Biography
Dr Gabi Mocatta is an interdisciplinary academic who researches at the intersection of media, environment and climate change. She is a former print and online journalist, and is currently Lecturer in Communication - Journalism, at Deakin.
Gabi's research and teaching interests are focused broadly on environmental and climate change communication, including the ways that environmental conflicts play out in the media. She collaborates on media and climate change and environmental communication research projects in Australia and the US.
Gabi is also Research Fellow in Climate Change Communication with the Climate Futures Program, University of Tasmania. Prior to joining Deakin, Gabi was Lecturer in Media at the University of Tasmania's Media School.
Read more on Gabi's profileCareer highlights
Awarded the 2022 IAMCR New Directions for Climate Communication Research Fellowship by the International Association for Media and Communication Research, in collaboration with the International Environmental Communication Association (IECA).
Research interests
Environmental communication, science communication, climate change communication
Environmental protests and social movements
Investigative journalism on the environment
Media literacy and environmental literacy
Environmental justice and inequality
Global journalism
Affiliations
Research Fellow in Climate Change Communication, Climate Futures, Discipline of Geography, University of Tasmania.
Research Affiliate, Center for Science and Technology Policy Research, University of Colorado, Boulder.
Teaching interests
I teach mainly postgraduate journalism subjects, including news and feature writing, multimedia journalism and transmedia storytelling, strategic communication, global journalism and communication research methods.
Units taught
I have unit chair these units at Deakin:
ACX702 Applied Research Methods for Communication
ALJ715 Multimedia Storytelling
ACX707/708 Professional Research Project
ACX704/705/706 Academic Research Project
ALJ721 Global Journalism
Conferences
Mocatta, G (2013) 'CSR communication vs. protest movement campaign in Chile: A case study of the HidroAysén megaproject debate', CSR Communication Conference 2013 Conference Proceedings, 18-20 September, Denmark, pp. 40-48. ISBN 978-961-235-678-1
Mocatta, G (2015) 'Media, symbolism and becoming emblematic: lessons from an enduring environmental conflict in Chile', The 2015 Conference on Communication and the Environment in Boulder, 11-14 June, Boulder, Colorado, pp. 10.
Mocatta G, (2019) '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.
Mocatta, G (2019) 'Creating environmental communicators: media education for environmental change', Journalism Education and Research Association of Australia, 4-6 December, University of Sydney.
Mocatta, G (2020) 'Environmental harm as impetus to repoliticisation: experience from Chile', ICA Conference on Open Communication, 20-26 May, (virtual).
Mocatta G (2022) ‘Journalism and the climate crisis: defining a pathway forward’, Journalism Education and Research Association of Australia Conference, Perth, 6-9th December.
Mocatta G, Vella S, Hess K, and Hawley E (2022) ‘Imaging environmental harms? An exploration of news media visualisation of the brumby’, Journalism Education and Research Association of Australia Conference, Perth, 6-9th December.
Mocatta G & Hawley E (2023) Communicating environment in a time of crisis: Communication imperatives of environmental thought leaders in the ‘crucial decade’ Conference on Communication and the Environment 2023, James Madison University, Harrisonburg Virginia, 5-9th June.
Professional activities
Vice-President of the International Environmental Communication Association (2021-2023) and President (2023-2025)
Reviewer for the Routledge Environment & Sustainability list
Reviewer for Weather, Climate & Society
Reviewer for Environmental Communication
Media appearances
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]
Williamson, G and Mocatta, G and Harris, R and 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]
Mocatta, G and White, R, “This is how universities can lead climate action”, The Conversation, Australia (2020) [Newspaper Article]
Mocatta, G and Harris, R and 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]
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]
Mocatta, G and 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, 26 April 2021 (2021) [Newspaper Article]
Mocatta, G, "What's behind News Corp's new spin on climate change?" The Conversation, The Conversation Media Group Ltd, Australia, 18 October 2021 (2021) [Newspaper Article]
Mocatta, G and Lucas, C, “Children deserve answers to their questions about climate change. Here’s how universities can help”, The Conversation, The Conversation Media Group Ltd, Australia, 19 October 2021 (2021) [Newspaper Article]
Mocatta, G, "News Corp & Climate Change", Joy FM 94.9 Current Affairs, 23 October 2021 [Media Interview]
Mocatta, G, "What’s behind News Corp’s new spin on climate change?", Deakin Disruptr, 27 October 2021 [Media article}
Mocatta, G, "Rupert Murdoch's News Corp pivots on climate change", Here & Now, NPR, USA, 9 November 2021 [Media Interview]
Beasy, K, Lucas, C, Mocatta, G, Kelly, R and Pecl, G, "How well does the new Australian Curriculum prepare young people for climate change?" The Conversation, The Conversation Media Group Ltd, Australia, 23 May 2022 (2022) [Newspaper Article]
Research groups
Co-lead of the Advancing Regional and Rural Society and Culture research group at Deakin. Leading climate and environmental communication research within this group.
Strand leader within the Centre for Regenerative Futures, SCCA, leading research on environmental education and literacy.
