Thomas Wanner

Research Interests

Climate Change Processes

Dr Thomas Wanner

Senior Lecturer

School of Society and Culture

College of Education, Behavioural and Social Sciences

Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD - email supervisor to discuss availability.

I am a Senior Lecturer in Development Studies within the School of Social Sciences at the University of Adelaide; and the convenor of the Bachelor of International Development, and the Honours program for International Development. As a political economist/political ecologist, my main research interests include the human-nature relationship and socio-cultural change to move towards more ecologically sustainable and equitable economies and societies. I am also researching about teaching and learning in higher education with a particular focus on critical pedagogies, flexible learning and assessment, student as partners, and education for sustainability.I welcome inquiries from Masters and PhD candidates interested in: Climate Change Governance at international and national levels; Forests and climate change adaptation; Gender and Development; International politics and Sustainable Development Goals; climate change and energy security; Education for Sustainability; Religion and Development; Development theories; Political ecology and Sustainability.Email me if you need supervision.

  • Political economy of environment and development
  • Climate Change Governance
  • Climate change adaptation with a particular focus on the role of forests
  • Gender and Development
  • International development and Sustainable Development Goals
  • Education for Sustainability
  • Critical pedagogies
  • Flexible learning and assessment

I am chair of the Sustainability Education Research Group. Email me if you want to join.

Date Position Institution name
2016 - ongoing Senior Lecturer University of Adelaide, Adelaide
2008 - 2015 Lecturer University of Adelaide, Adelaide
2001 - 2007 Lecturer A Flinders University

Date Type Title Institution Name Country Amount
2024 Award National Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning Universities Australia Australia -
2023 Award School of Education Research Excellence Award - Interdisciplinary Team Award University of Adelaide Australia -
2022 Award Faculty of Arts, Business, Laws and Economics, Award for Teaching Excellence Award University of Adelaide Australia $6,000
2021 Teaching Award Stephen Cole the Elder Award for Excellence in Teaching and Support for Learning University of Adelaide Australia $8000
2016 Teaching Award Teaching Excellence Award University of Adelaide Australia 2,000
2016 Teaching Award Beacon Commendation for Excellence in Teaching University of Adelaide Australia 3,000

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

Date Institution name Country Title
1998 - 2004 Flinders University, Adelaide Australia PhD
1990 - 1995 University of Tasmania, Hobart Australia Bachelor of Arts (Honours)
1985 - 1988 Universitaet Hohenheim Germany Bachelor Agricultural Science

Date Title Institution name Country
2011 Graduate Certificate in Online Learning (Higher Education) University of Adelaide, Adelaide Australia

