Dr Michaela Prescott
Dr Michaela Prescott
Michaela Prescott is a Senior Lecturer and Senior Research Fellow at Monash University, where she leads interdisciplinary research on urban water systems, ecological infrastructure, and community-led environmental transformation across the Asia-Pacific region. With more than a decade of experience working in Indonesia, Fiji, and Australia, her work focuses on how participatory and place-based approaches can improve environmental health, water governance, and climate resilience in rapidly urbanising and vulnerable communities.
Michaela plays a leading role in the Transforming Cities Hub, where she collaborates with governments, communities, NGOs, and researchers to deliver applied, design-led research with real-world impact. Her work spans nature-based solutions, river and settlement revitalisation, stewardship models, and the integration of Local and Indigenous Knowledge Systems into water management and urban transformation processes.
She is currently the recipient of an Australian Research Council DECRA Fellowship investigating how partnerships with Local and Indigenous Knowledge Systems can improve river management outcomes in West Java, Indonesia. Her research builds on long-term living lab initiatives including the Revitalising Informal Settlements and their Environments (RISE) program and the Citarum Action Research Program (CARP).
Michaela’s work is driven by a commitment to collaborative and inclusive approaches that strengthen community agency, reconnect people with water and landscape systems, and support more just and sustainable urban futures.
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Research
Revitalising Informal Settlements and their Environments (RISE)
Partnering with Local and Indigenous Knowledge Systems to Improve the Impact of River Management in West Java
