Associate Professor Kathy Witt

Principal Research Fellow

UQ Gas & Energy Transition Research Centre
Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Information Technology
k.witt@uq.edu.au
+61 7 334 63442

Overview

Dr Kathy Witt is an internationally-recognised senior social science researcher and currently an Advance Queensland Fellow at the UQ Centre for Natural Gas. Previously working in the areas of environmental and community change for the Queensland Government, Kathy went on to receive her PhD in 2013 before joining UQ-CNG’s Social Performance research team in 2014. Kathy specialises in the social dimensions of land use, natural resource management and energy technologies and transition, particularly in relation to sustainable regional development.

With degrees in Environmental Management (Natural and Rural Systems Management)/ Sociology from UQ's Gatton and St Lucia campuses, she is an inter-disciplinary researcher fluent in both environmental and social sciences. She applies ‘socio-ecological systems’ approaches to her research.

Leading the UQ-CNG Social Performance team, Kathy currently studies the cumulative social and economic effects of energy development for local communities, and non-technical risks. Her recent work focusses on social acceptance and ‘social licence’ across a range of industries and technologies, including the cattle industries, future fuels, hydrogen, carbon capture, use & storage and utility-scale renewable energy. Through her work Kathy has fostered mutually trusting and enduring relationships with different stakeholders including in the agricultural and energy sectors. She has collated and analysed longitudinal data on town and regional social and economic indicators alongside community members’ own interpretations of lived experience.

While currently in a research-focussed position, Kathy has previously lectured in Effective Stakeholder Engagement, Environment and Community, Global Challenges in Agriculture, Non-Technical Risks and Sustainable Energy.

Kathy’s excellent understanding of participatory research methods and ability to apply approaches from different academic specialisations, is combined with an ability to engage with diverse stakeholder groups.

Research Impacts

Dr Witt is internationally recognised for her work through her current positions as co-chair of the Social Impact Assessment Committee of the International Association for Impact Assessment (IAIA) and the IUCN/IAIA Impact Assessment in Protected Areas Taskforce. She provides input into natural resource management policy briefings to federal and state governments and has contributed significantly to regional communities through her work on cumulative effects assessment and shared value.

Kathy is a current member of the Australian Hydrogen Council Social Licence Working Group, a member of the Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand and a member of the International Association for Public Participation. She coordinates the cross-institutional Gasfields Social Scientists’ network and is part of the US National Science Foundation’s Energy Impacts Researchers Network.

Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Queensland
  • Bachelor of Environmental Management, The University of Queensland

Publications

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Supervision

View all Supervision

Publications

Book Chapter

  • Witt, Katherine, Cheung, Tracy and Simpson, Jonathan (2023). Towards an Integrated Approach to Community Resilience: Ten Years On. Rural Development for Sustainable Social-ecological Systems. (pp. 327-354) Cham: Springer International Publishing. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-34225-7_17

  • Ashworth, Peta and Witt, Kathy (2023). “Psychic numbing” and the environment: is this leading to unsustainable energy outcomes in Australia?. Energy democracies for sustainable futures. (pp. 279-283) edited by Majia Nadesan, Martin Pasqualetti and Jennifer Keahey. London, United Kingdom: Academic Press. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-12-822796-1.00029-2

  • Pinner, Breanna, Ross, Helen, Jones, Natalie, Babidge, Sally, Shaw, Sylvie, Witt, Katherine and Rissik, David (2019). A custodial ethic: Indigenous values towards water in Moreton Bay and catchments. Moreton Bay Quandamooka and catchment: past, present and future. (pp. 29-44) edited by Ian R. Tibbetts, Peter C. Rothlisberg, David T. Neil, Tamara A. Homburg, David T. Brewer and Angela H. Arthington. Brisbane, QLD, Australia: Moreton Bay Foundation.

  • Ross, Helen, Rissik, David, Jones, Natalie, Witt, Katherine, Pinner, Breanna and Shaw, Sylvie (2019). Managing for the multiple uses and values of Moreton Bay and its catchments. Moreton Bay Quandamooka and catchment: past, present and future. (pp. 563-578) edited by Ian R. Tibbetts, Peter C. Rothlisberg, David T. Neil, Tamara A. Homburg, David T. Brewer and Angela H. Arthington. Brisbane, QLD, Australia: Moreton Bay Foundation.

  • Jacquet, Jeffrey, Witt, Katherine and Rikfin, William (2018). A complex adaptive system or just a tangled mess?. Governing shale gas: development, citizen participation and decision making in the US, Canada, Australia and Europe. (pp. 37-50) edited by John Whitton, Matthew Cotton and Ioan M. Charnley-Parry. London, United Kingdom: Routledge.

  • Jacquet, Jeffrey B., Witt, Katherine, Rifkin, William and Haggerty, Julia H. (2018). A complex adaptive system or just a tangled mess?: property rights and shale gas governance in Australia and the US. Governing shale gas: development, citizen participation and decision making in the US, Canada, Australia and Europe. (pp. 37-50) edited by John Whitton, Matthew Cotton, Ioan M. Charnley-Parry and Kathryn Brasier. New York, NY USA: Taylor & Francis. doi: 10.4324/9781315637280-3

Journal Article

Conference Publication

Other Outputs

Grants (Administered at UQ)

PhD and MPhil Supervision

Current Supervision

  • Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor

Completed Supervision