Tanya M Howard is a post-doctoral research fellow at the University of New England where she teaches natural resource management, community engagement and environmental policy and maintains research links with Pennsylvania State University and the Kettering Foundation in the USA. Her research explores how community voices and rural communities are brought into processes of environmental governance. This includes case studies of collective community action in wild dog management, capacity building and network development for invasive species community practitioners, collaborative policy and program reform for community action on biosecurity management and in-depth relationship development, research practice and community building with collaborators across Australia. Tanya has worked with rural and remote communities to develop and deliver quality natural resource management and environmental sustainability outcomes across the non-government to government sectors. She holds a Bachelor of Arts, a Masters in Environmental Education and a PhD in natural resource governance. Tanya is passionate about the role of communication, deliberative practices and community participation in the pursuit of environmental and social justice.
Theodore R. Alter is Professor of Agricultural, Environmental and Regional Economics in Pennsylvania State University's Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology. He is also Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Community Development. Theodore is Penn State's premiere engagement scholar; engagement and engaged scholarship are key dimensions of his research, teaching and public service. He championed rewarding faculty for outreach scholarship, collaborated with state organisations, has served as Director of Penn State Cooperative Extension and on the boards of the Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship and the Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement. Previously Theodore was Penn State's Associate Vice President for outreach, Associate Dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences and Director of Penn State Cooperative Extension. He has a Bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Rochester, and a Masters and Doctorate in resource economics and policy from Michigan State University where he was also a National Defense Education Act Fellow.
Paloma Z. Frumento is a Research Associate with the Department of Agricultural Economics, Sociology and Education at Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences. Her career is animated by a desire to catalyse and support cross-cultural communication and collaboration: she has worked on an intercultural bilingual education program in Ecuador, a rural library development project in Kenya, and an agricultural engineering extension initiative in Senegal and the Gambia. Paloma holds a B.A. from Columbia University.
Lyndal J. Thompson is a Senior Policy Officer at the Australian Government Department of Education and Training and an applied agri-environmental researcher. Her research foci includes community development, adult education, agricultural extension and the social psychology of decision-making. Lyndal holds a Bachelor of Natural Resources (Hons) and a Doctorate from the University of New England, Armidale, NSW.