Year Citation
2023 Kidane, R., Wanner, T., & Nursey-Bray, M. (2023). Overcoming barriers to climate change adaptation policy implementation: insights from Ethiopia. International Development Planning Review, 45(2), 1-27.
DOI Scopus5 WoS3
2022 Kidane, R., Wanner, T., Nursey-Bray, M., Masud-All-Kamal, M., & Atampugre, G. (2022). The Role of Climatic and Non-Climatic Factors in Smallholder Farmers’ Adaptation Responses: Insights from Rural Ethiopia. Sustainability, 14(9), 20 pages.
DOI Scopus11 WoS9
2022 Kidane, R., Wanner, T., Nursey-Bray, M., Kamal, M., & Atampugre, G. (2022). The Role of Climatic and Non-Climatic Factors in Smallholder Farmers’ Adaptation Responses: Insights from Rural Ethiopia. Sustainability, (14), 5715-5735.
DOI
2021 Wanner, T., Palmer, E., & Palmer, D. (2021). Flexible assessment and student empowerment: advantages and disadvantages–research from an Australian university. Teaching in Higher Education, 29(2), 1-17.
DOI Scopus23 WoS16
2019 Nursey-Bray, M., Palmer, R., Meyer-Mclean, B., Wanner, T., & Birzer, C. (2019). The fear of not flying: Achieving sustainable academic plane travel in higher education based on insights from South Australia. Sustainability (Switzerland), 11(9), 22 pages.
DOI Scopus62 WoS47
2018 Wanner, T., & Palmer, E. (2018). Formative self-and peer assessment for improved student learning: the crucial factors of design, teacher participation and feedback. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 43(7), 1032-1047.
DOI Scopus167 WoS119
2017 Garcia, A., & Wanner, T. (2017). Gender inequality and food security: lessons from the gender-responsive work of the International Food Policy Research Institute and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Food Security, 9(5), 1091-1103.
DOI Scopus25 WoS18
2017 Power, S., & Wanner, T. (2017). Improving Sanitation in the Slums of Mumbai: An Analysis of Human Rights-Based Approaches for NGOs. Asian Studies Review, 41(2), 209-226.
DOI Scopus10 WoS10
2017 Garrett, B., & Wanner, T. (2017). Aid for trade and ecologically sustainable development in Australia’s international aid program. Australian Journal of International Affairs, 71(6), 661-677.
DOI Scopus3 WoS3
2017 Wanner, T. K. (2017). Editorial: Empowerment through teaching and learning. Ergo, 4(1), 1-3.
2017 Wanner, T. K. (2017). Editorial: Empowerment through teaching and learning. Ergo, 4(1), 1-3.
2015 Wanner, T., & Palmer, E. (2015). Personalising learning: exploring student and teacher perceptions about flexible learning and assessment in a flipped university course. Computers and Education, 88, 354-369.
DOI Scopus368 WoS261
2015 Wanner, T., & Wadham, B. (2015). Men and masculinities in international development: ‘men-streaming’ gender and development?. Development Policy Review, 33(1), 15-32.
DOI Scopus19 WoS11
2015 Wanner, T. (2015). The new ‘passive revolution’ of the green economy and growth discourse: maintaining the ‘sustainable development’ of neoliberal capitalism. New Political Economy, 20(1), 21-41.
DOI Scopus212 WoS173
2012 Wanner, T., & Rosser, A. (2012). Building neo-liberal markets and other agendas: the politics of risk management at AusAID. Journal of Contemporary Asia, 42(3), 447-463.
DOI Scopus2 WoS1
2009 Wanner, T. (2009). Climate change policies in Australia: Gender equality, power and knowledge. Proceedings of World Academy of Science, Engineering & Technology, 54, 432-438.
2009 Wanner, T. (2009). Men-streaming food security: Gender, biodiversity and ecological sustainability. International Journal of Environmental, Cultural, Economic and Social Sustainability, 5, 1-9.
2008 Wanner, T. (2008). Leaving green footprints: South Australia's strategic plan and ecological footprint. South Australian Geographical Journal, 107, 86-102.

Year Citation
2014 Carroll, T., & Jarvis, D. S. L. (Eds.) (2014). The Politics of Marketising Asia. Palgrave Macmillan UK.
DOI

Year Citation
2024 Wanner, T., & Siefken, K. (2024). HARNESSING SPORT FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS AND CLIMATE ACTION: A VANUATU CASE STUDY. In Y. Kanemasu (Ed.), Research in the Sociology of Sport (Vol. 22, pp. 205-224). Emerald Publishing Limited.
DOI
2021 Wanner, T. (2021). Foreign aid, the soft power of sport, and the Sustainable Development Goals: An analysis of Australia’s sport for development in the Pacific program. In K. Siefken, A. R. Varela, T. Waqanivalu, & N. Schulenkorf (Eds.), Physical Activity in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (pp. 109-126). Abingdon, Oxfordshire, UK: Routledge.
DOI
2021 Kidane, R., Wanner, T., & Nursey-Bray, M. (2021). Understanding the Climatic and Non-climatic Drivers of Livelihood Vulnerability in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. In M. Alam, M. Erdiaw-Kwasie, G. Nagy, & W. Leal Fihlo (Eds.), Climate Vulnerability and Resilience in the Global South (pp. 279-296). Switzerland: Springer Nature.
DOI Scopus3
2020 Wanner, T. K., & Wanner, S. L. (2020). The tensions between philosophies of education and critical pedagogies in neoliberal higher education: implications for learning and teaching practices. In A. Jones, A. Olds, & J. Lisciandro (Eds.), Transitioning Students into Higher Education:- Philosophies, Pedagogies and Practice (pp. 127-136). London, United Kingdom: Abingdon, Oxon; United Kingdom.
DOI
2015 Bonham, J., Bacchi, C., & Wanner, T. (2015). Gender and cycling: Gendering cycling subjects and forming bikes, practices and spaces as gendered objects. In J. Bonham, & M. Johnson (Eds.), Cycling Futures (pp. 179-201). Adelaide: University of Adelaide Press.
DOI
2014 Ferguson, L., Elias, J., & Wanner, T. (2014). Gender and development. In H. Weber (Ed.), The politics of development: a survey (1 ed., pp. 69-87). New York: Routledge.
DOI Scopus1
2014 Wanner, T. K., & Rosser, A. (2014). Building Neo-liberal Markets and Other Agendas: The Politics of Risk Management at AusAID. In T. Carroll, & D. S. L. Jarvis (Eds.), The Politics of Marketising Asia (1st ed., pp. 145-161). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
2007 Wanner, T. (2007). The Bank's Greenspeak and Sustainable Development. In David Moore (Ed.), The World Bank: Development, Poverty, Hegemony (pp. 145-170). South Africa: University of Kwazulu Natal Press.
- Siefken, K., Varela, A. R., Waqanivalu, T., & Schulenkorf, N. (2021). Physical Activity in Low- and Middle-Income Countries. Routledge.
DOI

