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Robyn Bartel (Distinguished Fellowship) Citation

Presented in absentia 3 July 2025 at IAG2025 Conference Dinner, Newcastle.

Professor Robyn Bartel has been one of the most impactful scholars and leaders in Australian geography over the past decade. Since May, 2023, Robyn has been Professor of Human Geography in the School of Social Sciences, Monash University, and is currently serving as Deputy Dean (Education) in the Faculty of Arts at Monash.

Professor Bartels’ distinguished contributions to geography and to the Australian Institute of Geographers include being - founder of the Legal Geography Study Group (2009), an IAG Councillor (2010-2012), Honorary Secretary of the IAG (2012-2018), President from 2020-2022 (with two years on each side as a Vice President), and being an ongoing member of the Editorial Board of the IAG’s flagship journal Geographical Research since 2014. Her current contributions in Victoria include working towards the establishment of Geography Victoria, a state-based geographical organisation, which fills a crucial gap in the geographical institutional landscape in that state. There is widespread acknowledgement among the geographical community in Australia that Robyn has handled all roles with poise, humour and wisdom, and has in many ways redefined each role to adjust to emerging technologies, the diverse needs of geographers, and to wider social, legal and political change.

Professor Bartels’ education includes a PhD (Univ. of Melb.), Master of Higher Education (ANU) and a BSc (H1)/LLB (ANU). She was awarded the University Medal in Geography by ANU in 1997. Her PhD thesis entitled ‘On the Side of the Trees: The Regulation of Land Clearance in Australia’ was completed at the University of Melbourne and placed second in the Chancellor's Prize for Excellence in 2004. Professor Bartel was previously employed at the University of New England from 2005-2023. Between 2014 and 2023 she served on the UNE Academic Board’s executive and in various other governance- related roles, stepping down in 2023 from her position as Chair of Academic Board. Robyn is also active in geography and urban planning, being a member of the Planning Institute of Australia. Her educational and research contributions in the fields of legal geography, environment and sustainability are shaping the sub-disciplines and fostering a new generation of students passionate about these areas of geography.

In her various roles Professor Bartel has made immense contributions to geographical education. During the development of the Australian Curriculum: Geography between 2010-2013, Professor Bartel was a central critical friend and advocate from the academic geographical community. Her insights about the discipline and willingness to provide clear, comprehensive, well-considered and scholarly feedback to curriculum drafts through both national and targeted consultation processes enabled teachers, curriculum officers, and the appointed advisory group and writing team to move forward meaningfully with the provided advice. During Robyn’s leadership of IAG in her various executive roles, she has kept the role of the Institute in progressing geographic education and the discipline at the front of her thinking, for example, through an emphasis on succession planning and through long-term advocacy for the participation of IAG delegates in Science Meets Parliament. While at UNE, Robyn designed from scratch the “sector-leading and award-winning Bachelor of Sustainability, a trans-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary collaboration bringing the sciences, arts and humanities together in common purpose, providing a unique opportunity for students to develop holistic capacity to contribute to sustainability.” This was innovative, with UNE being “the first university in Australia to offer a Bachelor of Sustainability” that commenced in 2011.

Her contributions as Secretary and President of the IAG were immense. She became Secretary in 2012 at a time of change of all leadership positions in the IAG. Robyn modernised the role while respecting what had been done previously. She provided efficient and reliable guidance, with a great sense of humour,and ensured the effective operations of the IAG at a crucial time in the organisation’s history.

Her record keeping and passing on of information (“Robyn’s list”) has been an invaluable foundation for people commencing new roles in the IAG. As President (2020-2022) she led the organisation with effective and inclusive leadership, fostering debates about important issues and encouraging the emergence of a new generation of geographers. She also led the important conversation and subsequent updating of the IAG’s constitution. In addition to her Geographical Research contributions, Robyn was also on the organising committee for the IAG Annual Conference in Armidale in 2022.

Robyn’s research productivity and impact includes a long track record of publications and grant acquisition. She is at the forefront of the growing field of legal geography, particularly in relation to environmental management with regard to sustainability, Indigenous issues and climate change, and this is very significant given Australia’s intellectual prominence in this area and the salience of this topic. Publications of note include three books;

  • Bartel, R. and J. Carter. 2021. Handbook of Space, Place and Law. Edward Elgar.
  • Bartel, R., M. Branagan, F. Utley and S. Harris. 2021. Rethinking Wilderness and the Wild: Conflict, Conservation and Co-existence, Routledge.
  • Bartel, R., Noble, L., Williams, J. and Harris, S. 2018 Water Policy, Imagination and Innovation. Routledge.

Her recent co-edited publications highlight Robyn’s important role in setting the intellectual direction of this field and promoting the work of other scholars. Robyn has been awarded recognition, including for her research performance evidenced by the 2013 National award AELERT Achievement Award (the highest award given by the Australasian Environmental Law and Regulators Network, AELERT), and in 2009 receiving a UNE Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Outstanding Interdisciplinary Innovation for her sustainability leadership and research.

