DrLilian Pearce

I am an environmental humanities scholar working across fields of environmental history, human geography and ecology. My interdisciplinary place-based research focuses on environmental histories of mining, land access and governance, and geographies of conservation. My work with natural history collections brings together my background in science and my expertise in archival research and storytelling. I hold a Bachelor of Science with honours (UTAS) and a PhD in environmental history (ANU). 

My collaborative and applied approach and experience in consulting and public service roles helps my to directly translate my research into applied policy and practice. I have led long-term collaborations with First Nations' research partners, not-for-profits and community groups. I have contributed to two successful ARC DP applications, have demonstrated grant success from industry and philanthropic bodies and have experience managing donor partnerships and large interdisciplinary projects.

Focussed on enhancing both the profile and contribution of environmental history, I have held multiple positions in the Australian and Aotearoa New Zealand Environmental History Network and have a record of substantial public engagement. I am a regular presenter/facilitator at industry-led workshops, writing festivals, on radio, and at events in fields of ecology, environmental humanities and history. 

I have an established international readership and network, including my role as an inaugural member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the American-based Humans and Nature Press. My peer reviewed articles appear in top quartile journals in fields of history, geography and environmental management. I have published for a public audience in Aeon, The Griffith Review, The Conversation, and through invited essays and chapters in narrative non-fiction collections. My first book 'Grit: All that mining leaves behind' will be published in 2027 through Upswell Press; a project for which I have been awarded the 2025 Ann Moyal Non-Fiction Fellowship (Varuna National Writers' House) and the 2025 PF Rowland Memorial Fund (Foundation for Australian Literary Studies).