Abby Mellick Lopes - Associate Professor,Design Studies & Director, Postgraduate Design Studies, UTS

Abby is an Associate Professor in Design Studies and the Director of Postgraduate Design Studies at UTS.

Abby’s research focuses on the role of design in addressing the impacts of climate change and supporting the transition to more sustainable urban cultures through engaged research partnerships. Recent projects have tackled civic trust in drinking water, food sustainability, urban heat impacts and innovative waste economies. Her current focus is the multi-institutional initiative Cooling the Commons, which explores the capacity of communities to respond to urban heat and the role of the built environment in creating socially just and liveable futures. She is also in the first stage of an ARC Discovery project exploring social and economic innovations in waste. Abby is an award-winning teacher and postgraduate supervisor, committed to fostering partnerships that provide challenging and meaningful learning experiences. She collaborates with academic, industry and government partners and publishes on design, sustainability and transdisciplinarity.