Carmen is a human geographer with over 17 years’ experience in environmental management and research. Carmen’s research focusses on human-environment interactions, coastal governance, adaptation, adaptive capacity and deliberate societal transformation. Carmen holds a post-doctoral research position on an ARC funded Future Fellowship project: Coastal Governance: Embracing Vulnerability and Change. Her research has contributed to professional reports and publications in high-ranking journals under the topics of the social and institutional dimensions of environmental change and marine and coastal management.
In the private sector, Carmen has delivered climate change adaptation support to local and national governments, including mainstreaming climate change; adaptation policy advice; monitoring and evaluation; and training in risk assessment, adaptation planning and climate financing. She has worked on behalf of international development agencies and national and municipal governments in the Pacific, South-east Asia, Australia and Europe.
Carmen is on the editorial board of Ocean and Coastal Management and Frontiers in Climate: Climate Adaptation, she is a Future Earth Coasts Fellow, the Vice-chair of the Australian Coastal Society and Inaugural chair of the Western Australian Coastal and Marine Community Network (CMCN).
Professional memberships
- Australian Coastal Society, WA State Chair
- Future Earth Coasts, Future Fellow
- Institute of Australian Geographers
Professional Social Media
Research grants
| Project name | Investigators | Funding body | Year | Focus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pacific Climate Change Capacity Building and Training | Ms Carmen Elrick-Barr | USAID | 2013 | Work with staff from the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat to develop training materials and a workshop program to build capacity of Pacific Island members to access and manage climate change financing |
| Integrating Climate Change into Coastal Planning and Management in the Republic of Mauritius | Dr Ailbhe Travers, Mrs. Carmen Elrick-Barr Dr Robert Kay |
African Adaptation Programme UNDP | 2012 | Review, analyse and integrate climate change into the Republic of Mauritius’ EIA framework; and policy review to integrate climate change into the ICZM framework |
| Impact of Extreme Weather Events and Climate Change on Surf Life Saving Services: A Road Map for Adaptive Action | Dr Robert Kay, Mrs Carmen Elrick-Barr, Dr Ailbhe Travers | Surf Life Saving Australia | 2012 | Development of a Road Map for climate change adaptation for Surf Life Saving Australia. The outputs informed future research programs and planning within SLSA |
| Stocktaking and Stakeholder Consultations in Nauru |
Ms Carmen Elrick-Barr | Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency | 2011 | Stocktake analysis of climate change adaptation programs, projects and activities and regional and international climate change adaptation initiatives in Nauru. The output was a gap analysis highlighting priority areas for climate change support by the Australian Federal Government |
| Western Suburbs Regional Organisation of Councils (WESROC) Climate Change Risk Assessment and Adaptation Action Plan | Elrick, C., Niedzwiadek, M. and Kay, R. | Western Suburbs Regional Organisation of Councils |
2010 | Applied the Australian Government’s Climate Change Risk Assessment and Adaptation Planning Guide for Local Government and Business to develop adaptation plans constructed for each participating council |
| Mainstreaming Climate Change into the MFF Initiative | Ms. Carmen Elrick | Mangroves for the Future Program | 2009 | Reviewed the Mangroves for the Future program structure and processes to develop an approach to mainstream climate change into the program |
| City of Mandurah Coastal Zone Climate Change Risk Assessment and Adaptation Action Plan | Dr Robert Kay, Dr Ailbhe Travers, Ms Carmen Elrick | City of Mandurah, Western Australia | 2008 | Climate change adaptation plan developed based on outcomes of a risk assessment conducted in partnership with the City of Mandurah. Vulnerability of coastal and estuarine margins prioritised to aid planning and development in the City |
| Coastal Foreshore Vulnerability Assessment for the Town of Cottesloe | Dr Robert Kay, Dr Ailbhe Travers, Ms Carmen Elrick | Emergency Management Australia | 2008 | Climate change vulnerability assessment for the Town of Cottesloe. Risks and vulnerability assessed based on combination of physical vulnerability assessment and socio-economic values |
| A Socio Economic Overview of the Communities Living Adjacent to the North West Marine Region | Professor Matthew Tonts, Ms Carmen Elrick, Assistant Professor Julian Clifton, Assistant Professor Bryan Boruff |
Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities | 2007 | Assessment of recent demographic and socio-economic trends in the coastal communities adjacent to the North-west Marine Region (Kalbarri in Western Australia to the Northern Territory / Western Australia State border). The assessment supports bioregional planning by providing a comprehensive information base and guidance for making decisions of relevance to the Region |
| Future Development in the South West Marine Region | Professor Matthew Tonts, Ms Carmen Elrick, Assistant Professor Julian Clifton | Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities | 2007 | Identify the extent of current and future human impacts on the coastal environment adjacent to and within the South-west Marine Region (Kangaroo Island in South Australia to Shark Bay in Western Australia). The process assists in identifying current and future trends in key socio-economic sectors relating to coastal activity |
| An assessment of marine-focused Industries in the North-West Marine Region | Professor Matthew Tonts, Assistant Professor Julian Clifton, Assistant Professor Bryan Boruff, Ms Carmen Elrick | Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities | 2007 | Assessment of recent marine-focussed industries in the coastal communities adjacent to the North-west Marine Region (Kalbarri in Western Australia to the Northern Territory / Western Australia State border). The assessment supports bioregional planning by providing a comprehensive information base and guidance for making decisions of relevance to the Region |
| UWA-99A: Regional Development Diversification & Addressing the Rural Skilled Labour Shortages |
Professor Matthew Tonts, Assistant Professor Amanda Davies, Ms Carmen Elrick |
Rural Industries Research & Development Corporation | 2006 | Investigate the dynamics of skilled labour shortages in rural Australia and identify strategies for resolving this issue. Develop a national spatial analysis of rural labour market trends between 1996 and 2006 identify current and emerging skilled labour shortages assess the impacts on six case study regions and identify solutions to the problem |
| Youth Education, Employment and Locational Choices and the Western Australian Wheatbelt |
Professor Matthew Tonts, Assistant Professor Amanda Davies, Ms Carmen Elrick | Wheatbelt Development Commission | 2006 | Investigate the education and employment and locational choices of young people. Outputs provided information for planning for the Wheatbelt Development Commission |
| Formulation of a Coastal Foreshore Environmental Action Plan |
Professor Matthew Tonts, Dr Ian Eliot, Ms Carmen Elrick |
City of Stirling | 2005 | Development of a coastal management plan for the coast between Trigg Island and Watermans Beach. Review of relevant legislation, strategies and reports, community surveys, field assessments and site inspections provided the basis for ‘action’ recommendations for the coastal zone |
Research areas
- coastal management
- climate change adaptation
- Human-environment interactions
- Geography
- Policy and institutional analysis
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0964569121000946
- https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10113-016-1016-1
- http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol19/iss4/art12/
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1462901116301903?via%3Dihub
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1462901116301903
- https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/wcc.476
Carmen Elrick-Barr’s areas of expertise include coastal governance, adaptation, adaptive capacity, institutional analysis and policy review,