Rate My Professor Paul Elton

Paul Elton is a doctoral researcher at the Australian National University Fenner School of Environment and Society. He is also a non-executive director and adviser on biodiversity conservation and climate action. His research focuses on understanding the costs and public funding needs to achieve the conservation objectives of the Global Biodiversity Framework in Australia, including options for practical, innovative, and transformative reforms. The work also examines the extent to which private funding and reforms to biodiversity-harmful subsidies could contribute to these objectives and reduce demands on government budgets.

Elton previously served as CEO of the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust. He holds non-executive director roles with Greening Australia, which focuses on restoration programs, nature-based solutions to climate change, and native seed production, and with NatureCo, a for-purpose business delivering high-integrity nature-based carbon projects. His publications include the 2023 paper 'Framework features enabling faster establishment and better management of privately protected areas in New South Wales, Australia' in Frontiers in Conservation Science, co-authored work in 2025 on establishing large permanent protection outcomes on Indigenous-owned private land in Conservation Science and Practice, and the 2026 paper 'Biodiversity-harmful subsidies in Australia' in the Australasian Journal of Environmental Management.