Steven Cork
Honorary Associate Professor, RE&D program
Steven Cork is an ecologist and futurist. As an ecologist he spent 25 years in CSIRO researching the interactions between humans and the natural environment around the world. As a futurist he played a leading role in developing scenarios for the World’s social-ecological futures for the United Nations’ Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and has run similar projects with government and non-government groups around Australia. He has worked extensively as an advisor to governments on policy issues and as a government employee developing and implementing environmental policy. He now works privately as a futurist, strategist and ecological advisor as the Principal Consultant of EcoInsights and leads a project on the resilience of Australia in the private sustainability R&D organisation Australia21. He is also Director of Australia21. As an Associate of Interaction Consulting he facilitates workshops on strategic thinking for public servants. He is an Adjunct Professor in the Crawford School of Public Policy at the Australian National University. He was Deputy Chair of the committee that prepared the 2011 National State of the Environment Report.
Dr Cork has over twenty-five years experience as an ecologist, including over two decades as a researcher at CSIRO, and twelve years experience as a futurist. He has an impressive list of publications and extensive experience as a consultant on a wide range of policy issues. Dr Cork aslo contributes actively to public debates on environmental issues in Australia. He brings this combined expertise to his teaching, supervision, and research at the Crawford School, making a highly significant contribution.