Dr Laura Mumaw

Dr Laura Mumaw is a research associate with extensive experience in biodiversity conservation and community engagement.

Laura has worked for many years in wildlife conservation and community engagement through a professional career in the zoo industry and board positions for organisations involved with nature conservation, land care research and natural resource management.

In her PhD, Laura explored how an urban community can build capacity to foster both its biodiversity and wellbeing through a municipal wildlife gardening collaboration. Her current research, using participatory action research, investigates modes of governance that foster co-design, by citizens and local government, of programs that engage urban residents in collaborative biodiversity stewardship on public and private land. Key questions include: How can we nurture sustainable citizen-council nature stewardship collaborations? How can we understand and improve the socio-ecological impacts? How can we link local efforts with regional/state planning & policy?

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Related Content

News & Blog

News

Rising to the challenge: the critical role of women in climate leadership

08 March 2021

Female leadership in climate decision making is critical if we are to find effective solutions to environmental challenges. Meet two women leading action for more sustainable and resilient futures.

News

Fostering biodiversity on World Environment Day

04 June 2020

Can fostering native plants and animals in our neighbourhoods help stem the loss of biodiversity? Is sustainable fashion achievable? Our experts examine the possibilities ahead of World Environment Day.

News

Meet the women helping to improve how we live in cities and with nature

05 March 2020

As our cities evolve, so too should our approach to building and planning our urban habitats. Here, six RMIT urban researchers share how their work is shaping how we live in our cities and with nature.

News

Rewilding cities: How bringing nature back to cities is good for our health

27 January 2020

The rise around the globe to bring nature back into cities has clear links to individual and community health and wellbeing, according to RMIT researchers at the Centre for Urban Research.

News

RMIT research inspires community gardening for wildlife state-wide

04 September 2018

The new community initiative Gardens for Wildlife, based on RMIT research, will serve as a role-model across Victoria to encourage gardening to support local wildlife.

News

Residential wild-life gardening for collaborative public-private biodiversity conservation

23 May 2017

In cities, matching conservation action is needed on public and private land to conserve biodiversity: protecting patches of native habitat on public land, extending buffers around them, and improving connections between them through corridors and stepping stones in gardens and other land-use areas.

Publications

A transformative mission for prioritising nature in Australian cities

Niki Frantzeskaki, Cathy Oke, Guy Barnett, Professor Sarah Bekessy, Judy Bush, James Fitzsimons, Maria Ignatieva, Dave Kendal, Jonathan Kingsley, Dr Laura Mumaw, Alessandro Ossola

Ambio

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