Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
Biography
Dr Jess McLean is Discipline Chair of Geography and Planning at Macquarie and does research on how humans, more-than-humans, environments and technologies interact to produce geographies of change. Her research focuses on digital technologies, water politics, climate action and activism. She teaches smart urbanism, Anthropocene politics, liveable cities, social change processes, and environmental justice. In 2020, her book Changing Digital Geographies: Technologies, Environments and People was published that has contributed to shaping the emerging subdiscipline of digital geographies. Jess was founding co-Editor-in-Chief of the open access Digital Geography and Society journal and was an Associate Editor of Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers (2022-2024).
Teaching
Units that Jess McLean currently convenes:
SSCI2001 Problems, Solutions, Uncertainty
SSCI3004 Becoming a Change-maker
GEOP8030 Smart Urbanism
GEOP3030 Liveable cities
Research student supervision
Jess McLean is currently taking on new PhD and Masters of Research students in the following areas:
- Digital technologies - including digital sustainability, digital justice, feminist digital action, digital geographies, gender and the digital.
- Water cultures - urban and rural contexts, Indigenous knowledges and rights with respect to water, power and water cultures.
- Anthropocene studies - climate change, water dilemmas, justice in the Anthropocene.
Current HDR students:
Sarah Prebble: Digitally-mediated human-nature relationships in sustainable Cities: Urban Forest governance in Melbourne and Sydney
Elise Frost: Relational placemaking through outdoor exercise practices in Sydney
Christian Marando: Urban biodiversity conservtion volunteering in Dharug Ngurra
Previous HDR student supervision:
Elisabeth Nicolson: Dancing the earth and dreaming song to restore the balance- Exploring the role of Aboriginal song and dance in the environmental crises
Malcolm Campbell: Autistic Identity and Community Engagement through social media
A/Prof Corrinne Sullivan: Indigenous Australian experiences of sex work: Stories of Agency, Autonomy and Self-Determination (PhD)
Dr Rosy Sabiha Yeasmin: Ethical Political Ecology of Tourism in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh: Engaging with Indigenous and Gender Concerns (PhD)
Dr Wayne Williamson: Community and government planning authority use of social media in planning practice: a mixed methods analysis from Sydney (PhD)
Emily Speed: What folk are saying: representations of Indigenous Australians, decolonisation, and Australia’s National Folk Festival (MRes)
Solomon Frank: Community and government planning authority use of social media in planning practice: a mixed methods analysis from Sydney (MRes)
Elise Frost: "Our River”? Diversity, values, and community engagement in planning for Dyarubbin, Penrith (MRes)
Education/Academic qualification
Geography, Gender Studies, Anthropology, Bachelor of Science/Bachelor of Arts, Discourses Validating the Ord: A feminist political ecology perspective, University of Sydney
Award Date: 18 Dec 2001
Environment and Development Studies, PGrad Certificate, Discourses of climate change in Australian media: Minor research thesis, The University of Melbourne
Geography, PhD, Water Matters in the Ord Catchment, Northern Australia, University of Sydney
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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LP22: Storying and repairing water places in Wiradjuri Country
McLean, J., Sullivan, C., Miller, F., Menke, L. & Lonsdale, A.
19/06/23 → 25/06/26
Project: Research
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ART-Ethnography Research Lab
Hermkens, A., Davis, R., Yalcinkaya, C., McLauchlan, L., Simpson, A., Decottigny, L., Lloyd, J. & McLean, J.
7/09/22 → …
Project: Research
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NSW Environmental Trust: Enabling Healthier Gomeroi/Kamilaroi Country through On-Country Classrooms
O'Gorman, E., Suchet-Pearson, S., McLean, J., Miller, F., Lloyd, K., Thompson, R. & Moggridge, B.
1/07/21 → 1/07/23
Project: Research
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Crisi ambientale e cambiamento climatico: un osservatorio per la mobilitazione sociale e le nuove forme di attivismo digitale
Fuller, S., Houston, D., McGregor, A., McLean, J., Miller, F. & Roelofsen, M.
1/06/20 → 31/08/21
Project: Teaching
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Excavating digital (un)sustainabilities
McLean, J., 2025, Digital technologies for sustainable futures: promises and pitfalls. Certomà, C., Iapaolo, F. & Martellozzo, F. (eds.). London ; New York: Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group, p. 178-189 12 p. (Routledge Studies in Sustainability).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
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Can you teach it if you cannot see it? Finding 'the Anthropocene' and enhancing its visibility in the NSW geography syllabus
Caldis, S., McLean, J., Alolabe, H., Georgeson, A., King, J., Ross, A. & Saedi, M., 2024, In: Australian Geographer. 55, 4, p. 443-458 16 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile -
Children and young people's digital climate action in Australia: co-belonging with place, ecology, and Country
McLean, J. & Newman, L., 2024, Digital ecologies: mediating more-than-human worlds. Turnbull, J., Searle, A., Anderson-Elliott, H. & Giraud, E. H. (eds.). Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, p. 145-163 19 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
Open AccessFile17 Downloads (Pure) -
Contesting colonial digital power: Indigenous Australian sovereignty and self-determination in digital worlds
Sullivan, C. & McLean, J., 2024, The Routledge handbook of ecomedia studies. López, A., Ivakhiv, A., Rust, S., Tola, M., Chang, A. Y. & Chu, K. (eds.). London ; New York: Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group, p. 212-219 8 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
Open AccessFile1 Citation (Scopus)1098 Downloads (Pure) -
Gillian Rose
Maalsen, S. & McLean, J., 2024, Key thinkers on space and place. Gilmartin, M., Hubbard, P., Kitchin, R. & Roberts, S. M. (eds.). 3rd ed. London ; Thousand Oaks, USA: SAGE Publications, p. 344-351 8 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
Prizes
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Children's Geographies (External organisation)
Jessica McLean (Member)
2024Activity: Membership › Membership of board
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Speaker Series: TikTok and Young people
Jessica McLean (Speaker)
12 Oct 2023Activity: Talk or presentation › Invited talk
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Transactions - Institute of British Geographers (Journal)
Jessica McLean (Member of editorial board)
Jan 2022 → Dec 2024Activity: Peer-review and editorial of research outputs › Editorial work
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Digital Geography and Society journal (External organisation)
Jessica McLean (Chair)
5 May 2022Activity: Membership › Membership of board
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Looking for the Anthropocene in geography school education
Jessica McLean (Speaker) & Susan Caldis (Speaker)
2022Activity: Talk or presentation › Invited talk
Press/Media
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TikTok means much more to teenagers than you think
18/03/25
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Expert Comment
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Think before you click – and three other ways to reduce your digital carbon footprint
18/05/24
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Expert Comment
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Perspectives on care and TikTok from children and young people
20/07/23
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Expert Comment