Dr JASON ALEXANDRA - Bio 

Jason Alexandra is a senior research fellow at the Australian National University’s Institute for Climate, Energy & Disaster Solutions (ICEDS) and the Institute for Water Futures (IWF) where he works on climate adaptation and adaptive water governance.

Jason’s research focuses on understanding transformative, adaptive and equitable water governance in urban and rural systems, across multiple scales. Jason collaborates with diverse stakeholders, including government agencies, farmer groups, traditional owners, and academics. Recently completed projects focused on urban systems include – O’Donnell, T. & Alexandra, J. (2018) Regulatory Boundaries and Climate Adapted Futures in the Australian Capital Region, and a review of living infrastructure suited to Canberra – J., Norman B, Steffen W and Maher W (2017) Planning and Implementing Living Infrastructure in the Australian Capital Territory. Results of these projects were published in

• Alexandra, J. and Norman B. (2020) The city as forest - integrating living infrastructure, climate conditioning and urban forestry in Canberra, Australia Sustainable Earth 3:10
• Alexandra J. (2017) The city as nature and the nature of the city – climate adaptation using living Infrastructure - governance and integration challenges Australasian Journal of Water Resources

In the past, Jason held senior roles in government including as a Senior Executive at the Murray Darling Basin Commission and the MDB Authority where he had responsibility for natural resource management programs, risk assessment and climate R&D.

Jason’s PhD thesis – The politics of climate adaptation in Australia's Murray–Darling Basin – focused on climate adaptive water planning:

• Alexandra (2021) Navigating the Anthropocene’s rivers of risk – climatic change and science-policy dilemmas in Australia’s MDB Climatic Change 2021, 165(1-2), 1-21
• Alexandra, and Rickards L. (2021) The contested politics of drought, water security and climate adaptation in Australia's Murray-Darling Basin Water Alternatives 14(3): 773-794
• Alexandra (2020) The science and politics of climate risk assessment in Australia’s Murray Darling Basin Environmental Science and Policy Vol. 112, 17-27
• Alexandra (2019) Losing the Authority – what institutional architecture for cooperative governance in the Murray Darling Australasian Journal of Water Resources
• Alexandra, J. (2018) Evolving Governance and Contested Water Reforms in Australia’s Murray Darling BasinWater, 10(2), DOI: 10.3390/w10020113.
• Alexandra, (2017) Risks, Uncertainty and Climate Confusion in the Murray–Darling Basin Reforms Water Economics and Policy,03(03), 1650038–21
• Marshall, G.R. and Alexandra, J. (2016) Institutional path dependence and environmental water recovery in Australia’s MDB Water Alternatives 9(3): 679-703

Other Selected Publications

Alexandra, J., Rickards, L. and Pahl-Wostl, C., (2023) The Logics and Politics of Environmental Flows-A Review. Water Alternatives, 16(2)

Alexandra, J. (2023) Climate risk assessment in the MDB–a review. Australasian Journal of Water Resources, 27(1), pp.18-30

Chipperfield, K. and Alexandra, J., 2023. Water governance, the rule of law and regulating risks to the Murray–Darling basin. Australasian Journal of Water Resources, 27(1), pp.103-116

Alexandra, J. (2022) Climate adaptation options for the 2026 MDB Plan: opportunities for managing climate risk. Australasian Journal of Water Resources, pp.1-14

Alexandra J., and Finlayson MC. (2020) Floods after bushfires: rapid responses for reducing impacts of sediment, ash, and nutrient slugs, Australasian Journal of Water Resources

Campbell A., Alexandra J., and Curtis D., (2017) Reflections on four decades of land restoration in Australia The Rangeland Journal - https://doi.org/10.1071/RJ17056