Amelia completed a dual undergraduate degree in Arts/Science with majors in Economics, Philosophy and Geographical Sciences and has a strong interest in interdisciplinary studies. She is passionate about helping to reconcile contentions between economic growth and preservation of the environment, and her joint honours project within conservation science/philosophy has enabled her to look at a specific area of this. One aspect of the research  brought together a philosophical dimension of neo-classical economics and the fundamental theoretical challenges it faces when dealing with valuation of the environment (such as intangible ecosystem services). The other aspect was finding out what sort of links exist between attitude and value strength (measured as divergence in scores of opposing attitudes/values) and people’s willingness to donate to ecosystem restoration projects.

Amelia been fortunate to have travelled to a number of countries so far and been inspired by stunning and unique landscapes and ecologies all around the world. However, she has also seen how a lack of environmental policy, infrastructure and social awareness can have devastating effects on natural systems and this became particularly apparent to her during time spent on environmental internship in Kathmandu Valley. She hopes to develop a career which involves helping to influence policy and increase environmental awareness, to help solve wide-scale issues of environmental degradation, over-consumption and loss of natural habitat.

Honours student, University of Queensland, 2017