Rate My Professor Brian Cook

Associate Professor Brian Cook holds the position of Associate Professor (Geography) in the School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Faculty of Science, at the University of Melbourne. He earned a BA (Honours) in Geography from the University of Victoria, Canada, an MA in Geography from the University of Western Ontario, Canada, and a PhD from the Institute of Hazard, Risk, and Resilience in the Geography Department at Durham University, United Kingdom. Prior to joining the University of Melbourne, he served as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the UNESCO Centre for Water at the University of Dundee, United Kingdom. His research explores water management, environmental risk, scientific knowledge, expertise, agrarian change, and sustainable development, with a focus on the science-society interface in environmental governance. Cook investigates the power embedded in knowledge that informs policies on water and flood management, employing mixed methods, primarily qualitative, informed by science and technology studies and human geography. His work spans contexts including Australia, Cambodia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Bangladesh, addressing disaster-development relationships amid social, economic, political, and climate complexities. He leads applied projects such as the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research-funded initiative on farmer decision-making and technology uptake in Cambodia's Battambang and Pailin provinces, and a Melbourne Water-funded project on community engagement for flood risk reduction and drowning prevention at unpatrolled beaches.

Cook's key publications include 'Humanising agricultural extension: a review' (World Development, 2021), 'Experiential learning, practices, and space for change: The institutional preconfiguration of community participation in flood risk reduction' (Journal of Flood Risk Management, 2022), 'Geographies of the Anthropocene' (Geographical Research, 2015), 'Co-producing (a fearful) Anthropocene' (Geographical Research, 2015), and 'Engaging beachgoers for drowning prevention: the spillover effects on non-participants' (Environmental Hazards, 2023). His scholarship has garnered over 2,300 citations, reflecting impact in human geography, participation, and community engagement. Cook serves as Interim President of the Institute of Australian Geographers for 2026 and collaborates with NGOs, scientists, engineers, and policymakers to enhance governance through practitioner expertise. He contributes to research groups like Climate Change and Society and Environment, Wellbeing and Sustainable Communities at his school.