Dr Jo-Anne Everingham specialises in applied sociological studies of mining communities especially in rural and regional Australia examining local development impacts, as well as exploring governance, social policy and management of social issues and community relations.

Focus areas: 1) rural and regional governance landscapes, 2) multi-stakeholder collaboration, 3) evaluation of CSR programs and 4) community approaches to coping with impacts of resource development or other social challenges. 
Major projects in the past five years have included: 

  • Understanding and managing cumulative impacts of coal mining in regions with diversified economies 
  • Cumulative Socio-economic impacts of Coal Seam Gas development in the Western Downs region, Queensland 
  • Energy from the foodbowl 
  • 15 year review of the Gulf Communities Agreemen
  • Assessment of social impacts of closure of Century zinc mine in north-west Qld 
  • Health and well-being of long-distance commuting workers. A survey of the resources sector 

Jo-Anne joined CSRM as a post-doctoral research fellow in January 2010 and was appointed to senior research fellow in 2012. Her work experience spans academia as well as the government and NGO sectors. She holds qualifications in social science, education and development studies. Jo-Anne is an Associate Editor of Resources Policy and a member of professional associations including: The Australian Sociological Association (TASA); Australian Evaluation Society; International Association of Impact Assessment (IAIA); and International Rural Sociology Association (IRSA). She formerly served as chair of Oxfam Australia and member of board of Oxfam International
Jo-Anne advises a number of Research Higher Degree students and teaches into the post-graduate coursework programs on Community Relations in Resource Industries. She also contributes to training programs for visiting industry or government professionals from mining intensive countries around the world and to programs CSRM offers in partnership with other global universities.

Industry Engagement

Jo-Anne has engaged with resource companies including MMG-Century, Rio Tinto, Codelco and QGC, with industry peak bodies including the Queensland Resources Council and Minerals Council of Australia, and with government departments such as the NSW Department of Planning and Environment. This engagement has provided a range of services including research projects, training, policy advice, and systems improvement.

Collaborations

Jo-Anne’s research projects involve collaboration with other SMI research centres, as well as UQ academics from the School of Social Science, QAAFI, and Centre for Coal Seam Gas. She has also engaged in collaborative research with investigators from the National Institute for Rural and Regional Australia (NIRRA), Central Queensland University, the Czech University of Life Sciences and the Centre for Rural Research, Norway.

Key Publications

Everingham, J. (2016). “Transformations of rural society and environments by extraction of mineral and energy resources” Ch 23 pp.272-284 in M. Shucksmith & D. Brown (eds) Routledge International Handbook of Rural Studies. London: Routledge.

Everingham, J., Collins, N., Cavaye, J., Rifkin, W., Vink, S.,Baumgartl, T., & Rodriguez, D. (2017) Energy from the foodbowl: Associated land-use conflicts, risks and wicked problems. Landscape and Urban Planning. 154(Special Issue): 68-80

Everingham, J., Devenin, V. & Collins, N. (2015) ‘The beast doesn’t stop’: the resource boom and changes in the social space of the Darling Downs. Rural Society, 24(1), 42-64

Cheshire, L., Everingham, J. & Lawrence, G. (2014). Governing the impacts of mining and the impacts of mining governance: challenges for rural and regional local governments in Australia. Journal of Rural Studies. 36(0), 330-339.

Eberhard, R., Johnston, N. & Everingham, J. (2013) “A collaborative approach to cumulative impacts- negotiating a cross-sectoral waterway partnership in the Bowen Basin, Queensland” Resources Policy 38 (4):678-687.

Full list of publications available on espace

Funding

In the past nine years Jo-Anne has worked on competitive grants and research contracts valued at over AUD$4m. Project funders have included the Australian Research Council (through ARC linkage grants), the Australian Coal Association Research Program (ACARP), resource companies, as well as local and state governments.