Year Citation
2016 Wanner, T., & Palmer, E. (2016). From flipped to flopped to flexible classrooms in higher education? – Critical reflections from Australia. In ASCILITE 2016 - Conference Proceedings - 33rd International Conference of Innovation, Practice and Research in the Use of Educational Technologies in Tertiary Education: Show Me the Learning (pp. 605-610).
Scopus5

2024: Faculty of Arts, Business, Law and Economics Interdisciplinary Research Grant: $10,000: Enhancing students' academic skills by embedding the use of generative AI into courses

2023: Faculty of Arts, Business, Law and Economics: Teaching and Learning Grant: $10,000: Enhancing the first-year experience for DEVT 1001 Introduction to International Development.

2022: Higher Education Research and Development Society Australasia (HERDSA) Grant: $5000. Project: Enhancing the Effectiveness of Communities of Practice as Knowledge Sharing and Academic Development tool

2020: Higher Education Research and Development Society Australasia (HERDSA) Grant: $3600. Project: Personalising Student Experience and Learning through Personal Learning Plans: Understanding student approaches to learning.

2019: New Colombo Plan Mobility Grant; Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT),  Government of Australia:  $88,500 for Vietnam Study Tour in 2020.

2018: New Colombo Plan Mobility Grant; DFAT, Government of Australia: $88,500 for Vietnam Study Tour in 2019.

2017: Australia-Vietnam Researcher Exchange Program; DFAT, Government of Australia: $10,000.

2017: Ecoversity Grant, University of Adelaide; Project: Academic Plane travel.

2017: Evaluating Small Group Discovery Experiences in the Faculty of Arts; University of Adelaide grant: $20,000

2016: Faculty Research Active Grant Scheme (FRAGS); Faculty of Arts, University of Adelaide: $5,000. Project: 'Australia's role in Carbon partnerships in Asia-Pacific region'. 

2014: Teaching Innovation Grant, University of Adelaide. Project: 'Developing Online Learning Modules'.

 

Courses taught at undergraduate level:

DEVT 1001 Introduction to International Development

DEVT 2004 Environment and Development (advanced level)

DEVT 2004EX Environment and Development (Online course)

DEVT 3007 Climate Change and Sustainable Development (advanced)

DEVT 3004EX Vietnam Study Tour: International Development in Practice

DEVT 3008 International Development Research Project (capstone)

DEVT 4006 Theories and Contested Concepts in International Development (Honours level)

Previously taught courses:

2010-2018:  Geographies of Globalisation (1st year)

2010-2019:   Governance & Sustainable Development (advanced)

2008-2018:   People & the Environment in the Asia-Pacific region (Master)

2008-2012:   Environmental Impact Assessment

                           

 

                    

Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
2023 Co-Supervisor Will living standards improve if donor agencies prioritise TVET demand driven programs in developing countries over other education sector investments? Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Simon John Fraser
2023 Co-Supervisor The Roles and Impacts of Small Private Online Courses (SPOCs) for Online Flexible Learning in Chinese Higher Education Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Yali Chen
2023 Co-Supervisor Will living standards improve if donor agencies prioritise TVET demand driven programs in developing countries over other education sector investments? Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Simon John Fraser
2023 Co-Supervisor The Roles and Impacts of Small Private Online Courses (SPOCs) for Online Flexible Learning in Chinese Higher Education Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Yali Chen

Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
2021 - 2022 Principal Supervisor The Role of Gender in Post-Disaster Recovery and Disaster Risk Governance in Nepal: Examining Links Between Women, Institutions and Capacity-Building Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Miss Natasha Jane Mackintosh
2019 - 2020 Principal Supervisor State Power and Environmental NGOs in South Australia: Moving Towards a Sustainable Society? Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Mrs Meagan Rosaghna Magnusson
2018 - 2022 Principal Supervisor Sport and Livelihoods of Young People in Suva, Fiji: A Sustainable Livelihoods Analysis Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Steven John Evanson
2018 - 2023 Co-Supervisor Management of Climate-Stressed Wetlands to Create Climate Resilience of Bangladeshi Wetland Communities Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Syed Mohammad Aminur Rahman
2016 - 2019 Co-Supervisor Exploring the Nexus Between Corporate Environmental Responsibility and Regulatory Oversight in Ghana's Upstream Petroleum Industry Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Derrick Martin Adjei Sowa
2016 - 2019 Co-Supervisor Mining, Power and Sustainable Development: Micro-Politics of Benefits Sharing in Ghana Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Jerome Jeffison Yaw Ofori
2016 - 2018 Co-Supervisor Democratic Decentralisation and Good Governance: The Political Economy of Procurement Reform in Decentralised Indonesia Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Mochamad Mustafa
2016 - 2021 Co-Supervisor Grassroots Social Resistance Movements: The Influence of Conflict Narratives in Relation to Mining Policy Development in Australia and the United Kingdom Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Bridie Meyer-McLean
2015 - 2019 Principal Supervisor Smallholder Farmers' Perceptions of Climate Change, Vulnerability and Adaptation in the Context of Multiple Factors in the Tigray region of Ethiopia Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Rahwa Gebremedhine Kidane
2015 - 2018 Co-Supervisor Sustaining Off-Reserve Forests in Ghana: A Game-Theoretic Approach Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Emmanuel Otutei

Date Role Membership Country
2011 - ongoing Member Association for Learning Technology (ALT) United Kingdom
2010 - ongoing Member Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia (HERDSA) Australia
2009 - ongoing Member Higher Education Research Group Adelaide HERGA Australia

Date Role Editorial Board Name Institution Country
2020 - 2021 Associate Editor Sustainability MDPI Open Access Journal Switzerland
2016 - 2017 Editor Ergo University of Adelaide Australia

Date Topic Presented at Institution Country
2023 - 2023 The Effectiveness of Communities of Practice as Knowledge sharing tool HERGA Conference 2023 Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia (HERDSA) Australia
2023 - ongoing Flexible and personalised assessment: lessons from students’ views and experiences Festival of Learning and Teaching University of Adelaide Australia
2023 - 2023 The 7 E-Model of Enquiry-based learning Festival of Learning and Teaching University of Adelaide Australia
2022 - 2022 Personalising Student Experience and Learning through Personal Learning Plans: Understanding student approaches to learning HERDSA Conference 2022 Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia (HERDSA) Australia
2018 - 2018 Student attitudes towards group work HERDSA Conference Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia (HERDSA) Australia
2016 - 2016 From Flipped to Flopped to Flexible classrooms in Higher Education Ascilite Conference Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education (Ascilite) Australia
2015 - 2015 Self-and Peer Assessment: Student views and experiences HERGA Conference Higher Education Research Group Adelaide (HERGA) Australia
2015 - 2015 Flexible pedagogies and practices: Enhancing graduate capabilities and employability through flexible teaching and learning? HERDSA Conference Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia (HERDSA) Australia
2013 - 2013 Parallel Universes: Pedagogies and Student-Teacher Expectations in Online vs On-campus teaching and learning environments HERGA Conference Higher Education Research Group Adelaide (HERGA) Australia
2012 - 2012 The Power of PowerPoint: Enhancing student engagement in higher education through just-in-time teaching and blended learning ALT Conference Association for Learning Technology (UK) United Kingdom

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