Researcher biography

Scott grew up on a mixed farming property in western Queensland, has an undergraduate degree in Asian studies and a PhD in agricultural economics.

At UQ he has conducted 25 agricultural development projects in China, Southeast Asia and the Pacific. His role in the projects is to improve rural incomes, value chain functioning and policy settings. A related research theme is agricultural trade in the region. The research is highly collaborative and cross-disciplinary and aims to build relationships and capacity with partner agencies and students.

Scott worked for the Economist Intelligence Unit in Beijing, graduated from the Nanjing-Hopkins Centre for Advanced Chinese and American Studies and is fluent in Chinese. In China he has: collaborated with 20 research and government organisations; conducted fieldwork at country level and below for at least 30 months especially in Western China; and provided technical assistance in trade negotiations on beef and wool. He has written eight books on China, two have been translated into Chinese and he has published in The China Journal and China Quarterly.

He currently leads UQ's participation in the Partnership for Australia-Indonesia Research (PAIR), administered by the Australia-Indonesia Centre, funded by DFAT and four Australian universities. PAIR is a consortium of 11 Australian and Indonesian universities conducting multi-disciplinary research for development in South Sulawesi.

He coordinates an undergraduate course AGRC4050 "Agricultural Development in Asia" and a postgraduate course AGCR7520 "International Agricultural Development". The courses examine: global issues of food, population and poverty; theories of agricultural development; how these play out in case study countries, villages and households; and applied research methods to improve development outcomes.

Featured projects Duration
Strengthening incentives for improved grassland management in China and Mongolia
Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research
20152019