Lesley Potter

Lesley Potter is a Visiting Fellow (Research Fellow) in the Resources, Environment and Development Department at the Australian National University (ANU), affiliated with the Crawford School of Public Policy within the College of Asia and the Pacific. Her career spans over three decades, including prior roles at the University of Adelaide, McGill University, and the University of Guyana, where she engaged in teaching, administration, and fieldwork in Southeast Asia. She holds a BA, Dip Ed, and MA from the University of Melbourne and a PhD in Human Geography from McGill University.

Education:

• Bachelor of Arts (BA) from the University of Melbourne
• Diploma in Education (Dip Ed) from the University of Melbourne
• Master of Arts (MA) from the University of Melbourne
• PhD in Human Geography from McGill University

Research Interests: Lesley’s work focuses on environmental and development issues, particularly resource management in tropical regions. Her research expanded from forest ecosystems to include coffee and oil palm production, emphasizing smallholder perspectives and sustainable development practices. She has conducted extensive fieldwork in Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia, with Indonesia being a key area of study. Her contributions bridge ecological, socio-economic, and policy dimensions of land use.

Publications & Academic Output: Notable publications include the collaborative book In Place of the Forest with Harold Brookfield (1990s) and a 2015 CIFOR monograph on oil palm landscapes across nine countries. Recently, she co-authored Transforming Borneo: from Land Exploitation to Sustainable Development (2022, in press with ISEAS). Her work reflects a shift toward interdisciplinary studies of resource exploitation, agricultural systems, and policy interventions for sustainability.

Advising and Teaching: Lesley actively supervised PhD students until 2017 and engaged in casual teaching within an Anthropology Master’s Program between 2012 and 2016. Her advising and mentorship have supported research in fieldwork methodologies and tropical land-use dynamics. While specific grants are not detailed, her collaborations with organizations like CIFOR highlight applied research funding.

Labs/Teams: She is part of the Resources, Environment and Development Group (READ), which focuses on public policy solutions for environmental and resource challenges in the Asia Pacific region.