Prof Mike Young
Professor Mike Young
SENIOR ASSOCIATE
Mike Young is Professor Emeritus in Water, Energy and Environmental Policy at the University of Adelaide and was the Founding Executive Director of its Environment Institute. He is a fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia, and a Distinguished Fellow of the Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society.
Mike is best known for his contribution to the development of policy frameworks adopted by governments and supported by resource users.
A natural resource economist by training, Young also played a key role in the use of incentive arrangements to encourage biodiversity conservation on private land, establishment of Australia’s National Land and Water Resources Audit and the administration of its pastoral leases.
Mike held the Gough Whitlam and Malcolm Fraser Chair in Australian Studies at Harvard University in 2013/14. While at Harvard, he taught a course on transformational environmental policy reform and edited an Earthscan book on this topic. In 2014, he was awarded a Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship at its Bellagio Centre in Italy.
In the past, Mike has led teams that developed frameworks for the introduction of a greenhouse gas emission trading system in Australia; fishery management in NSW; biodiversity conservation on private land; and for rangeland management in NSW, SA and the NT. He developed the case for and assisted with development of Australia’s National Land and Water Resources Audit.
A founding member of the influential Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists, Mike is frequently called upon to provide keynote addresses, internationally, Mike is known for his capacity to present the case for innovative policy reforms that catalyse change. A specialist in the development of paradigm shifts, he is regularly called upon to review reports proposing a shift in policy direction and/or investment strategy.
For three years, he worked on the integration of agricultural and environmental policies with the OECD. He also played a key role in establishing the case for and establishing the Australia National Land and Water Resources Audit.
In 2006, Mike was awarded Australia’s premier water research prize – the Land and Water Australia Eureka Award for Water Research.
Professor Young has held Honorary Professorships with the University College London, the University of New England, Charles Sturt University and Duke University. Prior to joining the University of Adelaide, Mike spent 30 years with CSIRO where he established their Policy and Economic Research Unit with offices in Adelaide, Canberra and Perth.