Alison Bashford

Professor Alison Bashford is a Scientia Professor in History and Director of the Laureate Centre for History & Population at UNSW Sydney. She also leads the New Earth Histories Research Program, integrating global, environmental, and scientific history to reinterpret modern world developments. Her expertise spans population studies, colonial history, and the history of medicine, with notable works like An Intimate History of Evolution (2022) and Global Population (2014). Bashford previously held the Vere Harmsworth Professorship at the University of Cambridge and served at Harvard University.

Education:

• BA (Hons, University Medal), PhD, University of Sydney
• MA (Cantab), University of Cambridge

Research Focus:

• Intersections of science, environment, and global history
• Geopolitics of population policies
• Colonial and imperial health governance
• Anthropocene and deep-time historiography

Grants & Collaborations:

• ARC Laureate Fellowship (2020-26): Population Policy in Modern World History
• ARC Discovery Project (2021-25): Antipodean Geology
• Rethinking Medico-Legal Border Control (2020-23)

Awards:

• 2021 Dan David Prize (History of Health and Medicine)
• 2020 Royal Society of NSW Medal
• 2011 Cantemir Prize

Her work bridges historical scholarship with contemporary debates on climate, migration, and global health, emphasizing transnational and interdisciplinary approaches.