Dr Brenda Lin

Natural systems are increasingly lost or being pushed to the outskirts of the landscape, creating a larger gap between ecosystems and the communities that could potentially benefit from their services.

Dr Lin's research examines how natural systems or components of natural systems can be maintained or integrated into an increasingly developed landscape to provide ecosystem services that optimise both environmental and human well-being.

One specific focus has been the development of integrated agricultural landscapes that provide ecosystem services that mitigate climate change impacts (increasingly temperature variability, decreasing precipitation, extreme storm events) on agricultural food production.

More recently, this research has moved into the built environment context in order to understand how ecosystem services may be helpful in protecting urban environments from projected climate change impacts.

After completing her doctoral research, Dr Lin joined the Earth Institute at Columbia University as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow working on interdisciplinary issues of sustainable development and food security in agricultural systems under climate change.

Prior to joining CSIRO, Dr Lin was a Science & Technology Policy Fellow with the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington DC, USA. During this time she worked for the United Stated Environmental Protection Agency within the Global Change Research Program in the Office of Research and Development. Her research at the US EPA focused on climate change impacts within the natural and built environment and examined potential climate change adaptation strategies at the national scale.

Dr. Lin joined CSIRO in November 2010 working within the Climate Adaptation Flagship. She is now working within the Sustainable, Liveable, and Resilient Cities Program within the Land and Water Flagship.

Dr Lin’s work is inherently interdisciplinary, as the interactions between humans and their environment are complex to manage. Much of the research is highly applied with the hope that the research will inform on future public policy and help create resilient socio-ecological systems.