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Dr. Jessica Reeves

Principal Research Fellow

Contact

Campus

Churchill Campus

Biography

Associate Professor Jessica Reeves is a place-based sustainability science researcher, in the Future Regions Research Centre of Federation University Australia. With a background in geology, she researches the interplay between humans and their environment through time – including industrial pollution, long-term human modification of landscapes and future regional transition.  

She works closely at the interface between policy, industry and community to ensure that local voices are represented in regional transformation. Her recent research projects include facilitating a post mine land use vision for the Latrobe Valley, developing methodologies for cumulative impact assessment on regions facing mine closure and social impact indicators for emerging industries, such as offshore wind. 

Jess is particularly interested in elevating community voices around environmental stewardship, incorporating multiple ways of knowing place. She works closely with and for First Nations communities and is a member of the Gunaikurnai Traditional Owner Land Management Board. Jess is an avid collaborator with academic, industry, government and community colleagues regionally, nationally and internationally.  

Fields of research

  • Rural and regional geography
  • Economic geography
  • Environmental geography

Available for

HDR Supervision

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More about Jessica

Qualifications

  • Bachelor of Science (Honours), University of Melbourne 
  • Doctor of Philosophy, University of Wollongong 
  • Graduate Certificate in Indigenous Cultural Competency, Charles Sturt University 

Areas of interest

  • Deliberative democracy 
  • Collaborative governance 
  • Regional development 
  • Post mine land use planning 
  • Environmental stewardship 

Areas of expertise

Jess has expertise in community and First Nations involvement in regional transformation. She has developed and facilitated novel forms of deliberative processes to ensure greater participation and authentic representation. She has also completed research on climate change adaptation and mitigation practice and community-led environmental stewardship.  

Grants

  • Reeves, J, Foran, T. 2023-5. ‘Collaborative Land Use Planning in the Latrobe Valley’. CRC TiME ($754,000) 
  • Nischke, C., Reeves, J., Hickey, G. 2025. ‘A feasibility assessment framework for regional investment in integrated medium-scale production and processing of native hardwood timber’. AFWI (UniMelb) ($480,880)
  • Porter, J and Reeves, J. 2025. ‘Yarram Social Impact Study’. Future of Yarram – DEECA ($48,500) 
  • Reeves, J. 2026. ‘Operationalising the PMLU Vision for the Latrobe Valley’. CRC TiME – DEECA ($500,000) 
  • Reeves, J., Tardin-Coelho, R, Marharjan, M., Rifkin, W. 2026. Regional Cumulative Effects Assessment and Monitoring – Stage 3 CRC TiME ($600,000) 

Awards

  • 2025: CRC TiME ‘New Way Forward’ Award

Current

  • PhD student, Federation University, ‘Can an Aboriginal informed consensus decision-making approach improve outcomes for community, cultural continuity, and Country?’, principal supervisor. 
  • Master’s student, Federation University, ‘Re-valuing urban wetlands: investigating community participation in environmental stewardship’, principal supervisor. 
  • PhD student, ‘The conservation and management of sandy beach ecosystems: exploring the divergence between policy, science and socio-cultural expectations for stewardship and use’, associate supervisor. 

Past

  • PhD student, Federation University, ‘Wetland salinization and acid sulfate soil development: a palaeoecological and geophysical study’, principal supervisor. 
  • PhD student, Federation University, ‘Distribution of heavy metals in the sediments of the Gippsland Lakes, Victoria, Australia: implications for management’, principal supervisor. 

  • Sustainability 
  • Climate and environmental change 
  • Wetlands and water resources  

Specialist roles

  • Gunaikurnai Traditional Owner Land Management Board Member 
  • Gippsland Lakes Co-ordinating Committee Member 

Professional association memberships

  • Institute of Australian Geographers 
  • Closure Planning Practitioners Association 
  • Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand  
  • International Association of Society and Natural Resources 
  • International Association for Impact Assessment 

Future Regions Research Centre (FRRC)

Jessica is part of the Future Regions Research Centre (FRRC), which aims to develop new knowledge and innovative solutions to the grand challenges facing our natural environments.

Impact Ecology Research

Jessica is part of the Impact Ecology Research group, which focuses on restoring ecosystems and improving biodiversity through practical, research‑led environmental action.
  • Publications

Legacy, memory and pathways: Implications for post-carbon rural futures from Australia, Canada, and New Zealand