Dr. Natalie Jones is a Senior Lecturer in the School of the Environment at the University of Queensland's Faculty of Science. She earned her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Queensland, a Masters in Applied Anthropology and Participatory Development from the Australian National University, and a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Queensland in 2012, with a thesis titled "Eliciting mental models of natural resource systems: a procedural comparison." Before joining UQ, she served as a Researcher in the Resource Management of the Asia Pacific Program at the Australian National University, collaborating internationally with CIRAD on evaluating participatory modelling projects. She has also undertaken consultancies for Australian natural resource management organizations, including Healthy Land and Water and Seqwater. Jones teaches courses such as Regulatory Frameworks for Environmental Management and Planning, Cultural Heritage Management, and Australian Studies.

Jones is an applied anthropologist focused on advancing social science in natural resource management and agriculture through interdisciplinary teams. Her research explores how individuals perceive and interact with environmental systems using cognitive constructs like mental models and values, and she designs participatory processes for decision-making. She leads the social component of an Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research project in Fiji on value chains for engineered wood products from senile coconut trees. She has secured funding from the Great Barrier Reef Foundation for the PROTECT project on stewardship monitoring. With over 25 academic papers and book chapters, key publications include "The contribution of mental models to the transformation of conflicts over wildlife" (2026, Conservation Science and Practice), "Mental models and values: application to natural resource management" (2023, book chapter), "Drivers and barriers to uptake of regenerative agriculture in southeast Queensland: a mental model study" (2022, Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems), and "A shock to the system: what the COVID-19 pandemic reveals about Australia's food systems and their resilience" (2022, Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems). Her work involves collaborations with governments, NGOs, and Indigenous groups, contributing to sustainable environmental management.

Professional Email: n.jones3@uq.edu.au