Julia Talbot-Jones

Julia Talbot-Jones serves as a Senior Lecturer at the School of Government, Victoria University of Wellington, where she maintains an active research program focused on environmental economics, institutional design, and water governance. Her interdisciplinary work bridges economics, ecology, and public policy with particular expertise in freshwater management, rights of nature approaches, and ecosystem-based management.

Her educational background includes a PhD in economics from the Australian National University, an MA in economics from the University of California Santa Barbara (supported by a Fulbright Scholarship), a Graduate Diploma in economics from the University of Canterbury, and undergraduate degrees in ecology and zoology with first-class honors in natural resource management from Massey University.

Talbot-Jones maintains significant research affiliations including as a Research Affiliate at the Bennett Institute for Public Policy (University of Cambridge), The Ostrom Workshop at Indiana University Bloomington, and as Principal Investigator with Te Pūnaha Matatini, New Zealand's Centre of Research Excellence for Complex Systems. She leads Motu Economic and Public Policy Research's freshwater programme and received a 2024 fellowship to Clare Hall at the University of Cambridge.

Her recent publications demonstrate a consistent focus on innovative water governance approaches, with particular emphasis on water clubs, rights of nature frameworks, and ecosystem-based management transitions. Her interdisciplinary research combines institutional analysis, game theory, and economic experiments to address complex environmental challenges at the nexus of biodiversity and climate change.

Among her notable recognitions are the 2024 Clare Hall Fellowship, the 2022 Highly Commended Paper Award from the Australasian Journal of Environmental Management, and the Fulbright Scholarship. She also serves on the New Zealand Association of Economists Council and previously served on the New Zealand Women in Economics Network Committee (2018-2024).

Talbot-Jones actively supervises doctoral students including Abigail Bender (completed 2024), and current candidates working on indigenous public administration and alternative food networks. She has led significant research grants including 'Fresh Ideas for Water Economics and Policy' (Royal Society of New Zealand, 2021-2025) and 'Options for Policy and Legislative Change to Enable EBM Across Scales' (University of Canterbury, 2022-2023).