Ariane Gienger

Dr Ariane Gienger

Grant-Funded Postdoctoral Research Fellow

School of Society and Culture

College of Education, Behavioural and Social Sciences

Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD (as Co-Supervisor) - email supervisor to discuss availability.


I am a human geographer and political ecologist working as a postdoctoral research associate in the School of Society and Culture. My research centres on environmental governance, with a particular interest in in the interconnection of ecological and political crises and their solutions, and the importance of knowledge diversity in this space.Across my work, I investigate how governance systems can facilitate genuine collaboration by asking fundamental questions about decision-making: who is invited to the table, what decisions are made there, and whose tables are chosen in the first place. I examine how different actors are enabled or constraint in shaping decisions that affect their lives, communities and regions, and how administrative structures and processes can create or limit opportunities for meaningful engagement. I am also interested in innovative approaches to environmental governance that recognise more-than-human agency and to environmental education that foster reflexivity and an openness to the validity of diverse knowledge systems. 

My current research contributes to two major projects: one within the One Basin CRC, exploring future governance models for water-limited communities in the Murray-Darling Basin, and one within an ARC Future Fellowship, investigating knowledge-into-policy pathways in the Lake Eyre Basin.Prior to this, I completed my PhD in human geography, which was acknowledged with a Dean’s Commendation and a University Research Medal for its contribution to the field, and have worked across a range of projects in community-based conservation, climate change adaptation, eco-anxiety and environmental education. Through my work, I aim to contribute to sustainability scholarship, policy and practice by advancing more socially and environmentally just forms of governance. 

Language Competency
English Can read, write, speak, understand spoken and peer review
German Can read, write, speak, understand spoken and peer review

Date Institution name Country Title
2019 - 2023 University of Adelaide Australia PhD
2016 - 2018 University of Adelaide Australia Bachelor of International Development

Year Citation
2026 Gienger, A. (2026). Paying attention to scale for just and effective sustainability governance. Geographical Research, 64(1).
DOI
2025 Gienger, A., & Nursey-Bray, M. (2025). Towards co-governance: An evaluation of co-management advantages, challenges and ways forward in South Australia. Geoforum, 162, 104296-1-104296-13.
DOI
2024 Gienger, A., Nursey-Bray, M., Rodger, D., Szorenyi, A., Weinstein, P., Hanson-Easey, S., . . . Yoneyama, S. (2024). Responsible environmental education in the anthropocene: understanding and Responding to young people’s experiences of nature disconnection, eco-anxiety and ontological insecurity. Environmental Education Research, 30(9), 1619-1649.
DOI Scopus11 WoS12
2022 Nursey-Bray, M., Parsons, M., & Gienger, A. (2022). Urban nullius? Urban Indigenous People and Climate Change. Sustainability, 14(17), 16 pages.
DOI Scopus10 WoS7
2022 Nursey-Bray, M., parsons, M., & Gienger, A. (2022). Urban nullius? Urban Indigenous People and Climate Change. Sustainability, 14, 1-16.
DOI

Year Citation
2025 Nursey-Bray, M., Yoneyama, S., Szorenyi, A., Grage, A., Hill, C., Gienger, A., & Storp, V. (2025). Situated ecologies of attention as a pathway for socially just climate policy. In H. Mahmoudi, & K. Seaman (Eds.), Global Climate Crisis (pp. 91-117). Edward Elgar.
DOI
2025 Nursey-Bray, M., Yoneyama, S., Szorenyi, A., Grage, A., Hill, C., Gienger, A., & Storp, V. (2025). Situated ecologies of attention as a pathway for socially just climate policy. In H. Mahmoudi, & K. Seaman (Eds.), Global Climate Crisis: Seeking Environmental Justice and Climate Equality (pp. 91-117). Edward Elgar Publishing.
DOI

Year Citation
2020 Nursey-Bray, M., Gienger, A., Amegavi, G., & Murgatroyd, S. (2020). Reconciliation Action Planning Northern and Yorke Region SA (1). Clare: Legatus Group and University of Adelaide.

Year Citation
2023 Gienger, A. (2023). Participation to Partnerships: An Exploration of Reconciliation, Co-management and their Interconnection in the South Australian Context. (PhD Thesis, University of Adelaide).

Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
2025 Co-Supervisor Negotiating empowerment inside the Indigenous Rangers Program in the Lake Eyre Basin (Australia). Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Maria Cristina Enjuto Crespo
2025 Co-Supervisor Negotiating empowerment inside the Indigenous Rangers Program in the Lake Eyre Basin (Australia). Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Maria Cristina Enjuto Crespo

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