Ms Rebecca McNaught
University Centre for Rural Health (Lismore)
Faculty of Medicine and Health
Rebecca McNaught is a Research Fellow - Rural and Remote Health with the Menzies School of Health Policy and Economics, School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health. She is based at the University Centre for Rural Health in Lismore, New South Wales. Rebecca brings over 20 years of experience working on climate change adaptation and disaster risk management across the Asia, Pacific and Middle East regions. Her recent PhD research has focused on collaborative governance of climate change and disasters in the Pacific Islands and the Northern Rivers NSW. Rebecca is a contributing author to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (contributing to the Small Islands and Climate Resilient Development Pathways chapters). She is a member of the 'Healthy Environments and Lives' network and Co-Chairs the 'Sustainability, Climate Change and Health Collaboration' - both of which aim to improve coordination and collaboration between researchers and practitioners. Locally, she is a member of the Northern Rivers Health and Wellbeing flood recovery sub-committee, President of the South Golden Beach/New Brighton/Ocean Shores Community Resilience Team and board member of Plan C, a local not-for-profit focusing on building community resilience in the Northern Rivers. She has led research on the implications of climate change, including migration, for low lying atolls in Temotu Province, Solomon Islands for the Australian Government. She has contributed to policy development, design of governance arrangements, been an advisor for the UN, the Red Cross Movement, the World Bank, governments and NGOs and has contributed to improving the accessibility of early warning systems for improving health and safety of communities in the Asia/Pacific region.
- Climate change adaptation
- Climate and disaster governance
- Community resilience building
- Community development
- Rural and remote health and wellbeing
- Disaster preparedness, response, recovery and risk reduction
- Public policy
- Collaborative governance
- Inclusive governance and decision making
- Climate and disaster resilient development pathways - including infrastructure
- Gendered dimensions of risk and participation
Nomination for Awards linked with Northern Rivers community flood recovery (2023): Women with Heart; Community Award Byron Shire Council; NSW Parents and Carers Association – Community Award
Global Innovations Award 2018, awarded to Pacific Risk Resilience Programme by the UNDP Innovations Facility. Featured in: “Moon Shots and Puddle Jumps: UNDP’s Innovation Facility Year in Review 2017/18”
Netherlands Climate Medal (for Dutch frontrunners in global climate solutions) 2012, awarded to Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre by Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands.
Publications
Journals
- McDonald, M., Park, S., Anantharajah, K., Burke, A., Celermajer, D., Evans, M., Eckersley, R., Gulliver, R., McNaught, R., Morgan, W., Schlosberg, D. (2024). Ecological Crises and Ecopolitics Research in Australia. Australian Journal of Politics and History. [More Information]
- Bailie, J., Matous, P., Apelt, B., Longman, J., McNaught, R., Morgan, G., Ekanayake, K., Bailie, R. (2024). Flooding and health in Australia: a scoping review and coauthorship analysis of published research. BMJ Open, 14(12), e089039. [More Information]
- McNaught, R., Nalau, J., Hales, R., Pittaway, E., Handmer, J., Renouf, J. (2024). Innovation and deadlock in governing disasters and climate change collaboratively - Lessons from the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 105, 104366. [More Information]
Report
- McNaught, R., Renouf, J. (2023). Community Carer and Responder Program - an evaluation of progress to date.
- Nalau, J., McNaught, R., Dalesa, M. (2020). "Vanuatu" in A Pacific Disaster Prevention Review.
- Morgan, W., McNaught, R., Baker, S., Manoa, F., Tarai, J. (2020). Building together: Seven principles for engaging civil society to deliver resilient, inclusive and sustainable infrastructure in the Pacific islands.
2024
- McDonald, M., Park, S., Anantharajah, K., Burke, A., Celermajer, D., Evans, M., Eckersley, R., Gulliver, R., McNaught, R., Morgan, W., Schlosberg, D. (2024). Ecological Crises and Ecopolitics Research in Australia. Australian Journal of Politics and History. [More Information]
- Bailie, J., Matous, P., Apelt, B., Longman, J., McNaught, R., Morgan, G., Ekanayake, K., Bailie, R. (2024). Flooding and health in Australia: a scoping review and coauthorship analysis of published research. BMJ Open, 14(12), e089039. [More Information]
- McNaught, R., Nalau, J., Hales, R., Pittaway, E., Handmer, J., Renouf, J. (2024). Innovation and deadlock in governing disasters and climate change collaboratively - Lessons from the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 105, 104366. [More Information]
2023
- McNaught, R., Renouf, J. (2023). Community Carer and Responder Program - an evaluation of progress to date.
2022
- McNaught, R., McGregor, K., Kensen, M., Hales, R., Nalau, J. (2022). Visualising the invisible: collaborative approaches to local-level resilient development in the Pacific Islands region. Commonwealth Journal of Local Governance, (26), 28-52. [More Information]
2020
- Nalau, J., McNaught, R., Dalesa, M. (2020). "Vanuatu" in A Pacific Disaster Prevention Review.
- Morgan, W., McNaught, R., Baker, S., Manoa, F., Tarai, J. (2020). Building together: Seven principles for engaging civil society to deliver resilient, inclusive and sustainable infrastructure in the Pacific islands.
2016
- Warrick, O., Aalbersberg, W., Dumaru, P., McNaught, R., Teperman, K. (2016). The ‘Pacific Adaptive Capacity Analysis Framework’: guiding the assessment of adaptive capacity in Pacific island communities. Regional Environmental Change, 17, 1039-1051. [More Information]
Selected Grants
2024
- Reimagining resilience in disaster scholarship, policy and practice in Australia: lessons from building a community resilience alliance in the Northern Rivers, NSW., McNaught R, Haworth B, Sydney Environment Institute/SEIs Collaborative Fellowship
- Develop an indicator to track climate change impact on health inequity to inform policy change: Based on multi-dimensional big data and multidisciplinary climate risk assessment, Bakar K, Wu L, Sohail A, McNaught R, Zhang Y, Office of Global Engagement/Ignition Grants
In the media
'When disaster strikes emergency responders can't respond to every call, communities must be helped to help themselves' The Conversation, 21 Dec 2023.
'Preparing for the unpredictable: communities organising to reduce disaster risk', Sydney Environment Institute Seminar and Podcast, October 2023
'Laying the foundations for co-creation', Collaboratory Podcast, Spotify, September 2022
https://open.spotify.com/episode/64O79kxDsRboF8pu9RF6tN
Commentary on launch of NSW Flood Inquiry, JJJ Hack (segment begins at 15 minutes, 40 seconds), August 2022
https://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/hack/14016726
'Is there an art to multi-stakeholder collaboration for resilient development in the Pacific region?', Griffith Asia Insights, Griffith Asia Institute, 2020
'Building together: civil society a key partner in delivering Pacific infrastructure' Dev Policy blog 25 Feb 2020