Awards
2001 University of Melbourne International Research Scholarship and Fee Remission Scholarship
2010 Australian Postgraduate Award Scholarship
2010 University of Tasmania Elite Scholarship
2018 University of Tasmania Teaching Excellence Award
2020 Commendation for Service Excellence to CoSE (College of Science and Engineering) at the University of Tasmania as part of the Climate Futures research program
2021 Deakin University Faculty of Arts and Education Teaching and Learning Award for Curriculum Design that is Innovative, Motivates and Inspires
2022 IAMCR Climate Communication Research Fellowship Award
2022 Steve E. Depoe Award for Best Book Chapter in Environmental Communication, (US National Communication Association)
2022 Green Gowns Australasia Award for Benefitting Society
2022 Vice Chancellor's Award for Engagement (University of Tasmania)
Projects
Environmental Communication in a Time of Crisis, a research collaboration with Dr Erin Hawley that examines the nexus between media literacy and environmental literacy on a planet in crisis. A book arising out of this project is due for publication by Routledge in 2024.
Collaborator with A/Prof. Max Boykoff et al. at the University of Colorado, Boulder, on the MeCCO (Media and Climate Change Observatory) project, contributing monitoring and analysis of Russian media coverage of climate change.
Global Environmental Thought Leaders project. This project (with Dr Erin Hawley) has interviewed 25 global environmental thought leaders to better understand the imperative of environmental discourses and leadership in this current crucial decade for action on climate change.
'Awareness, education and communication for compund natural hazards'. This project for Natural Hazards Research Australia will establish best-practice communication to enhance awareness and preparedness for extreme weather events in the context of climate change.
'Covering the planet?' Investigating the state of climate and environmental journalism globally. This project for the global media support NGO Internews will investiagte and benchmark climate and environmental journalism, allowing a better understanding of its enables, and obstacles.
Publications
Media and Ecocultural Identity
Tema Milstein, Gabi Mocatta, José Sotomayor-Castro
(2023), Routledge Handbook of Ecomedia Studies, London, Eng., B1
The Place of the Teacher: Environmental Communication and Transportive Pedagogy
Erin Hawley, Gabi Mocatta, Tema Milstein
(2023), pp. 1-14, Environmental Communication, London, Eng., C1
The burden of bad news: educators' experiences of navigating climate change education
Kim Beasey, Charlotte Jones, Rachel Kelly, Chloe Lucas, Gabi Mocatta, Gretta Pecl, Deniz Yildiz
(2023), pp. 1-14, Environmental Education Research, London, Eng., C1
Environmental Communication Theory and Practice for Global Transformation: An Ecocultural Approach
Tema Milstein, Gabi Mocatta
(2022), pp. 474-490, Handbook of Global Interventions in Communication Theory, London, Eng., B1
"Fact-based dreaming" as climate communication
E Hawley, G Mocatta
(2022), Vol. 20, pp. 91-104, Popular Communication, C1
Gabi Mocatta, Eve Mayes, Kristy Hess, Michael Everitt Hartup
(2022), pp. 1-21, Media Culture and Society, London, Eng., C1
Towards a conceptual framework for place-responsive climate-health communication
Gabi Mocatta, Kathryn Allen, Kathleen Beyer
(2022), pp. 1-6, The Journal of Climate Change and Health, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, C1
Rhetorical Approaches in Environmental Communication
Casey Schmitt, Gabi Mocatta, Joanna Maras-Tate
(2021), pp. 1-39, The Handbook of International Trends in Environmental Communication, London, Eng, B1
When water is energy: tracing mediatized discourse in Chile's mega-hydro debate
G Mocatta
(2020), Water, rhetoric, and social justice: a critical confluence, Lanham, Md., B1
The coronavirus crisis as tipping point: communicating the environment in a time of pandemic
G Mocatta, E Hawley
(2020), Vol. 177, pp. 119-124, Media International Australia, C1
Gabi Mocatta, Erin Hawley
(2020), Vol. 23, M/C journal, Kelvin Grove, Qld., C1
Designing a distance education course in environmental journalism
G Mocatta
(2017), pp. 128-142, Environmental communication pedagogy and practice, Abingdon, Eng., B1
Funded Projects at Deakin
Australian Competitive Grants
Building resilience in at-risk rural communities through improving Media Communication on Climate Change Policies
A/Prof Xiao Liu, Dr Hilya Mudrika Arini, Dr Ming Liu, Dr Fitri Trapsilawati, Dr Chathu Ranaweera, A/Prof Kevin Lee, A/Prof Hassan Vally, Dr Anna Klas, Dr Adam Cardilini, Dr Yun Mulyani, Dr Arif Nurwidyantoro, Dr Yunita Sari, Prof Catherine Bennett, Dr Justin Lawson, Dr Gabi Mocatta
KONEKSI Australia-Indonesia Research Collaboration Grants
- 2023: $105,000
Industry and Other Funding
Awareness, education and communications for compound natural hazard events.
Dr Gabi Mocatta, Dr Erin Hawley, Prof Kristy Hess, A/Prof Joshua Newton, Dr Timothy Neale
Natural Hazards Research Australia
- 2023: $29,842
Covering the Planet ? Investigating the state of climate and environmental journalism globally.
Dr Gabi Mocatta, Prof Kristy Hess
Internews Network
- 2023: $44,556
Supervisions
No completed student supervisions to report