معرفی
Professor James Higham is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Tourism and Marketing at Griffith University's Business School. He is a member of the Griffith Institute For Tourism and serves as Co-Director of the Climate Change Action cluster. Additionally, he is a member of the Queensland Decarbonisation Hub since April 2024. His academic career spans multiple institutions with previous connections to the University of Otago where he completed his PhD.
Professor Higham's research addresses two broad themes: 'Tourism and global environmental change' and 'sport and contemporary mobility.' His work spans multiple geographical scales, examining tourism's relationship with climate change, biodiversity, and conservation at global, national, and local levels. His research is highly collaborative and interdisciplinary, bringing together diverse fields to address complex questions related to sustainable tourism, aviation emissions, marine conservation, and disaster management. His work demonstrates a strong commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, particularly those related to climate action, responsible consumption, life on land, and life below water.
Professor Higham has published extensively with 219 research outputs documented, including high-impact publications in journals like Nature Communications. His recent work shows a clear trajectory toward addressing urgent sustainability challenges in tourism, particularly regarding carbon emissions, aviation, and disaster resilience. His 2024 paper 'Drivers of global tourism carbon emissions' has received significant attention with 70 citations.
Professor Higham currently supervises seven doctoral students working on diverse projects related to regenerative tourism, aviation recovery, immersive technologies, and sustainable accommodation. His supervision approach emphasizes interdisciplinary collaboration and real-world application of research findings.
His active research portfolio includes multiple funded projects from 2022-2028, with significant grants from organizations including Queenstown Lakes District Council, Flinders University, University of Otago, EarthCheck, and The Institute of Transport Economics. These projects focus on sustainable tourism toolkits, cruise ship emissions, immersive technologies for regenerative tourism, and pathways to reduce climate footprints in leisure mobility.
Professor Higham contributes to the academic community through teaching courses including TOUR 101 Introduction to Tourism, TOUR 216 Sport and Tourism, and TOUR 422 Tourism and Global Environmental Change. His professional activities include convening conferences on structural change for regenerative tourism and tourism policy, demonstrating his leadership in shaping the future direction of tourism research and practice.
