Margaret Gooch

Margaret was born in Brisbane but was raised in PNG, and has a life-long affinity with the tropics. She grew up enjoying sailing, beach-combing and snorkelling in clear tropical waters – experiences which shaped her love of marine environments. Margaret studied Australian Environmental Science and completed a Diploma of Teaching through Griffith University (GU) in Brisbane. After teaching for several years, Margaret became an environmental educator and interpreter with Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS). During this time she completed a Masters in Applied Ecology through James Cook University (JCU), and began teaching casually at the University of Queensland (UQ). In 2003 she completed a PhD through GU focusing on the resilience of volunteer groups in the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) catchment. From 2005 to 2009 Margaret was a senior lecturer with JCU’s School of Education, where she established a cross-faculty Masters in Environmental Education. Between 2010 and 2017 Margaret was the Manager of Social and Economic Science at the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA). She currently enjoys her position with JCU’s Cairns Institute, which enables her to combine her research interests with her experience in marine protected area management and environmental education.

Research interests/expertise

Since 1980 Margaret has worked in tertiary teaching and research, protected area management and secondary school education. Margaret has over 50 publications relating to environmental education; community resilience; adaptive capacity for industries and communities in the face of climate change; and protected area management. She is currently working on a project to enhance clean growth choices for community wellbeing in Queensland rural communities.