DrErin Hawley

Erin is an expert in environmental communication for young audiences. She has made unique scholarly contributions to the field of environmental communication through her interest in children’s environmental media as a configuration of cultural meanings about ‘childhood’ and ‘nature’. Her work also explores children’s media as a facilitator of environmental literacy in troubled times. Erin is the author of Environmental Communication for Children: Media, Young Audiences, and the More-than-Human World (2022), published by Palgrave Macmillan.

Erin leads innovative, student-centred teaching in the Master of Communication and has achieved multiple teaching awards including the Vice Chancellor’s Award for Teaching Excellence (2024) and two Faculty awards for curriculum innovation and design (2023 and 2022). During her time at Deakin she has contributed to leadership in a number of roles including Head of Academic Group, Communication (2025) and Course Director, Master of Communication (2021–2024). Erin is currently the Associate Head of School, Teaching and Learning (Operations) for the School of Communication and Creative Arts.