Bergmann, Dr Iris

Bergmann, Dr Iris
RMIT University
Research interests / activities:

I am generally interested in the human animal relationship in the intersection of sustainability studies, ecological thought and social change for sustainability. I have lead a study on what factors lead Australians to support or actively reject factory farming. I am building on this work to further expand the scope of this research. One of my passions is the use of visual methods in exploring people’s beliefs, attitudes and perceptions. I am also engaged in visual practice myself mainly using photography. While I lived in Northern New South Wales, I was active in Wildlife rehabilitation for six years and supported WIRES as inaugural chairperson of their Northern Rivers Branch 2004-2006.

Outputs: Conference presentations, publications and exhibition participations. Selected outputs: I presented a new systems analytical approach to Mapping Welfare Drivers at the Seminar of the Centre for Animal Welfare, UQ: Who Drives Animal Welfare in Australia, in February 2011. Together with my co-researcher I presented results of our factory farming study “What Factors Lead Australians to Support or Actively Reject Factory Farming?” at the International Inaugural Minding Animals Conference, in Newcastle, Australia, in July 2009. An application of some of the findings to social marketing are published in the Proceedings of the 2010 International Nonprofit & Social Marketing conference (INSM) (www.icebergevents.com/insmconference/Keynote-Speakers). Writings in the intersection of human-animal studies, ecological thought and social change for sustainabilility include book reviews and a journal article: Book Review forthcoming in 2011: Every Living Being – Representations of Nonhuman Animals in the Exploration of Human Well-Being by Marie-France Boissonneault. The Canadian Journal of Environmental Education; Book Review forthcoming in 2011: The Sustainability Handbook: Skills for a changing world by Arran Stibbe (Ed.). Environmental Education Research; 2008, Book Review: Watching Wildlife by Cynthia Chris. Visual Studies, 23 (3), 287-289; 2010, What is the Role of The Arts in the face of this? An Exploration in the Context of Whole Systems Thinking and Change for Sustainability. PAN Philosophy Activism Nature, 23-32.
Website/blog: http://irisbergmann.com/