Isobel Heffernan

As Australia’s beef industry faces growing climate variability threatening productivity and livelihoods, Isobel Heffernan will study new ways to empower communities to drive climate resilience in grazing landscapes. 

She says regional and remote communities are under increasing pressure to adapt, and whilst policies and funding to support climate resilience exist, they often adopt a top-down approach that favours external expertise over local knowledge. This ultimately creates a disconnect between proposed solutions and the lived experience of the affected producers. 

Isobel, a Northern Territory-based agribusiness professional specialising in rangelands beef and sustainability, believes community-led initiatives are integral to building resilience, particularly when local knowledge, participation and collaboration are prioritised. 

However, she says assumptions of equal representation and shared knowledge can overlook social dynamics, bias  and competing priorities.

Her research will explore how community-led strategies can navigate these complexities to build rural systems that are socially, culturally, and environmentally resilient. She will apply these learnings to drive grassroots-driven climate adaptation to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Australian agriculture.

From her base in the remote NT outback, Isobel will visit regions where grazing communities are leading climate resilience through grassroots approaches, including in Southern Africa, Chile and Brazil.

Isobel holds a Bachelor of Actuarial Science and is completing a Masters in Sustainable Agriculture. She says her Masters coursework, particularly units on resilience thinking, ecologically sustainable development and climate change, combined with her on-the-ground experience embedded in her local grazing community inspired the development of her Nuffield topic.

Living and working on Amungee Mungee Station, Isobel brings a unique blend of practical station experience and sharp business insight. In her role with the Bilba Group of Companies, a diverse leader in water infrastructure manufacturing, rural property development, and pastoral operations, she tackles a wide range of challenges, from genetics and marketing to technology and investment, ensuring there’s never a dull moment.