Image: Adelaide University
A young South Australian researcher is set to take on one of the state’s most pressing environmental challenges, with a major scholarship backing her work to better understand why revegetation efforts aren’t reaching their full potential.
Adelaide University PhD student Shannon Evenden has been awarded the prestigious Catherine Helen Spence Scholarship, receiving $25,000 in State Government funding to explore barriers to revegetation across the Mount Lofty Ranges.
Her research will focus on why fewer private landholders are participating in revegetation projects, shifting the conversation beyond financial incentives to uncover the real, often overlooked challenges faced by regional communities.
It’s a timely project, as South Australia continues to grapple with biodiversity loss, land degradation, and the growing impacts of climate change.
Shannon, whose work is also supported by the University’s Environment Institute, will take a hands-on approach, conducting long-form interviews and workshops with landholders to better understand their lived experiences.
“While financial help is an important mechanism, there are likely to be unknown barriers to participation, such as whether a landholder has time to apply for grants,” she said. “Through longform interviews and workshops, I will gain insight into the implementation gap, uncovering a holistic picture of barriers and preferential support mechanisms for revegetation projects.”
As part of the scholarship, Shannon will also spend time at the globally recognised Stockholm Resilience Centre in Sweden, working alongside leading experts in sustainability and human–environment systems.
Minister for Women Katrine Hildyard said, “Shannon’s research is a powerful example of legacy in action, beyond financial incentives to understand the real, lived barriers regional landholders experience when it comes to revegetation.
“By centring community voices and lived experience, her work will help shape more effective, practical solutions that support both our environment and the wellbeing of rural communities.”
The scholarship honours Catherine Helen Spence, a pioneering South Australian who played a key role in advancing women’s rights, including voting reform. First awarded more than a century ago, the program continues to support research that drives social impact, from prison reform to education access and public safety.
Shannon’s work also comes at a critical time for the environment, with declining landscape health increasingly intersecting with climate pressures.
“The drastic loss of biodiversity alongside essential ecosystem services, such as water retention and soil stabilisation, has led to a steady decline in landscape health. This ecological pressure is now colliding with a changing climate as South Australia warms and dries, and drought becomes an ever-present occurrence.
“With conditions predicted to only become worse, the impact of declining landscape health and exposure to a changing climate on farmer and rural community wellbeing cannot be overstated.
“To restore landscape health and increase resilience to a changing climate, revegetation is paramount and urgent.”
As South Australia looks to strengthen its environmental resilience, projects like this could play a key role in shaping more practical, community-driven solutions, making sure the path to restoration is as achievable as it is essential.
