Profiles
Gabi Mocatta
UTAS Home Dr Gabi Mocatta
Gabi Mocatta
University Associate
Research Fellow in Climate Change Communication (Discipline of Geography)
Room 207 , The Media School, Salamanca
+61 3 6226 2950 (phone)
Gabi has lectured and tutored in Media at the University of Tasmania since 2010, and is currently a University Associate in the Media School and Research Fellow in Climate Change Communication with Climate Futures, in the Discipline of Geography. Her research interests are particularly concerned with communicating the environment. Gabi is especially interested in the relationship between media literacy and environmental literacy in the context of the current climate crisis. She also researches environmental harms and social inequality, examining the ways in which the relationship between these plays out in media discourse. With colleagues in the School of Science and Engineering and the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies, Gabi also researches and teaches on risk communication and risk perception, in relation to natural hazards and disasters.
Gabi is a collaborator with A/Prof Max Boykoff on the Media and Climate Change Observatory (MeCCO) project at University of Colorado, Boulder (UCB) contributing data and analysis on Russian media coverage of climate range to this group's work. She is also Research Affiliate at the Center for Science and Technology Policy Research at UCB.
In addition to her roles at the University of Tasmania, Gabi is also Lecturer in Journalism at Deakin University.
Biography
Prior to joining the University of Tasmania, Gabi was a newspaper and magazine features writer, contributing to publications including The Australian, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Moscow Times, The Russia Journal and The Johannesburg Sunday Times; and magazines including Australian Geographic, Vacations & Travel and Australian Gourmet Traveller. Gabi has also been an author for Lonely Planet guides, Insight Guides and the SBS World Guide. She has co-authored or contributed to 16 books, including large format coffee-table books for Lonely Planet. She has also been a digital content contributor for the BBC. See Gabi's website.
Career summary
Qualifications
- PhD, University of Tasmania, Awarded 2019. Thesis title: Becoming Emblematic: Lessons from mediatized megaproject conflict in Chile
- MA Political Science, University of Melbourne, Awarded 2003, Thesis title: Media and democracy in post-perestroika Russia
- BA (Hons) Modern European Languages (first class – Distinction in Spoken Russian and German), University of Durham, Awarded 1999.
Teaching
Teaching expertise
Gabi has taught in the following units at the university of Tasmania:
- HEJ248 Social Media
- HEJ107 Communication and Professional Writing
- HEJ205 Public Relations
- HEJ260/360 Media Projects
- HEJ140 Making Media
- HEJ342 Media and Crime
- HEJ418 Theory to Practice in Journalism, Media and Communications
- HEJ504 Media Writing
- XBR208 Natural Hazards and Disasters
- KAA106 Introduction to Sustainability Literacy
- HEJ415 Communication for Change
Gabi is also a course author for the Open School of Journalism (Based in Berlin and New York). Her course here is, JD040: Environmental Journalism.
