Alexandra Knight

Dr Alexandra Knight

Ecologist and Environmental Sociologist

Agricultural, Environmental and Veterinary Sciences

Biography

Dr Alexandra Knight is an ecologist, social researcher and educator. She is one of 100 women globally accepted into Homeward Bound 8, a collaborative leadership program for women in STEM. Alex’s research focuses on the space between research and practice, addressing complex problems and working with communities to find solutions. Alex’s PhD research (completed in 2015) focussed on a small, little-known amphibian, Sloane’s Froglet, and resulted in widespread community interest and support in protecting the species. Alex works closely with Landcare groups, other community groups and schools ensuring research is built collaboratively and that results are spread widely. Alex lectures in natural resource management, open space planning and wildlife management and ecology.

Prior to working in academia, Alex has a successful professional career in national park management and biodiversity enhancement on private land. She led the biodiversity program of the then Murray Catchment Management Authority, building a diverse range of projects with farmers and local communities to protect and enhance frogs, ground-nesting birds, native vegetation and mammals. Conservation on private land expanded on her foundation as a Ranger for the Queensland and New South Wales national park services, a job which she loved. Fire-fighting, undertaking comprehensive flora and fauna surveys, weed and pest species control, community relations and park planning were all part of her daily activities.

Research
  • Wildlife management including Australian amphibians and microbats
  • Developing community understanding and action for biodiversity
  • Estuarine and tidal wetland management
  • Interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches to environmental management
  • Knowledge exchange and the mobilisation and utilisation of new knowledge
Publications
Full publications list on CRO

Recent publications

  • Knight, A. R. (2021). Environmental knowledge exchange in Australia and Oceania: How researchers and practitioners are working together to bring change. In C. C. Ferreira, & C. F. C. Klütsch (Eds.), Closing the knowledge-implementation gap in conservation science : Interdisciplinary evidence transfer across sectors and spatiotemporal scales (Vol. 4, pp. 413-453). (Wildlife Research Monographs; Vol. 4). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-81085-6
  • Knight, A., & Allan, C. (2022). Intentional ecology: Building values, advocacy and action into transdisciplinary environmental research: As a society, how do we encourage early and ethical action when building our knowledge and confronting serious challenges? In this blog post we explore the conceptual framework of intentional ecology and apply it to a case study to illustrate how it deals with the question raised above. Integration and Implementation Insights. https://i2insights.org/2022/04/19/intentional-ecology/
  • Leck, J., & Knight, A. (2022). Nest boxes and artificial hollow guidelines: North Coast Regional Landcare. North Coast Regional Landcare.
  • C. Conroy, A. R. Knight, S. Wassens and C. Allan (2019) Consequences of changed water management for Aboriginal Australians in the Murrumbidgee catchment, NSW Australian Geographer 2019 Vol. 50 Issue 2 Pages 169-184
  • DOI: 10.1080/00049182.2018.1545275
  • Knight, A., Black, R., Whitsed, R., & Harvey, R. (2018). Enhancing the usability and benefits of open space for older people in regional Australia. Australian Planner, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1080/07293682.2018.1521454