Associate Professor Karen Vella (BRTP Hons, PHD) is an urban and environmental planner and Head of the School of Architecture and Built Environment.  Karen leads a multidisciplinary team of scholars who teach and conduct research in architecture and design, planning, construction, and evaluation in support of built environments that meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The team that Karen leads combines complementary disciplinary strengths in architecture and the built environment to equip students and professionals with the skills and knowledge to take sustainability action in a complex world. New research initiatives daw on deep disciplinary strengths and emerging methodologies to solve real-world problems in the built environment in partnership with industry.

A/Prof Vella's research areas include environmental governance, environmental planning, and social and ecological resilience in the context of global environmental change.  Karen leads multi-disciplinary research projects that bring social scientists, engineers, bio-physical scientists, mathematicians, legal scholars and design professionals together to identify evidenced-based solutions to address sustainable development problems. A/Prof Vella is an experienced leader of major research projects with extensive exerpeince in the Great Barrier Reef as well as in multi-disciplinary projects in other Australian and international contexts. Her research addresses the knowledge and planning needs of government and wider industry and community stakeholders and impacts on public policy both within Australia and internationally.