Teaching responsibility
Semester 1 2020:
- XBR208 Natural Hazards and Disasters (media and communications component)
View more on Ms Gabi Mocatta in WARP
Fields of Research
- Communication studies (470101)
- Climate change processes (370201)
- Social geography (440610)
- Human impacts of climate change and human adaptation (410103)
- Media studies (470107)
- Agricultural systems analysis and modelling (300207)
- Climatology (370202)
- Journalism studies (470105)
- Environmental management (410499)
- Organisational, interpersonal and intercultural communication (470108)
- Environmental management (410404)
- Ecological impacts of climate change and ecological adaptation (410102)
- Environmental assessment and monitoring (410402)
- Agricultural spatial analysis and modelling (300206)
- Environmental philosophy (500304)
- Meteorology (370108)
- Natural hazards (370903)
Research Objectives
- Understanding climate change (190599)
- The media (130204)
- Expanding knowledge in human society (280123)
- Other environmental management (189999)
- Expanding knowledge in language, communication and culture (280116)
- Effects of climate change on Australia (excl. social impacts) (190504)
- Social impacts of climate change and variability (190103)
- Climate change mitigation strategies (190301)
- Field grown vegetable crops (260505)
- Expanding knowledge in creative arts and writing studies (280122)
- Climate change models (190501)
- Natural hazards (190499)
- Climate variability (excl. social impacts) (190502)
- Understanding the impact of natural hazards caused by climate change (190508)
- Climate change adaptation measures (excl. ecosystem) (190101)
- Expanding knowledge in psychology (280121)
- Management, resources and leadership (160204)
- Ecosystem adaptation to climate change (190102)
- Rehabilitation or conservation of terrestrial environments (180604)
- Air quality, atmosphere and weather (180199)
Publications
Total publications
19
Journal Article
(3 outputs)| Year | Citation | Altmetrics |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Pearman O, Boykoff M, Osborne-Gowey J, Aoyagi M, Ballantyne AG, et al., 'COVID-19 media coverage decreasing despite deepening crisis', The Lancet Planetary Health, 5, (1) pp. e6-e7. ISSN 2542-5196 (2021) [Contribution to Refereed Journal] DOI: 10.1016/S2542-5196(20)30303-X [eCite] [Details] Citations: Scopus - 4Web of Science - 1 | |
| 2020 | Mocatta G, Hawley E, 'Uncovering a climate catastrophe? Media coverage of Australia's Black Summer bushfires and the revelatory extent of the climate blame frame', M/C Journal, 23, (4) ISSN 1441-2616 (2020) [Refereed Article] | |
| 2020 | Mocatta G, Hawley E, 'The coronavirus crisis as tipping point: communicating the environment in a time of pandemic', Media International Australia, 177, (1) pp. 119-124. ISSN 1329-878X (2020) [Refereed Article] DOI: 10.1177/1329878X20950030 [eCite] [Details] Citations: Scopus - 3Web of Science - 2 |
Book
(1 outputs)| Year | Citation | Altmetrics |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Mocatta G, 'Environmental Journalism', Open School of Journalism, New York, pp. 97. (2015) [Authored Other Book] |
Chapter in Book
(4 outputs)| Year | Citation | Altmetrics |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Milstein T, Mocatta G, 'Environmental Communication Theory and Practice for Global Transformation: An Ecocultural Approach', Handbook of Global Interventions in Communication Theory, Routledge, Y Miike and J Yin (ed) (In Press) [Research Book Chapter] | |
| 2021 | Schmitt CR, Mocatta G, Tate JM, 'Rhetorical Approaches in Environmental Communication', ICA Routledge Handbook of International Trends in Environmental Communication, Routledge, B Takahashi, J Thaker, S Evans Comfort and J Metag (ed) (In Press) [Research Book Chapter] | |
| 2020 | Mocatta G, 'When Water is Energy: Tracing Mediatized Discourses in Chile's Mega-Hydro Debate', Water, Rhetoric, and Social Justice, Rowman and Littlefield, CR Schmitt, CS Thomas, TR Castor (ed), USA, pp. 43-60. ISBN 9781793605214 (2020) [Research Book Chapter] | |
| 2017 | Mocatta G, 'Designing a Distance Education Course in Environmental Journalism', Environmental communication pedagogy and practice, Routledge, T. Milstein, M Pileggi and E Morgan (ed), United Kingdom, pp. 128-142. ISBN 978-1138673090 (2017) [Research Book Chapter] |
Conference Publication
(3 outputs)| Year | Citation | Altmetrics |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Mocatta G, 'Energy that's as clean as water: tracking mediatized discourse on hydroelectric dam building and climate change in Chile', The 2019 Conference on Communication and Environment in Vancouver, 17-21 June, Vancouver, Canada, pp. 24. (2019) [Conference Extract] | |
| 2015 | Mocatta G, 'Media, symbolism and becoming emblematic: lessons form an enduring environmental conflict in Chile', The 2015 Conference On Communication and Environment In Boulder, 11-14 June, Boulder, Colorado, pp. 10. (2015) [Conference Extract] | |
