Dr Bradd Witt
Senior Lecturer & Senior Lecturer
School of Agriculture and Food Sustainability
Researcher biography
Having started in animation in the 80s Bradd made the move to science with his studies at The University of Queensland. After completing his PhD Bradd worked as a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow. He has been employed at The University of Queensland since 2000.
His research interests are in agriculture and sustainability with a focus on how industry engages with changing societal expectations.
Publications
Book Chapter
Maclean, Kirsten and Witt, Bradd (2023). Tracing the impact and contribution of the “six attributes of social resilience”. Rural development for sustainable social-ecological systems: putting communities first. (pp. 355-387) edited by Claudia Baldwin and Séverine van Bommel. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan Cham. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-34225-7_18
Journal Articles
Cotton, Rebecca and Witt, Bradd (2024). Carbon and ecosystem service markets in rangelands and grazing systems are a wicked problem: multi-stakeholder partnership or roundtable as a vehicle forward?. The Rangeland Journal, 46 (1) RJ23029. doi: 10.1071/rj23029
Castonguay, Adam C., Polasky, Stephen, H. Holden, Matthew, Herrero, Mario, Mason-D’Croz, Daniel, Godde, Cecile, Chang, Jinfeng, Gerber, James, Witt, G. Bradd, Game, Edward T., A. Bryan, Brett, Wintle, Brendan, Lee, Katie, Bal, Payal and McDonald-Madden, Eve (2023). Navigating sustainability trade-offs in global beef production. Nature Sustainability, 6 (3), 284-294. doi: 10.1038/s41893-022-01017-0
Jassim, Danya, Witt, Bradd and Evans, Megan C. (2022). Community perceptions of carbon farming: a case study of the semi-arid Mulga Lands in Queensland, Australia. Journal of Rural Studies, 96, 78-88. doi: 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2022.10.010
Page, Camille and Witt, Bradd (2022). A leap of faith: regenerative agriculture as a contested worldview rather than as a practice change issue. Sustainability, 14 (22) 14803, 1-20. doi: 10.3390/su142214803
Faulkner, Taylah, Witt, Bradd and Bray, Heather (2022). Telling our story: communicators’ perceptions of challenges and solutions for sustainability communication within the Australian beef industry. Journal of Science Communication, 21 (06) A04, 1-23. doi: 10.22323/2.21060204
Romero‐de‐Diego, Cristina, Dean, Angela, Jagadish, Arundhati, Witt, Bradd, Mascia, Michael B. and Mills, Morena (2021). Drivers of adoption and spread of wildlife management initiatives in Mexico. Conservation Science and Practice, 3 (7) e438. doi: 10.1111/csp2.438
Witt, G. B., Althor, G., Colvin, R. M., Witt, K. J., Gillespie, N., McCrea, R., Lacey, J. and Faulkner, T. (2021). How environmental values influence trust and beliefs about societal oversight and need for regulation of the Australian cattle industry. Environmental Research Letters, 16 (3) 034006, 1-8. doi: 10.1088/1748-9326/abe1f7
Colvin, R. M., Witt, G. Bradd and Lacey, Justine (2020). Power, perspective, and privilege: the challenge of translating stakeholder theory from business management to environmental and natural resource management. Journal of Environmental Management, 271 110974, 110974. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.110974
Colvin, R. M., Witt, G. Bradd, Lacey, Justine and McCrea, Rod (2020). The role of conflict framing and social identity in public opinion about land use change: an experimental test in the Australian context. Environmental Policy and Governance, 30 (2) eet.1879, 84-98. doi: 10.1002/eet.1879
Jackson, Guy, McNamara, Karen E. and Witt, Bradd (2020). “System of hunger”: understanding causal disaster vulnerability of indigenous food systems. Journal of Rural Studies, 73, 163-175. doi: 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2019.10.042
Colvin, R. M., Witt, G. Bradd, Lacey, Justine and Witt, Kathy (2019). The community cost of consultation: Characterising the qualitative social impacts of a wind energy development that failed to proceed in Tasmania, Australia. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 77, 40-48. doi: 10.1016/j.eiar.2019.03.007
Althor, Glenn and Witt, Bradd (2019). A quantitative systematic review of distributive environmental justice literature: a rich history and the need for an enterprising future. Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, 10 (1), 91-103. doi: 10.1007/s13412-019-00582-9
