Dr Katie Woolaston
Faculty of Business & Law,
School of Law
Biography
Katie Woolaston is an inter-disciplinary researcher, lawyer and Senior Lecturer in the School of Law at QUT. She holds a Masters in Law (specialising in Human Rights & Social Justice) from the University of New South Wales, and a PhD in Environmental Law from Griffith University. Dr Woolaston’s research is focused on international and domestic wildlife law and the regulation of the human-wildlife relationship. She is particularly interested in using the social sciences to resolve long-held and deeply-rooted attitudes and values that are contrary to conservation and embedding such processes in law and policy. Dr Woolaston’s current research is focused on human-wildlife conflicts, and the integration of One Health approaches in wildlife trade and environmental policy in the wake of COVID-19. She was an expert on the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) panel concerning Biodiversity and Pandemics, and is on the Technical Advisory Group of the United Nations Environment Program 'Nature4Health' Initiative. She is an Associate Editor of the Asia-Pacific Journal of Environmental Law, and Vice-President of Australia’s National Environmental Law Association. Her first book, titled ‘Ecological Vulnerability: The Law and Governance of Human-Wildlife Relationships’ was published by Cambridge University Press in 2022.Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Personal details
Positions
- Senior Lecturer
Faculty of Business & Law,
School of Law
Keywords
Environmental Law, ILGG, International Law, Wildlife Law, Vulnerability Theory, Ecofeminism
Research field
Other law and legal studies
Field of Research code, Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC), 2020
Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy (Griffith University)
- Master of Laws Human Rights and Social Justice (University of New South Wales)
Professional memberships and associations
- Director - National Environmental Law Association
- Associate Editor - Asia-Pacific Journal of Environmental Law
- Member - IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law
- Member - International Law Association (Australian Branch)
- Adjunct Research Fellow - Law Futures Centre, Griffith University
Teaching
Katie is currently teaching:
- LLB 102: Torts
- LLB 141: Introduction to International Law
- LLB 247: Animal Law
Experience
Katie has undertaken media engagements on the issue of human-wildlife conflict. A selection of these media engagements if available below.
- In 2019, she was interviewed on ABC Gold Coast and ABC Brisbane Radio, on the topic of dingo attacks on K'Gari Fraser Island.
- Fraser Island tourists to cop about $10,000 fine for feeding dingoes
- Featured on 'Radical Philosophy' Program on Melbourne 3CR
- Pangolin trade highlights loopholes in rules to prevent spread of animal viruses
- Are we ignoring the hard truths about the most likely cause of COVID-19?
- Conspiracy, cover-up or distraction: the lab leak theory is back
She also published the following articles in The Conversation:
Publications
- Woolaston, K., (2018). A voice for wild animals: Collaborative governance and human-wildlife conflict. Alternative Law Journal, 43(4), 257–262. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/128344
- Deane, F. & Woolaston, K. (2017). Coal mines and wild law: a judgment for the climate. In N. Rogers & M. Maloney (Eds.), Law as if earth really mattered: The wild law judgement project (Law, Justice and Ecology) (pp. 125–142). Routledge. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/110751
- Hamman, E., Woolaston, K. & Lewis, B. (2016). Legal responses to human-wildlife conflict: The precautionary principle, risk analysis and the 'lethal management' of endangered species. IUCN Academy of Environmental Law eJournal, 7, 57–83. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/99924
- Woolaston, K. & Hamman, E. (2015). The operation of the precautionary principle in Australian environmental law: An examination of the Western Australian White shark drum line program. Environmental and Planning Law Journal, 32(4), 327–345. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/100886
- Hamman, E., Woolaston, K., Koroglu, R., Johnson, H. & Lewis, B. (2015). Managing the impacts of sugarcane farming on the Great Barrier Reef: An evaluation of the implementation of the Polluter Pays Principle. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/90024
- Hamman, E., Woolaston, K., Koroglu, R., Johnson, H., Lewis, B., Evans, B. & Maguire, R. (2014). The effectiveness of the Precautionary Principle in protecting Australia's endangered species: Testing methods for evaluating environmental law - Final Report. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/92562
QUT ePrints
For more publications by Katie, explore their research in QUT ePrints (our digital repository).