| 2013 | Mocatta G, 'CSR communication vs. protest movement campaign in Chile: A case study of the HidroAysen megaproject debate', CSR Communication Conference 2013 Conference Proceedings, 18-20 September, Denmark, pp. 40-48. ISBN 978-961-235-678-1 (2013) [Conference Extract] |
Thesis
(2 outputs)| Year | Citation | Altmetrics |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Mocatta G, 'Becoming emblematic: lessons from a mediatized megaproject conflict in Chile' (2018) [PhD] | |
| 2002 | Mocatta G, 'Media freedom and democracy in post-perestroika Russia' (2002) [Masters Research] |
Other Public Output
(6 outputs)| Year | Citation | Altmetrics |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Mocatta G, 'With increased awareness and visibility, climate optimism set to rise', Breakfast with Taylah, RTR FM 92.1, Perth, Western Australia, 7 May 2021 (2021) [Media Interview] | |
| 2021 | Mocatta G, Harris R, 'More reasons for optimism on climate change than we've seen for decades: 2 climate experts explain', The Conversation, The Conversation Media Group Ltd, Australia (2021) [Newspaper Article] Co-authors: Harris R | |
| 2020 | Mocatta G, Harris R, Remenyi T, 'Pass the shiraz: how Australia's wine industry can adapt to climate change', The Guardian, Guardian Australia, Australia, 16 June 2020 (2020) [Newspaper Article] Co-authors: Harris R; Remenyi T | |
| 2020 | Mocatta G, White R, 'This is how universities can lead climate action', The Conversation, Australia (2020) [Newspaper Article] Co-authors: White R | |
| 2020 | Williamson G, Mocatta G, Harris R, Remenyi T, 'Yes, the Australian bush is recovering from bushfires - but it may never be the same', The Conversation, The Conversation Media Group Ltd, Australia, 19 February 2020 (2020) [Newspaper Article] Co-authors: Williamson G; Harris R; Remenyi T | |
| 2019 | Mocatta G, 'Talking Point: We're in the final decade it will be possible to fix climate change', The Mercury, News Pty. Ltd., Hobart, Tasmania, 20 September (2019) [Newspaper Article] |
Grants & Funding
Funding Summary
Number of grants
7
Total funding
$897,439
Projects
Climate projections for Launceston City Council (2021)$25,000
- Description
- This project will assess future climate changes for the Launceston region. We will consult widely with council and the community to decide which climate indices are of interest to various sectors. We will run workshops to decide on the most appropriate format for the information, to ensure it is usable and useful. Infographics and more technical visualisation approaches will be included to appeal to a range of audiences. We will provide a summary of changes that have already occurred in the last decades and changes that are expected to occur at a range of time scales (e.g. near, mid and end of century), based on the CMIP5 data archive and RCP8.5 emissions scenario
- Funding
- Launceston City Council ($25,000)
- Scheme
- Contract Research
- Administered By
- University of Tasmania
- Research Team
- Harris R; Mocatta G
- Year
- 2021
Federated Climate Information (2021)$500,000
- Description
- OverviewThis project will develop tools to streamline delivery of future climate knowledge to support decision making and reporting for Australia's industries and will also support Commonwealth objectives and initiatives related to climate and disaster risk information. This includes the National Disaster Risk Information Service Capability (NDRISC) and the CSRIO-led Climate Mission. This project is directly aligned to priority 1 of the National Disaster Risk Reduction Framework (NDRRF). Australia is situated in one of the most variable climate zones on Earth. Remaining competitive, or developing new markets will require an understanding how climate will impact on supply and demand factors. Australia's research sector has the data and expertise required to meet industry needs, however, access can be confusing and difficult. At present access to high resolution future climate data, expertise and knowledge is confusing, complex and slow. These data are vast archives (petabyte scale), managed by 4 universities and 3 state governments distributed across Australia. Each institution has its own standards, core expertise and governance structures. This makes engagement difficult and costly, especially when operating across jurisdictions. Linking these organisations together into a collaborative, coordinated federation will simplify discoverability, access and support, thus unlocking the latent potential held within these expert teams and the data archives they manage. Delivery of the full capability is divided into two phases: Part A will federate all regional climate model projections from around Australia into a collection by building a gateway server that provides access to the existing compute and storage facilities through a centralised user management system. Federation will allow expert users to rapidly, independently and easily access all the existing projection archives, and