Dr Jasper Montana
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About
Dr Jasper Montana is a Senior Lecturer at the Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science at ANU. Jasper is also an Honorary Research Associate at the School of Geography and the Environment at the University of Oxford, where he was previously a Departmental Lecturer in Human Geography and Research Fellow. Jasper holds a PhD in Geography from the University of Cambridge (King's College); an MSc in Science, Technology, Medicine and Society awarded jointly by Imperial College, London, and University College London; and a BSc in Zoology and a Diploma in Creative Arts (Media) from the University of Melbourne. Jasper has previously been a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Politics at the University of Sheffield and a Visiting Research Fellow in the Program on Science, Technology and Society at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Jasper's research interests encompass science-policy relations, the theory and practice of interdisciplinarity, bridging local and global science, as well as the power and influence of concepts, metrics and technologies used to support environmental governance. Jasper's research focuses particularly on nature and biodiversity loss as a contemporary societal challenge.
Having begun his intellectual journey as a zoologist and marine biologist in Australia, Jasper subsequently travelled the world documenting people’s diverse relations with nature with the BBC. Having worked on a series called Unnatural Histories, which questioned ‘how natural is the natural world?’, he decided to return to study and learn more about the cultural history that underpins contemporary nature conservation efforts. His PhD research carried him into the conference halls of intergovernmental negotiations where he observed the production of global biodiversity science as part of the science-policy interface for the Convention on Biological Diversity. He subsequently completed a series of postdoctoral research projects examining scientific diplomacy within the European Union and exploring conservation projects in the Caribbean. He is currently the project lead focused on Innovative methods to connect and communicate between disciplines as part of the Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery at the University of Oxford.
Jasper’s research draws from and contributes to a broad range of scholarly traditions, including science and technology studies, science communication, political ecology, sustainability science, and the interdisciplinary environmental sciences.
In addition to academic work, Jasper has worked in natural history documentary production for the BBC and National Geographic, as director, cameraman and researcher across locations on land and underwater. He has also spent time as an intern at the United Nations Environment Programme in Germany, as a tour guide on the Great Barrier Reef, and as an animal keeper of birds, reptiles and insects.
Affiliations
Research interests
- Science-policy interfaces from local to global
- Transdisciplinarity and knowledge co-production
- Equity, diversity and inclusion in environmental science
- Biodiversity and nature conservation
- Data, metrics, and technologies of governance
- Social theory on science, politics and the law
Current and Recent Projects
- Strengthening interfaces across science, policy and society for people, nature and well-being, Centre for the Public Awareness of Science, Australian National University
- Innovative methods to connect and communicate between disciplines, Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery, University of Oxford
- Sub-project 1: Catalysing interdisciplinarity through theatre games.
- Sub-project 2: What can critical social sciences contribute to environmental research?
- Data interoperability for people and nature, Oxford Policy Engagement Network, University of Oxford
Teaching information
Jasper currently teaches SCOM8088: Engagement for policy impact, as well as other lectures and tutorials for the Centre for the Public Awareness of Science
Jasper currently supervises a number of research students, including Lea Anderson.
Publications
Journal Articles
McDermott, C., Montana, J., Bennett, A., et al. (2023) Transforming Land Use Governance: Global targets without equity miss the mark. Environmental Policy and Governance. 33(3): 245-257
Montana, J. (2022) Fostering place-shaped responsibilities for biodiversity: An analytical framework with insights from the UK Overseas Territories. Earth System Governance. 14 (100156)
Montana, J. (2022) Mediating sovereignty for the environment in the British Overseas Territories. Small States & Territories, 5(1), 103-120.
Chambers, J., Wyborn, C., …, Montana, J., et al. (2022) Co-productive agility and four collaborative pathways to sustainability transformations. Global Environmental Change. 72 (102422): 1-17
Montana, J. (2021) From inclusion to epistemic belonging: Learning from the institutionalisation of biodiversity scenarios and models in IPBES. Environmental Sociology, 7(4): 305-315.
Chambers, J., Wyborn, C., …, Montana, J., et al. (2021) Six modes of co-production for sustainability. Nature Sustainability, 4, 983–996.
Maas, T. Y., Montana, J., van der Hel, S., et al. (2021). Effectively empowering: A different look at bolstering the effectiveness of global environmental assessments. Environmental Science & Policy, 123, 210-219.
Wyborn, C.*, Montana, J.*, Kalas, N.*, et al. (2021) An agenda for research and action towards diverse and just futures for life on Earth. Conservation Biology. (*joint first author)
Montana, J. and Wilsdon, J. (2021) Analysts, advocates and applicators: The discursive arenas of UK evidence and policy. Evidence and Policy. DOI: 10.1332/174426421X16112601473449
Montana, J. (2020) Balancing authority and meaning in global environmental assessment: An analysis of organisational logics and modes in IPBES. Environmental Science and Policy. 112: 245-253
Montana, J., Elliott, L., Ryan, M. and Wyborn, C. (2020) The need for improved reflexivity in conservation science. Environmental Conservation. 47(4): 217-219
Wyborn, C., Davila Cisneros, F., … Montana, J., et al. (2020) Imagining transformative biodiversity futures. Nature Sustainability. 3: 670-672
Montana, J., Sandbrook, C., Robertson, E. and Ryan, M. (2019) Revealing research preferences in conservation science. Oryx. DOI: 10.1017/S003060531900067X
Wyborn, C., Datta, A., Montana, J., et al. (2019) Co-Producing Sustainability: Re-Ordering the Governance of Science, Policy, and Practice. Annual Review of Environment and Resources. 44: 319-346.