It is the qualities of dedication, humour, collegiality and a passion for knowledge and the desire to have a positive impact, that Robyn brings to her research, teaching and service and leadership activities that stand her in high esteem within the geography community. It is, therefore, fitting that the IAG recognises her distinguished service to geography and to her contributions in furthering the aims of the IAG.

References

Bartel, R.L., (2002) On the Side of the Trees: Regulating Land Clearance in Australia (Doctoral dissertation, University of Melbourne, Department of Geomatics, Faculty of Engineering).

Bartel, R.,(2016), Legal Geography, Geography and the research-policy nexus, Geographical Research, 54(3): 233-244. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-5871.12159

Bartel, R., (2019), Academic Freedom: an invitation to promote its advancement, Geographical Research. 57(3): 359-367. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-5871.12350

Bartel, R., Branagan, M., Utley, F., & Harris, S. (Eds.) (2021). Rethinking Wilderness and the Wild: Conflict, Conservation and Co-Existence, 1st edn, (Routledge Studies in Conservation and the Environment Series), Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429299025

Bartel, R., & Carter, J., (Eds.) (2021), Handbook on Space, Place and Law, 1st edn, Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham UK. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781788977203

Bartel, R., & Carter, J. (2021). Where to from here? From law to place and back again. In R. Bartel, & J. Carter (Eds.), Handbook on Space, Place and Law (pp. 382-400). Edward Elgar Publishing.

Bartel, R. & Graham, N., (2016), Property and place attachment: a legal geographical analysis of biodiversity law reform in New South Wales, Geographical Research. 54(3): 267-284. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-5871.12151

Bartel, R. & Graham, N., (2022). Place in legal geography: Agency and application in agriculture research. Geographical Research, 61(2): 193-206. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-5871.12566

Bartel, R., Graham, N., Jackson, S., Prior, J., Robinson, D., Sherval, M. & Williams, S., (2013), Legal Geography: An Australian Perspective, Geographical Research 51(4): 339-353. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-5871.12035

Bartel, R., Noble, L., Williams, J.A. & Harris, S., (Eds.) 2018, Water Policy, Imagination and Innovation: Interdisciplinary Approaches, Routledge, Abingdon Oxon UK, 270 p.

Graham, N. & Bartel, R., (2016), Special issue: legal geography/ies, Geographical Research, 54(3):231-232. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-5871.12195

Monash University (2025), Leadership team, accessed 22 March 2025, <https://www.monash.edu/arts/about/leadership-team>.

Monash University (2025), Personal profile, Robyn Bartel, accessed 22 March 2025, <https://research.monash.edu/en/persons/robyn-bartel?_gl=1*r7pd7s*_ga*MTc1MzQxNDQzOC4xNzQz MzAxNjE4*_ga_TJHVHP6MYH*MTc0MzMwNjcwMC4yLjEuMTc0MzMwNjcxOS4wLjAuMA>.

Routledge Taylor and Francis Group (2025), Biography, Featured Author Robyn Bartel, accessed 22 March 2025, <https://www.routledge.com/authors/i16795-robyn-bartel?srsltid=AfmBOorJBZoUiMTLaW1lVneR9YjkPBlf-%20chnRD5yaEM9qHjw0CVWOE->.

University of New England, (2023), Academic Board change of guard, by Estelle Boshoff, Pulse News accessed 22 March 2025, <https://blog.une.edu.au/pulsenews/2023/05/18/academic-board-change-of-guard/>.

University of New England (2025), Staff Profile, Professor Robyn Bartel, accessed 22 March 2025, <https://www.une.edu.au/staff-profiles/hass/rbartel>.


Nominees:

Professor Phil McManus, Professor of Urban and Environmental Geography, The University of Sydney
Vice President - International Geographical Union (IGU), 2022-2026
Committee member: National Committee for Geographical Sciences (NCGS) - Australian Academy of Science
Member - Geographical Society of NSW (GSNSW). Former President.
Member - Institute of Australian Geographers (IAG). Former President

Ms Julie Kesby, Secretary (Web) and Public Officer, Institute of Australian Geographers (IAG)
Member - Institute of Australian Geographers (IAG)
 

Seconded:

Associate Professor Meg Sherval, Discipline of Geography and Environmental Studies and the Centre for Urban and Regional Studies at the University of Newcastle
Committee member: National Committee for Geographical Sciences (NCGS) - Australian Academy of Science
Co-Convenor Legal Geography Study Group (IAG)
Member - Institute of Australian Geographers (IAG)

Dr Susan Caldis, Senior Lecturer, Macquarie School of Education, Macquarie University
Chair of the Australian Geography Teachers Association (AGTA)
Ex-Officio: National Committee for Geographical Sciences (NCGS) - Australian Academy of Science
Secretary, Institute of Australian Geographers (IAG)
Member - Institute of Australian Geographers (IAG)

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