compare, summarise or interrogate the entire ensemble of model outputs. Part B provides a pathway to deliver derived products generated from regional climate projections to downstream users of all kinds. User will be able to discover which data layers exist through a curated catalogue, visualise the layers to assist with data layer interpretation, select and subset the required data layers based on their interests, summarise the data layers to meet their needs and download the data for use in their local workflows. When completed, researchers and other expert users, including the insurance sector, will produce nationally-relevant derived products through Part A, they will then submit this to Part B for consumption by end-users, who will be able to subset the provided outputs to a regional domain relevant to them. A proof of concept approach is already operational within the Climate Futures Team at University of Tasmania and is completely transferable into other systems. The web portal will include data-discovery and exploration tools, however, sophisticated visualisation and analytical tools are secondary priorities to this proposal, but will be incorporated if time and resources allow.Commonwealth Interest This project supports the Commonwealth objective to develop NDRISC and aligns to the federated architecture anticipated to be used for the national capability. Improved discoverability and access to foundational climate related information also supports the objective of the CSRIO-led Climate Mission and the integration of climate information into the risk-based decision making and operations of key sectors, including finance and insurance.Funding arrangements Full delivery of the capability (parts A and B) are assessed at approximately $1.5 million with possible implementation within 18months. The proposed funding of $400,000 in 2019-20 would be granted to the University of Tasmania to enable expansion of the existing proof-of-concept and commence development of Part A. It would also promote c
- Funding
- Department of Home Affairs ($500,000)
- Scheme
- Disaster Risk Reduction Fund
- Administered By
- University of Tasmania
- Research Team
- Remenyi TA; Harris R; Bindoff NL; Love PT; Mocatta G; Earl NO
- Year
- 2021
Natural Hazards Climate Atlas for Tasmania (2021)$137,150
- Description
- This project will build on the recently released work by Climate Futures, Australias Wine Future A Climate Atlas, which developed new approaches to provide tailored climate information for particular regions and industries. The attached atlas section gives an example of the indices that were calculated for the Tasmanian wine regions.The proposed natural hazards atlas will extend the spatial coverage to identify current and emerging climate risks across all of Tasmania and provide extensive information on extreme events such as heatwaves, fire and flood. Fine-scaled climate information will be provided in an accessible, usable form across the state to support the prioritisation of future strategic investments to help build resilience to current and emerging natural hazards. Approach:1.Identification of climate indices of highest priority to emergency management within the target regions; 2.Tailored analysis, transformation and visualisation of climate information to meet the needs of emergency managers across Tasmania;3.Dynamically downscaled regional climate model output (CCAM) to provide fine-scaled projections at 10km over Tasmania under a medium and/or high emissions scenario out to 2100. 4.Summaries for regions of interest (e.g. Local council areas or BoM forecast districts) covering indices in Table 1;5.Delivery in the form of an online atlas (static document) and the presentation of the atlas to stakeholders (live presentations recorded and made available online). 6.Focus on impacts of extreme events such as heatwaves, droughts, floods and fire.7.Calculation and validation of storm related indices (e.g. frequency, storm tracks, hail, lightning potential) and wind (Phase 2). PROJECT PURPOSE To develop a Climate atlas, specific for the Tasmanian emergency management sector. PROJECT OBJECTIVES, DELIVERABLES AND OUTPUTSOutputs:An online atlas providing information about recent, observed changes in climate and how it is projected to change into the future, at short, mid and longer time horizons.Spatial layers describing current and future natural hazards to be added to data delivery portals such as TheList.Presentations recorded and provided online for sharing more broadly across the industry and regions.Benefits:A source of relevant climate information that industry and government decision makers can use to inform operational, tactical and strategic decisions.Improved understanding of extreme events and natural hazards to help emergency managers and communities report on, minimise and adapt to climate risks. Identification of exposure to climate variability and long-term change.Flow-on effects leading to more resilient industries and communities.