Althor, Glenn, Mahood, Simon, Witt, Bradd, Colvin, Rebecca M. and Watson, James E. M. (2018). Large-scale environmental degradation results in inequitable impacts to already impoverished communities: A case study from the floating villages of Cambodia. Ambio, 47 (7), 1-13. doi: 10.1007/s13280-018-1022-2
Colvin, Rebecca , Witt, G. Bradd and Lacey, Justine (2018). Using a community vote for wind energy development decision-making in King Island, Tasmania. Case Studies in the Environment, 2 (1), 1.21-7. doi: 10.1525/cse.2017.000927
Jackson, Guy, McNamara, Karen and Witt, Bradd (2017). A framework for disaster vulnerability in a small island in the Southwest Pacific: a case study of Emae Island, Vanuatu. International Journal of Disaster Risk Science, 8 (4), 358-373. doi: 10.1007/s13753-017-0145-6
Whiley, Dona, Witt, Bradd, Colvin, R. M., Sapiains Arrue, Rodolfo and Kotir, Julius (2017). Enhancing critical thinking skills in first year environmental management students: a tale of curriculum design, application and reflection. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 41 (2), 1-16. doi: 10.1080/03098265.2017.1290590
Witt, G. Bradd, English, Nathan B., Balanzategui, Daniel, Hua, Quan, Gadd, Patricia, Heijnis, Henk and Bird, Michael I. (2017). The climate reconstruction potential of Acacia cambagei (gidgee) for semi-arid regions of Australia using stable isotopes and elemental abundances. Journal of Arid Environments, 136, 19-27. doi: 10.1016/j.jaridenv.2016.10.002
Colvin, R. M., Witt, G.Bradd and Lacey, Justine (2016). How wind became a four-letter word: lessons for community engagement from a wind energy conflict in King Island, Australia. Energy Policy, 98, 483-494. doi: 10.1016/j.enpol.2016.09.022
Silcock, J. L., Witt, G. B. and Fensham, R. J. (2016). A 150-year fire history of mulga (Acacia aneura F. Muell. ex Benth.)dominated vegetation in semiarid Queensland, Australia. The Rangeland Journal, 38 (38), 391-415. doi: 10.1071/RJ15109
Maclean, Kirsten, Ross, Helen, Cuthill, Michael and Witt, Bradd (2016). Converging disciplinary understandings of social aspects of resilience. Journal of Environmental Planing and Management, 60 (3), 1-19. doi: 10.1080/09640568.2016.1162706
Colvin, R. M., Witt, G. Bradd and Lacey, Justine (2016). Approaches to identifying stakeholders in environmental management: insights from practitioners to go beyond the 'usual suspects'. Land Use Policy, 52, 266-276. doi: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2015.12.032
Colvin, R. M., Witt, G. B. and Lacey, J. (2015). The social identity approach to understanding socio-political conflict in environmental and natural resources management. Global Environmental Change, 34, 237-246. doi: 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2015.07.011
Shaw, Ellena and Witt, G. Bradd (2015). Climate change and adaptive capacity in the Western Australian rangelands: a review of current institutional responses. Rangeland Journal, 37 (4), 331-344. doi: 10.1071/RJ15015
Colvin, Rebecca M., Witt, G. Bradd and Lacey, Justine (2015). Strange bedfellows or an aligning of values? exploration of stakeholder values in an alliance of concerned citizens against coal seam gas mining. Land Use Policy, 42, 392-399. doi: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2014.08.014
Witt, G. B. (2013). Vegetation changes through the eyes of the locals: the 'artificial wilderness' in the mulga country of south-west Queensland. Rangeland Journal, 35 (3), 299-314. doi: 10.1071/RJ12096
Witt, G. Bradd, Noël, Michelle V., Bird, Michael I., Beeton, R. J. S. (Bob) and Menzies, Neal W. (2011). Carbon sequestration and biodiversity restoration potential of semi-arid mulga lands of Australia interpreted from long-term grazing exclosures. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 141 (1-2), 108-118. doi: 10.1016/j.agee.2011.02.020
Witt, G. Bradd and Beeton, R. S. J. (2010). Conservation and the mulgalands of eastern Australia: An unusual case of regrowth. Australasian Plant Conservation, 19 (1), 9-10.
Witt, G. B., Harrington, R. A. and Page, M. J. (2009). Is 'vegetation thickening' occurring in Queensland's mulga lands - a 50-year aerial photographic analysis. Australian Journal of Botany, 57 (7), 572-582. doi: 10.1071/BT08217
Witt, G. B., Witt, K. J., Carter, R. W. and Gordon, A. (2009). Exploring the 'city-bush divide': what do urban people really think of farmers and rural land management?. Australasian Journal of Environmental Management, 16 (3), 168-180. doi: 10.1080/14486563.2009.9725233
Cuthill, M., Ross, H., Maclean, K., Owens, K., Witt, B. and King, C. (2008). Reporting social outcomes of development: An analysis of diverse approaches. International Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, 3 (6), 145-148.
