Jeffrey Neilson

Jeffrey Neilson is Associate Professor of Economic Geography in the School of Geosciences, Faculty of Science, at the University of Sydney, where he also serves as Indonesia Coordinator for the Sydney Southeast Asia Centre and Program Director for the Environmental Science Program. He earned a B.Sc. in Environmental Science and a B.A. in Indonesian Studies from the University of New South Wales, followed by a PhD in Geography from the University of Sydney in 2004. His academic career at the University of Sydney began as a Lecturer in geography in 2009, advancing to his current position. Neilson's research centers on economic geography, environmental governance, and rural development in Australia and Southeast Asia, with particular emphasis on global value chains in agriculture, smallholder farmer livelihoods, agrarian change, food security, and sustainability standards in sectors such as coffee, cocoa, and tea. He has conducted extensive ethnographic fieldwork in Indonesia, including the Toraja region of Sulawesi, and is fluent in Indonesian.

Neilson has authored or co-authored influential publications, including the books Value Chain Struggles: Institutions and Governance in the Agri-food Sectors of Emerging Markets (2009, with Bill Pritchard) and Global Value Chains and Global Production Networks: Changes in International Trade Structures and Their Impact on Developing Countries (2015, co-edited with Bill Pritchard and Henry Wai-chung Yeung). Key journal articles include 'Global value chains and global production networks in the changing international political economy: An introduction' (2014, Review of International Political Economy), 'Value chains, neoliberalism and development practice: The Indonesian experience' (2014), and 'Strategic coupling in the Indonesian cocoa sector' (2020, World Development). His work has received funding from organizations such as the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) for projects enhancing smallholder coffee production in Vietnam, Indonesia, and Timor-Leste. Neilson contributes to teaching in geography and environmental science, supervises research students, and engages in public discourse through forums and expert commentary on Southeast Asian development issues.

Professional Email: jeffrey.neilson@sydney.edu.au