- Funding
- Department of Police, Fire and Emergency Management [TAS] ($137,150)
- Scheme
- Grant-NDRRGP
- Administered By
- University of Tasmania
- Research Team
- Remenyi TA; Love PT; Harris R; Mocatta G; Rollins D
- Year
- 2021
Developing a flash flood warning system for short duration catchments using rain fields data, 2D hydrodynamic modelling and best-practice emergency communication (2020 - 2023)$63,000
- Description
- The Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) is interested in funding a PhD Scholarship exploring the development of an improved flood warning system for short duration catchments using rain fields data, 2D hydrodynamic modelling and best-practice emergency communication.
- Funding
- Bushfire and Natural Hazard CRC ($63,000)
- Scheme
- Contract Research
- Administered By
- University of Tasmania
- Research Team
- Corney SP; White CJ; Mocatta G; Fox-Hughes P
- Period
- 2020 - 2023
Historical Network Analysis of TasNetworks power system during weather phenomena (2020 - 2021)$120,171
- Description
- Part A: Historical Network AnalysisIntent: To understand the performance of the power system during weather phenomena and to identify any spatial or temporal patterns and trends that have appeared over time. Actions by service provider:Extraction of historical weather data from BARRA (back to 1990). Weather data includes (but is not limited to)oPrecipitationoSnowfalloTemperatureoLightningoWind speed and directionoIcingoFloodingoBushfireAnalysis of synoptic and local weather conditionsoIdentify spatial or temporal patterns and trends in a historical contextooverlay on the network to identify corresponding modes of failureoUtilise a multi-variate analysis to identify impacting combinations of weather effectsoIdentify the regions affected (communities and feeders)oIdentify the contribution of these types of failures to high impact days.Probability of impacting weather patterns occurring by month (and how many days per month)Provide a report to TasNetworks detailing the above informationTo be provided by TasNetworks:Outage data for TasNetworks Assets (back to 1990 for transmission and 2006 for distribution )Correlation between communities and feedersIdentification of High Impact DaysGIS Location Data for TasNetworks assets Part B: Meteorological Network Performance ForecastingIntent:Provision of a probabilistic mechanism for predicting network outages and their severity on parts of the network due to forecast weather conditions.Actions by service provider:Production of GIS layers to identify specific performance impacts expected to occur due to the presence of specific weather conditions. Based on Part A:oProvide a risk based GIS layer identifying the risk of outages due to hazardous weather across the network (with defined reliability communities)oIdentify the risk of outages (including the mode of failure) from the above multi-variate analysis and assign these risks to the specific reliability communities. Assign each asset a risk level for each hazard in each time period.Provide a report detailing the project and findings and providing an overview of the outputs.
- Funding
- Tasmanian Networks Pty Ltd ($120,171)
- Scheme
- Contract Research
- Administered By
- University of Tasmania
- Research Team
- Remenyi TA; Earl NO; Love PT; Mocatta G; Rollins D
- Period
- 2020 - 2021
A fire regime model for planned burning and ecological management in a changing climate (2020 - 2021)$49,743
- Description
- This project will translate high-resolution regional climate projections into a tool that Tasmanian fire managers can use to explore future fire regime scenarios and assist in developing planned burning strategies in the context of a changing climate. This will be achieved by further development of a computational fire regime research model so that it can be applied as an operational decision support tool.
- Funding
- Department of Premier and Cabinet ($49,743)
- Scheme
- Climate Research Grants Program
- Administered By
- University of Tasmania
- Research Team
- Love PT; Harris R; Mocatta G; Styger JK; Doss S
- Period
- 2020 - 2021
Assessing the impact of climate change research in Tasmania on community (2020)$2,375
- Funding
- University of Tasmania ($2,375)
- Scheme
- null
- Administered By
- University of Tasmania
- Research Team
- Mocatta G; Harris R; Remenyi TA
- Year
- 2020
Research Supervision
Developing a flash flood warning system for short duration catchments using rain fields data, 2D hydrodynamic modelling and best-practice emergency communication
Current
1
Current
| Degree | Title | Commenced |
|---|---|---|
| PhD | Social Movements and Climate Action | 2021 |