Isabel Sebastian

Isabel is a social science researcher at the Institute for Sustainable Futures (ISF), University of Technology Sydney (UTS) with a recently completed PhD in Sustainable Futures (March 2018). Isabel is also currently a Marie Curie Research Fellow at Cardiff University's School of Geography and Planning since Oct 2021. Prior to her academic research and teaching experience, she had a 20-year professional career in nature-based tourism, international and sustainable development. She lived and worked in Australia, Luxembourg, Germany, India, Tajikistan and Bhutan, working in operational, management, planning, research, teaching and consulting roles. Isabel spent nine years in Bhutan between 2006 and 2015, in sustainable tourism and later conducting part of her PhD research there. Her PhD study explored wellbeing, happiness and sustainability in Bhutan and internationally using systems theory in culturally diverse settings.

She has a Bachelor of Business from Victoria University, a Post-graduate Diploma in Environmental Studies from Macquarie University, a Certificate in Workplace Training and Assessment and an Advanced Diploma of Yoga Teaching. She was also a PhD Associate at the Environment and Sustainability Institute at Exeter University in the UK from November 2014 until March 2015.

Her research interests include transformative sustainability science, systems thinking, Buddhist philosophy, transformative learning, individual and social change. She is a qualified Yoga and Meditation teacher and travels regularly to India and Bhutan for further studies.