Lunt, I. D., Eldridge, D. J., Morgan, J. W. and Witt, G. B. (2007). A Framework to Predict the Effects of Livestock Grazing and Grazing Exclusion on Conservation Values in Natural Ecosystems in Australia. Australian Journal of Botany, 55 (4), 401-415. doi: 10.1071/BT06178
Witt, G. Bradd, Luly, Jon and Fairfax, Russell J. (2006). How the west was once: vegetation change in south-west Queensland from 1930 to 1995. Journal of Biogeography, 33 (9), 1585-1596. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2699.2006.01531.x
Witt, Graham B. (2002). Century-scale environmental reconstruction by using stable carbon isotopes: just one method from the big bag of tricks. Australian Journal of Botany, 50 (4), 441-454. doi: 10.1071/BT02006
Witt, Graham B. and Ayliffe, Linda K. (2001). Carbon isotope variability in the bone collagen of red kangaroos (Macropus rufus) is age dependent: Implications for palaeodietary studies. Journal of Archaeological Science, 28 (3), 247-252. doi: 10.1006/jasc.1999.0539
Witt, GB, Berghammer, LJ, Beeton, RJS and Moll, EJ (2000). Retrospective Monitoring of Rangeland Vegetation Change: Ecohistory from Deposits of Sheep Dung Associated with Shearing Sheds. Austral Ecology (formerly the Australian Journal of Ecology), 25 (3), 260-267. doi: 10.1046/j.1442-9993.2000.01027.x
Witt, GB, Moll, EJ, Beeton, RJS and Murray, PJ (1998). Isotopes, wool, and rangeland monitoring: Let the sheep do the sampling. Environmental Management, 22 (1), 145-152. doi: 10.1007/s002679900091
Conference Papers
Ross, Helen, Maclean, Kirsten, Cuthill, Michael, Witt, Bradd and King, Christine (2008). Resilience in north Queensland catchments. 11th International Riversymposium 2008, South Bank, QLD, Australia, 1-4 September, 2008.
Witt, G.B. and Page, M. J. (2000). Is Rangeland Research Driven by Discipline? An Analysis of the Rangeland Journal 1976 -1999. The Australian Rangeland Society Centenary Symposium, Broken Hill, 21 - 24 August, 2000. Broken Hill: Australian Rangeland Journal.
Witt, G. B. (1999). Historical vegetation change in south west Queensland: Can the past guide vegetation management today. Vegetation Management Forum, Charleville, Qld., Australia, 3 - 4 Aug , 1999. Charleville: South West Natural Resource Management Group.
Witt, G.B., Berghammer, L. J., Bland, S., Beeton, R. J. S. and Moll, E. J. (1999). Ecological history from faecal deposits beneath shearing sheds: A novel approach for reconstructing vegetation change in Australian rangelands. People and Rangelands: Building the Future, the VI International Rangeland Congress, Townsville, 19 - 23 July, 1999. Aust.: VI International Rangeland Congress.
Witt, G.B., Moll, E. J., Beeton, R. J. S. and Hoffman, M. T. (1999). Vegetation change in the eastern Karoo (South Africa) from 1916 to 1992 using carbon isotope analysis of historical wool staples. People and Rangelands: Building the Future, the VI International Rangeland Congress, Townsville, Qld., Aust., 19 -23 July, 1999. Aust.: VI International Rangeland Congress.
Thesis
Witt, G. Bradd (1997). How the west was once: reconstructing historical vegetation change and monitoring the present using carbon isotope techniques. PhD Thesis, School of Earth Sciences, The University of Queensland. doi: 10.14264/325531
Research Reports
Witt, Bradd, Sauvage, Claire, Witt, Katherine, Gillespie, Nicole and Ariyawardana, Anoma (2020). Evaluating the impact and effectiveness of the Australian Beef Sustainability Framework. North Sydney, NSW, Australia: Meat and Livestock Australia .
Jackson, Guy, McNamara, Karen E. and Witt, Bradd (2019). Conducive and hindering factors for effective disaster risk reduction in Emae Island, Vanuatu. Geneva: UNISDR Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction.
Ross, Helen, Cuthill, Michael, Maclean, Kirsten, Jansen, Danni and Witt, Bradd (2010). Understanding, enhancing and managing for social resilience at the regional scale: opportunities in north Queensland. Cairns, Australia: Reef and Rainforest Research Centre Limited.
Witt, G. B, Noel, M. V, Bird, M. I and Beeton, R. J. S (2009). Investigating long-term grazing exclosures for the assessment of carbon storage and biodiversity of the mulga lands. Australia: Commonwealth Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts.
Bosch, O. J., Ross, A.H., Witt, G.B. and Smith, C. (2004). Making Adaptive Management Work: A checklist for institutionalisng adaptive management. University of Queensland: School of Natural and Rural Systems Management.
Bosch, O. J., Ross, A.H., Witt, G.B. and Smith, C. (2004). Guidelines for Adaptive Management: Outcomes of the OzAM 2003 workshop, Brisbane. University of Queensland: School of Natural and Rural Systems Management.
Department Technical Reports
Page, M. J., Witt, G. B., Noel, M., Slaughter, G. J. and Beeton, R. J. S. (2008). Economic and environmental analysis of fodder harvesting practices associated with Mulga (Acacia aneura) and fire management practices in mulga lands of south western Queensland. School of Natural and Rural Systems Management, The University of Queensland.