Carly Lubicz-Zaorski

The objective of her PhD work is to enhance our understanding of the dynamics and drivers of emissions reduction policy and action in Australia, including the key actors and communicative practices impacting public and political support for the renewable energy transition. She is exploring this through studying public submissions to energy-related Parliamentary inquiries and online communication spaces.

Part of the work involves developing and deploying LLM-Assisted Discourse Analysis to understand who the key actors are, what claims they are making, what evidence they are using, and in alignment with whom. By mapping these relationships we can better understand discursive alliances and the way that arguments are made and furthered in these discussions.

This PhD project is part of the broader ARC Laureate Fellowship Project: Determining the Drivers and Dynamics of Partisanship and Polarisation in Online Public Debate.

Carly completed an MPhil in 2022 at James Cook University, which explored the key actors, information, and frames during a key moment of mediatised environmental conflict involving the Great Barrier Reef and climate change (link to thesis: Mapping Connection, Disconnection and Power within the Social News Media Network: A Case Study of the Great Barrier Reef UNESCO 2021 ‘In Danger’ Recommendation on Twitter, YouTube and Facebook). This thesis was awarded the Dean’s Award for Research Excellence (2023).

Carly’s earlier career was in media, communications, and policy. She has worked at all tiers of government in Australia (local, state, federal) with a focus and interest in environmental policy, science communication, and knowledge translation. She also has a BA in Mass Communication (Curtin University).

ORCID: 0000-0001-6707-4133.