Researcher biography

Julia is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining (CSRM), the Sustainable Minerals Institute at the University of Queensland, Australia. In collaboration with colleagues and in dialogue with industry partners, Julia leverages data to aid strategic evidence-based decision-making. To enhance the integrity and impact of research, she is driven by the efforts to make research accountable to the ways data are collected, owned, used and shared.

Julia is a Human and Economic Geographer with specific interests in pathways to sustainability and justice in mineral and energy sectors. Using mixed methods, Julia bridges data science with qualitative research and community engagement. Julia has been undertaking applied research on global production networks and value chains, governance and socio-economic redistributions, and community participation and consultation across the Arctic region, Australia, Russia and, China, is currently an investigator on a project on copper global production networks in Australia, Zambia and Chile.

Prior to her position at SMI, Julia was a postdoctoral research fellow at the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at UQ, where she worked on understanding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population change and economic geography of energy transitions using network analysis techniques. Julia contributes to teaching courses on global change, sustainable cities and regions, population studies and digital geographies. She serves as an Associate Editor for the Australian Population Studies journal.

Julia proudly comes from Komi Republic, Russia. Growing up in the north sparked her interest in environmental, economic and social development in resource-dependent communities. Julia's PhD thesis undertaken at the University of Melbourne examined the impacts of 'double exposure' of climate change and resource extraction on Arctic Indigenous and rural communities.

Research Interests

  • Critical minerals and fossil fuels
  • Global networks and social network analysis
  • Community consultation and participation
  • Sustainability and energy transitions
  • Community energy