Alison Lullfitz

I am currently working on two 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); and
• Healing Land, Healing People: Novel Nyungar Perspectives (2020-2024, in partnership with Curtin University and Deakin University, funded by ARC).

Both projects are focused 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.

I work 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. I 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 my PhD in 2013, I worked in a variety of biodiversity conservation, environmental management and training roles in southwestern Australia and southern Africa. 

My 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.

I coordinate and co-teach ENVT5310 Biodiversity on Country with Professor Steve Hopper and Menang and Goreng Noongar Elders, and am currently or have co-supervised the following students:

• Cramp, 2020- (PhD.)
• McFarlane, 2020- (Hons)
• Heffernan, 2020- (Hons)
• Rodrigues, 2020- (Hons)
• Carey, 2020- (Masters prelim)
• Guislain, 2019- (Masters, University of Bristol).