Find Paula Dootson on
Doctor of Philosophy (Queensland University of Technology), Bachelor of Business (Public Relations with Distinction) (Queensland University of Technology), Bachelor of Business (Honours) (Queensland University of Technology)
Paula is an an award-winning, cross-disciplinary researcher in the QUT Business School. Paula works closely with communities to understand how people receive, interpret, personalise, and act on critical information, particularly during times of uncertainty. She designs human and digital interventions to improve the end-to-end cycle of information receipt, comprehension, and action. Paula also supports organisations to make a strong business case for scaling solutions that centre community needs and behaviours. While much of her work is grounded in the context of disasters, she also applies this expertise in domains such as revenue collection, fines, public health, and public recordkeeping.
Her research focuses on providing policymakers and providers of critical public services with evidence-based solutions to real world problems. Paula’s extensive research engagement experience saw her obtain a number of awards.
To date, Paula has been awarded over $5 million in funding and is published in cross-disciplinary outlets such as the Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, Journal of Services Marketing, Journal of Marketing Management, International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, Journalism Practice, and UNSW Law Journal.
Paula is a a top-10 QUT author (of all time) on The Conversation and actively engages in externally disseminated podcasts and news media.
Paula was awarded a PhD from QUT with studies on why everyday consumers engage in deviant consumer behaviour. Paula also holds a Bachelor of Business (Honours) degree, where she was awarded a QUT Medal for academic excellence, and a Bachelor of Business degree from QUT.
Additional information
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2025
- Details
- "Predictions in public: Understanding the design, communication and dissemination of predictive maps to the public" won the award for delivering practical guidance that emergency management agencies can readily implement to improve public information during bushfire emergencies, ultimately enhancing community safety and resilience. The project highlights opportunities for strong project delivery using a co-design approach between researchers and end-users, demonstrating a new model for university-government collaboration in disaster research. The project's 'Design Principles' address a critical gap in existing resources, embedding guidance and consistency in map design into the Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience's national doctrine on public information and warnings. Bushfire risk at the rural-urban interface is tackling a complex challenge of significant interest following the California fires earlier this year. The project focuses on challenges facing Hobart and dem
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2024
- Details
- Resilience Australia Award Finalist - National Research for Impact Award, a category within the Resilient Australia Awards program, that recognizes research contributing to disaster resilience. Specifically, it acknowledges research that has, or is expected to have, a significant impact on knowledge, capability, and practice related to disaster resilience.
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2022
- Details
- Vice-Chancellor’s Excellence Award – Innovation and creative practice excellence.Classroom to BoardroomAssociate Professor Paula Dootson and Mrs Gemma AlkerClassroom to Boardroom integrates research, teaching and industry partnership to provide first-year Business students with the opportunity to work on digital transformation problems with real world partners and experts from QUT research centres.
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2020
- Details
- Emergency Media and Public Affairs (EMPA) Australia Award for Excellence in Emergency Communication, Research Category for "Addressing Conflicting Cues During Natural Hazards: Lessons from emergency agencies."The award recognises published research that advances emergency communication by:- Improving community preparedness and/or resilience- Increasing the effectiveness of communication during an emergency response;- Enabling agencies to better support communities recovering from an adverse event.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrluKVdrqn0
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2019
- Details
- Vice-Chancellor’s Excellence Award – Leadership Excellence for an initiative that aligns QUT academics who are researching the topic of trust, ensuring that synergies are identified and that the research is conducted in a coordinated and collaborative fashion.
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2017
- Details
- Named one of Australia¿s Top Thinkers in the 2017 Conversation Yearbook
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2016
- Details
- Outstanding Achievement in Research Collaboration Award, International ScienceAdvisory Panel for Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, for:-delivering significant value towards improving the Emergency Management sector¿s ability to communicate with the public during natural disasters;-outstanding engagement with end-users;-building a tremendous foundation for ensuring that this important research influences future practice; and-the excellence of the project and its worthiness for ongoing support.