Jo Gillespie

Associate Professor Jo Gillespie is a prominent legal geographer based in the School of Geosciences within the Faculty of Science at the University of Sydney. She earned her PhD in Geography and Law from the University of Sydney in 2010, along with a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Arts. A former practicing lawyer, Gillespie transitioned into academia where she has advanced from lecturer to associate professor, contributing significantly to human geography and environmental studies. Her research centers on legal geography, exploring the intricate intersections of law, landscape, and environmental governance. Key areas include the regulation of protected areas, World Heritage sites, wetlands conservation, property rights, exclusion mechanisms, and multi-species justice. Her fieldwork spans contexts such as Cambodia's Tonle Sap wetlands and Angkor Archaeological Park, as well as Australian coal mining communities and urban wetlands like those in Sydney. Gillespie examines how legal frameworks shape spatial practices, influence conservation outcomes, and intersect with human rights and social equity.

Gillespie's scholarly impact is evidenced by her influential publications. She authored the book Protected Areas: A Legal Geography Approach (Springer, 2020), which analyzes spatial regulation in conservation globally. Highly cited works include "The coal story: Generational coal mining communities and strategies of energy transition in Australia" (2018, 208 citations), "Legal geography: Perspectives and methods" (2019, 64 citations), "Feminist political ecology and legal geography: A case study of the Tonle Sap protected wetlands of Cambodia" (2019, 48 citations), "Wetland conservation and legal layering: Managing Cambodia's great lake" (2018, 44 citations), and "A legal geography of property, tenure, exclusion, and rights in Cambodia" (2016, 44 citations). Recent contributions encompass "Letting the plants speak: Law, landscape and conservation" (2023), "Insights from Antipodean legal geography" (2024), and "Bushfire management, prescribed burning, and a right to fire?" (2025). She has received funding, such as a 2016 School of Geosciences grant for bridging social and natural sciences to support community adaptation. Gillespie leads in professional service as a key member of the Legal Geography Study Group of the Institute of Australian Geographers and serves as Honours Coordinator in Geography. Her work advances interdisciplinary dialogues on environmental law, heritage management, and sustainable development, informing policy on effective landscape protection.

Professional Email: josephine.gillespie@sydney.edu.au