John McCarthy

John McCarthy is a Professor of rural development and the anthropology of policy at the Crawford School of Public Policy, ANU. He holds a B.Sc. (University of Melbourne), B.A. Hons (Monash University), and a PhD (Murdoch University). His research focuses on environmental change, food security, agrarian reform, and natural resource governance in the Global South, particularly Indonesia. He leads projects addressing socio-environmental challenges in developing regions and has contributed to policy debates on land tenure, social protection, and forest management.

• Education:
  • B.Sc., University of Melbourne
  • B.A. Hons., Monash University
  • PhD, Murdoch University
• Key Projects:
  • Indonesia Project Phase V (2022–2026)
  • Understanding the Impacts of COVID-19 on Indo-Pacific Food Security (2020)
  • Community Fire Management and Peatland Restoration in Indonesia (2017–2024)

His research interests intersect agricultural policy, food security, and land tenure, with a focus on Indonesia’s socio-environmental dynamics. Recent work explores the paradoxes of agrarian change, the politics of social protection, and the governance of natural resource conflicts. He has published widely on palm oil plantations, climate change impacts, and the interplay of policy and development outcomes.

Publications highlight innovations in environmental monitoring (e.g., machine learning for marine object detection) and critical analyses of labor conditions in agribusiness. His work emphasizes participatory governance and equitable resource distribution in developing contexts.

• Grants/Advising:
  • Supervises research students in agrarian studies and environmental policy
  • Secured funding for multidisciplinary initiatives addressing food security, land reform, and climate adaptation
• Labs/Teams: Collaborates with ANU’s Development Policy Centre and the Crawford School’s environmental governance research clusters.