Alison works as a Research Associate based at UWA Albany, often in close collaboration with Indigenous Elders to increase implementation of traditional ecological knowledge to contemporary biodiversity conservation and societal wellbeing. Alison completed a PhD in 2019 entitled Vegetation Responses to Noongar Land Management Practices in Old and Young Landscapes of South Western Australia. This collaborative field-based botanical research project combined traditional knowledge of Noongar Elders, contemporary botanical survey techniques, and plant genetics analysis.
Prior to commencing her PhD in 2013, Alison worked in a variety of biodiversity conservation, environmental management and training roles in southwestern Australia and southern Africa.
Alison’s research interests are cross-cultural ecology and conservation biology, in particular:
- Human interactions with landscapes and plant communities
- Two-way science and collaborative research approaches
- Application of traditional ecological knowledge to contemporary biodiversity conservation.
Current projects
Alison is currently working on four projects:
- Walking Together: applying Noongar traditional ecological knowledge to modern natural resource management (2020-2024, in partnership with South Coast NRM and funded by Lotterywest);
- Healing Land, Healing People: Novel Nyungar Perspectives (2020-2024, in partnership with Curtin University and Deakin University, funded by ARC);
- Caring for Country, people and communities through Noongar cultural burning (2022-2024; funded by National Disaster Risk Reduction program); and
- PEAT: protecting peatland ecosystms and addressing threats in southwestern Australia (2022-2026; funded by Ian Potter Foundation).
All projects are collaborations with Noongar/Nyungar community and included focus on conserving Noongar/Nyungar traditional ecological knowledge in south western Australia, facilitating both its application and re-empowerment of Indigenous peoples to manage traditional country.
Dr Alison Lullfitz is co-lead of the Ecohealth Research Theme of the ARC Training Centre for Healing Country with Associate Professor Jonathan Bullen.