Rate My Professor Aaron Driver

Associate Professor Aaron Driver serves as Academic Director of Lab Next 70, UNE's applied AI lab, at the University of New England Business School. He holds a PhD from the University of New England, a Master of Fine Arts from the University of British Columbia, and a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from Charles Sturt University. His professional journey began as a journalist, followed by roles in politics, technology at eBay, teaching marketing in France, and founding his own marketing agency in Australia. Since entering academia, he has specialized in social marketing, applying marketing tools for public good, with research centered on narrative persuasion and behaviour change in areas such as climate change and biosecurity. In his current role, Driver drives AI innovation across academic and corporate sectors at the university, integrating his expertise in technology, narrative, and behavioural science with advanced AI to transform educational experiences and organizational outcomes. He continues to teach in the UNE Business School, including the unit Business Storytelling (DM221), which explores narrative as a core technology for organizations to envision and shape their futures.

Driver's research interests encompass AI-enabled learning design, narrative persuasion for social and environmental change, and reality-shaping through organisational storytelling. His key publications include books such as Designing behaviour change interventions for invasive animal control: A practical guide (Hine, McLeod & Driver, 2019) and Behaviourally effective communications for invasive animals management: A practical guide (Hine, Please, McLeod & Driver, 2015). Notable refereed journal articles feature Refining online communication strategies for cat management (McLeod, Driver, Hine & Bengsen, 2017, Anthrozoos), Assessing the impact of different persuasive messages on cat owner intentions and behaviors (McLeod, Hine, Bengsen & Driver, 2017, Preventive Veterinary Medicine), and Applying behavioural theories to invasive species management: Towards an integrated framework (McLeod, Hine, Please & Driver, 2015, Journal of Environmental Management). These works demonstrate his contributions to behaviour change strategies in environmental management.