon Thrush)
Leane Makey - Integrated Catchment-Coastal Management: an ecofeminist autoethnography from the Kaipara Harbour (Primary supervisor; co-supervisor Dr Meg Parsons)
Gabby O'Connor - Engaging Communities in Issues of Environmental Complexity through the Art-Science Nexus: The Unseen – an art, science and community project

Committees/Professional groups/Services

New Zealand Geographical Society

Fellow
Chair of the Auckland Branch
Membership Officer, National Executive

eSocSci Network Co-convenor: Women and Gender Geographies Research Network

Royal Society of New Zealand, Professional Member

Institute of Australia Geographers, Member

Selected publications and creative works (Research Outputs)

Parsons, M., Nalau, J., Fisher, K., & Brown, C. (2019). Disrupting path dependency: Making room for Indigenous knowledge in river management. GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE-HUMAN AND POLICY DIMENSIONS, 56, 95-113. 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2019.03.008
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Meg Parsons
Davies, K., Collective, P., Fisher, K., Le Heron, E., Sharp, E., & Spiers, R. (2019). Assembling disruptive practice in the neoliberal university: an ethics of care. GEOGRAFISKA ANNALER SERIES B-HUMAN GEOGRAPHY, 101 (1), 33-43. 10.1080/04353684.2019.1568201
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Emma Sharp
Driver, E., Parsons, M., & Fisher, K. (2018). Technically political: The post-politics(?) of the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme. GEOFORUM, 97, 253-267. 10.1016/j.geoforum.2018.09.023
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Meg Parsons
Davies, K., Fisher, K., Foley, M., Greenaway, A., Hewitt, J., Le Heron, R., ... Lundquist, C. (2018). Navigating collaborative networks and cumulative effects for Sustainable Seas. Environmental Science & Policy, 83, 22-32. 10.1016/j.envsci.2018.01.013
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Carolyn Lundquist, Judi Hewitt, Richard Le Heron
Jollands, V., & Fisher, K. T. (2018). Don’t forget the fish! Transnational collaboration in governing tuna fisheries in the Pacific. In M. C. Dawson, C. Rosin, N. Wald (Eds.) Global resource scarcity: Catalyst for conflict or cooperation? (pp. 184-202). London, UK: Routledge.
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/2292/41832
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Victoria Jollands
Allison, A. E. F., Dickson, M. E., Fisher, K. T., & Thrush, S. F. (2018). Dilemmas of modelling and decision-making in environmental research. Environmental Modelling and Software, 99, 147-155. 10.1016/j.envsoft.2017.09.015
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/2292/42961
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Andrew Allison, Mark Dickson, Simon Thrush
Trowsdale, S., Golder, C., Fisher, K., & Brierley, G. (2017). Water demand management and the quest for sustainability. New Zealand Geographer, 73 (3), 192-204. 10.1111/nzg.12165
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/2292/40550
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Sam Trowsdale, Gary Brierley
Parsons, M., Nalau, J., & Fisher, K. (2017). Alternative perspectives on sustainability: Indigenous knowledge and methodologies. Challenges in Sustainability, 5 (1), 7-14. 10.12924/cis2017.05010007
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/2292/39889
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Meg Parsons