Environmental Psychology
Environmental psychology is the study of the relationship between people and the physical environment. Researchers in this field draw on psychological principles to understand human-environment interactions, and to improve the design and management of environments.
Within the Melbourne School of Land and Environments, Kathryn Williams, research staff and students are particularly concerned with human dimensions of ecosystem and landscape management. Some key questions include:
Why do people value some landscapes, plant communities and animal species more than others? How can we help people to appreciate threatened species and communities?
Why are some types of land use and environmental policy more acceptable than others? What are the implications for socially and environmentally sustainable policy?
Why do and don’t people to act in ways that conserve resources and protect environments? How can sustainable behaviour be encouraged?
Selected publications (2001-2009)
Recent Publications:
Refereed publications and chapters
Kanowski, P., Williams, K. (accepted for publication, January 19, 2009). The reality of imagination: integrating the material and cultural values of old forests. Submitted to Forest Ecology and Management (special issue: Old Forests, New Management).
Williams, K.J.H., Weston, M., Henry, S. and Maguire, G. (2009). Birds and beaches, dogs and leashes: Dog owners’ sense of obligation to leash dogs on beaches in Victoria, Australia. Human Dimensions of Wildlife, 14 (2) 89-101.
Ford, R., Williams, K., Bishop, I., Hickey, J. (2009). A value basis for the social acceptability of clearfelling in Tasmania, Australia. Landscape and Urban Planning, 90, 196-206. .
Bishop. I.D., Stock, C. & Williams, K.J.H. (2009) Using virtual environments and agent models in multi-criteria decision making. Landuse Policy. Land Use Policy, 26, pp. 87-94.
Kendal, D. Williams, K., Armstrong, L. (2008). Preference for and performance of some Australian native plants grown as hedges. Urban Forestry and Urban Greening. 7 (2), pp. 93-106.
Williams, K.J.H, Ford, R.M., Bishop, I., Loiterton, D. & Hickey, J. (2007). Realism and selectivity in data-driven visualisations: A process for developing viewer-oriented landscape surrogates. Landscape and Urban Planning, 81, pp. 213-224.
Bishop, I.D., Ford, R., Loiterton, D. and Williams, K. (2005) Studying the acceptability of forest management practices using visual simulation of forest regrowth in Visualization in Landscape and Environmental Planning. I. D. Bishop and E. Lange (eds). London, SPON. pp 112-119
Williams, K.J.H. (2004). Infrastructure change and visitor experience at 12 Apostles, Port Campbell National Park (Victoria, Australia). International Federation of Parks and Recreation Administration Bulletin (refereed section), pp. 8-9.
Ford, R.M., Williams, K.J.H, Flanagan, A.K. & Webb, T. (2004). Measuring beliefs about clearfelling. In M.J.Mowlaei, A. Rose and J. Lamborn (eds). Proceedings of the 7th Annual Environmental Research Conference: Environmental Sustainability through Multidisciplinary Integration. 1-4 December 2003, The Cumberland, Marysville, Victoria, Australia, pp. 153-163.
Wang, H., Williams, K.J.H & Beilin, R. (2004). Landholders’ assessment of the quality of riparian areas in South Gippsland. In M.J.Mowlaei, A. Rose and J. Lamborn (eds). Proceedings of the 7th Annual Environmental Research Conference: Environmental Sustainability through Multidisciplinary Integration. 1-4 December 2003, The Cumberland, Marysville, Victoria, Australia, pp. 390-399.
Hamer, J. Williams, K.J.H & Beilin, R. (2004). Attachment to landscape: A case study of the Box-Ironbark landscapes of central Victoria. In M.J.Mowlaei, A. Rose and J. Lamborn (eds). Proceedings of the 7th Annual Environmental Research Conference: Environmental Sustainability through Multidisciplinary Integration. 1-4 December 2003, The Cumberland, Marysville, Victoria, Australia, pp. 183-192.
Williams, K.J.H., Nettle, R. & Petheram, J. (2003). Public response to plantation forestry on farms. Australian Forestry, 66 (2), pp.93-99.
Williams, K.J.H. (2003). The biodiversity we want to maintain and the reasons we want to maintain it. In J. Crosthwaite, Q. Farmer-Bowers & C. Hollier (eds.), Land use Change – YES! – But will biodiversity be OK? Proceedings of a conference at Attwood, Victoria, August 2002. Department of Sustainability and Environment, Melbourne (CD ROM)
Williams, K.J.H (2002). Exploring resident preference for street trees in Melbourne, Australia. Journal of Arboriculture, 28(4), pp. 161-170.
Williams, K.J.H (2002). Beliefs about natural forest systems. Australian Forestry, 65 (2), pp. 81-86.
Williams, K.J.H. & Cary, J.W. (2002) Landscape preference, ecological quality and biodiversity protection. Environment and Behavior, 34 (2), 258-275.
Williams, K.J.H., Cary, J.W & Webb, T. (2001). Social research priorities for forest management. TasForests, 13 (2), 303-307.
Williams, K.J.H. & Harvey, D.H.P. (2001). Transcendent experience in forest environments. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 21 (3), pp. 249-260.
Williams, K.J.H. & Cary, J.W. (2001). Perception of native grassland in south eastern Australia. Ecological Restoration and Management, 2 (2), pp.139-144.
Selected non-refereed publications
Williams, K., Dunn, C., Ford, R., Anderson, N. (2008). Understanding resident views of land use change. CRC Forestry Technical Report 187, Hobart, Tasmania, Cooperative Research Centre for Forestry. ISBN 978-0-9804958-7-4
Schirmer, J., Williams, K., Borschmann, P., and C. Dunn (2008). Living with land use change: Different views and perspectives. CRC Forestry Technical Report 180, Hobart, Tasmania, Cooperative Research Centre for Forestry.
Ford, R.M. Williams K J.H, Bishop I. D., Webb T. (2005) Social acceptability of Forest Management Systems: Project Overview. Parkville: University of Melbourne.
Ford, R. M., Williams, K J.H., Bishop, I. D., Webb, T. (2005). Information effects on social acceptance of alternatives to clearfelling, Proceedings of the 22nd Biennial Conference of the Institute of Foresters of Australia, 10-14 April 255, Mount Gambier, SA, Institute of Foresters of Australia (CDROM).
Williams K J.H, Ford R. M., Bishop I. D., Webb T. (2005) Understanding the acceptability of forest management options. Proceedings of the 22nd Biennial Conference of the Institute of Foresters of Australia, 10-14 April 255, Mount Gambier, SA, Institute of Foresters of Australia (CDROM).
Williams, K.J.H. (2003). Social preferences for street trees. Proceedings of the 4th National Street Tree Symposium 2003, (pp 88-92). September 4-5, Adelaide University, Waite Campus. Treenet: Adelaide.
Bishop, I.D., Fasken, G., Ford, R., Hickey, J., Loiterton, D. and Williams, K. (2003) Visual simulation of forest regrowth under different harvest options. Trends in Landscape Modelling: proceedings at Anhalt University of Applied Sciences, Dessau, Germany, May 15-16, Herbert Wichmann Verlag (pp46-55).
Petheram, J., Williams, K., Nettle, R., Patterson, A, and Jenkin, B. (2001). Blue gums and rapid rural change – issues for regional planning. Agricultural Science, 14 (3), 35-38.
Williams, K.J.H., Cary, J.W. & Webb, T. (2001). Social assessment of forest management systems. A report prepared for Forestry Tasmania. Canberra: Bureau of Rural Sciences.