Thomas Lee

Dr. Thomas Lee is a Senior Lecturer in Design Studies within the Faculty of Design and Society at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). With a background in the humanities, his academic work bridges design, technology, and cultural studies with a focus on sustainable transitions, particularly in agricultural contexts. His interdisciplinary approach spans design futuring, narrative theory, and socio-technological change.

Dr. Lee's research interests center on understanding how cultural factors interact with technology, with recent work focusing on the cultural dimensions of industries involving living organisms and technology, such as livestock farming, synthetic biology, and biodiversity conservation. His current emphasis is on socio-technological change for sustainable transitions in the farming sector, drawing on his personal history growing up on a mixed farming business in regional NSW. This includes leading the design research team for Foragecaster (Food Agility CRC), one of Australia's largest AgTech projects, and developing tools for biodiversity conservation on agricultural land.

His publication portfolio demonstrates remarkable breadth across design theory, sustainable technologies, and narrative approaches. The 15 most recent articles reveal a consistent pattern of interdisciplinary work connecting design with agricultural technology, sustainability transitions, and speculative futures. His research frequently appears in high-impact journals including Journal of Cleaner Production, Futures Journal, and People and Nature Journal, showing strong citation impact particularly in sustainable design and agricultural technology fields.

• UTS Teaching and Learning Citation (2015)
• Postgraduate Futures Associate Award (2015)

Dr. Lee actively supervises research students, currently guiding one PhD candidate and having previously supervised another to completion. His funded research projects include significant collaborations with Food Agility CRC on Foragecaster (2023), Innovation Connections Grants for agritech animal husbandry (2022), and biodiversity conservation initiatives with Landcare Australia. Beyond his research, he serves as the School of Design Indigenous Liaison Officer since 2021, faculty assessor of Non-Traditional Research outputs since 2023, and convenor of the Design for Societal Transitions research cluster.