Karen McNamara

Professor Karen McNamara is a leading academic in Development Geography at the School of the Environment, Faculty of Science, University of Queensland. Her work focuses on climate change adaptation, non-economic loss and damage, human mobility, and gender dynamics in rural and Pacific communities.

• Education: Bachelor of Environmental Science and PhD from the University of New South Wales.

Her research addresses interconnected challenges like poverty, disaster risk, and climate change across the Asia-Pacific region. She has conceptualized loss and damage in the Pacific Islands and explored climate-related human rights violations in Vanuatu. Her recent contributions include gender-focused disaster recovery strategies and optimization of adaptation outcomes.

Key article trends include climate adaptation in island nations, non-economic loss documentation, and gendered impacts of climate change. Her work often integrates Indigenous knowledge systems and community-led approaches.

• Scientific Awards:
  • ARC Future Fellowship
  • National Geographic Society Grant

She has supervised 14 PhD students to completion and currently guides 5. Her funding portfolio exceeds $7.6 million from ARC, DFAT, UNDP, and OECD, among others. She also collaborates with the Centre for Communication and Social Change and serves on the UN Climate Change Secretariat's Expert Group.