Montana, J. (2019) Co-production in action: Perceiving power in the organisational dimensions of a global biodiversity expert process. Sustainability Science. 14: 1581-1591.
Montana, J. (2018) Biodiversity: Ideas need time to mature. Nature. 561: 309
Wyborn, C., Louder, E., …, Montana, J., … Hutton, J. (2018) Understanding the impacts of research synthesis. Environmental Science and Policy. 86: 72-84.
Montana, J. (2017) Accommodating consensus and diversity in environmental knowledge production: Achieving closure through typologies in IPBES. Environmental Science and Policy. 68. 20-27.
Timpte, M., Montana, J., Reuter, K., et al. (2017) Engaging diverse experts in a global environmental assessment: Participation in the first work programme of IPBES and opportunities for improvement. Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research.
Montana, J. and Borie, M. (2016). IPBES and biodiversity expertise: Regional, gender and disciplinary balance in the composition of the interim and 2015 Multidisciplinary Expert Panel. Conservation Letters. 9 (2): 138-142.
Montana, J., Finn, J.K. and Norman, M.D. (2015). Liquid sand burrowing and mucus utilisation as novel adaptations to a structurally-simple environment in Octopus kaurna Stranks, 1990. Behaviour. 152 (14): 1871-1881.
Book Chapters
Wyborn, C., Montana, J., Datta, A., and Louder, E. (2023) Conceptualising the science-policy-practice interface of adaptive governance. In J. Sirkku et al. (eds) Handbook on Adaptive Governance. Edward Elgar.
Fensham, P.J. and Montana, J. (2018) The challenges and opportunities for embracing complex socio-scientific issues as important in learning science: The Murray-Darling River Basin as an example In D. Corrigan et al. (eds.). Navigating the Changing Landscape of Formal
and Informal Science Learning Opportunities. London: Springer.
Reports and Working Papers
Montana, J., Ferguson, C., Marshall, T., Barrios-O’Neill, D., Bavin, S., Cardinal, I., CrockaX, M. Gent, J., Hafferty, C., Hirons, M., Hughes, J., Janda, E., Maxwell, S., Mailley, J., McDermoX, M., Mitchell, M., Owen, R., Rydlewski, J., Sheffield, D., Simms, C., Slessor, J., Ver.ssimo, D., and Wilhelm, K. (2023) Large-scale social surveys on people and nature rela(ons: Report on the state of the art in the UK. Oxford: Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery, University of Oxford.
Montana, J. (2021) Governance and Biodiversity: A background review for the Biodiversity Revisited Initiative. Gland, Switzerland: Biodiversity Revisited.
Wyborn, C., Montana, J., Kalas, N., Davila Cisneros, F., Clement, S., Izquierdo Tort, S., Knowles, N., Louder, E., Balan, M., Chambers, J., Christel, L., Deplazes-Zemp, A., Forsyth, T., Henderson, G., Lim, M., Martinez Harms, M.J., Merçon, J., Nuesiri, E., Pereira, L., Pilbeam, V., Turnhout, E., and Wood, S. (2020) Research and action agenda for sustaining diverse and just futures for life on Earth. Gland, Switzerland: Biodiversity Revisited.
Tomalová, E., Černovská, E., Aukes, E., Montana, J. and Dall, E. (2020) Water Diplomacy and its Future in the National, Regional, European and Global Environments. In: Science Diplomacy in the Making: Case-based insights from the S4D4C project. Vienna, Austria: S4D4C Project
Montana, J., Woods, H. and Wilsdon, J. (2020) Scientific advice for fisheries management in the European Union: transnational science diplomacy in practice. In: Science Diplomacy in the Making: Case-based insights from the S4D4C project. Vienna, Austria: S4D4C Project
Chubb, J., Montana, J., Stilgoe, J., Stirling, A. and Wilsdon, J. (2018) A review of recent evidence on the governance of emerging science and technology. London: Wellcome Trust
Wyborn, C., Leith, P. et al. (2017). Doing science differently: co-producing conservation outcomes. Gland, Switzerland: Luc Hoffmann Institute.
Wyborn, C., Leith, P. et al. (2017). The science, policy and practice interface: Synthesis report. Gland, Switzerland: Luc Hoffmann Institute.
Montana, J. (2016). How IPBES Works: The Functions, Structures and Processes of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. C-EENRG Working Papers, 2016(2): 1-23. Cambridge Centre for Environment, Energy and Natural Resource Governance, University of Cambridge.
Montana, J. and Parker, M. (2014). Regulation in the context of new approaches to policy and governance, new enforcement technologies and issues in public engagement: A consulting report for Sciencewise. Cambridge: Centre for Science and Policy, University of Cambridge.
Blogposts
Montana, J., Rosaria, et al. (2021) Academic policy engagement for biodiversity needs to take transdisciplinarity seriously. True Planet Blog. University of Oxford.
Montana, J., Rosaria, Gopalakrishna, T. and Welden, E.A. (2021) As nature climbs up the political agenda, how can researchers better engage with policy on biodiversity? School of Geography and the Environment Blog. University of Oxford.
Montana, J. (2021) Protecting Biodiversity in an unequal world. Linacre College News.
Montana, J. and Wilsdon, J. (2021) Analysts, Advocates and Applicators – Understanding and engaging with different actors in the evidence for policy movement. LSE Impact Blog.
Montana, J. and Wilsdon, J. (2021) Hidden coalitions: are you acting as an analyst, advocate or applicator in your approach to evidence and policy? Evidence and Policy Blog.
Montana, J. and Wyborn, C. (2019) Revisiting biodiversity in a village of mixed perspectives. Luc Hoffman Institute Thought Piece.
Montana, J. (2019) When two conservation researchers walk into a conference. Oryx Blog.