Rod has a B. Sc. (Forestry) from the ANU and a PhD in forest ecology from University of British Columbia, with research interests in forests and climate change, forest ecosystem services and forest and environmental policy. He has undertaken research across Australia, in Canada, Papua New Guinea and in South East Asia. Rod has worked as a research scientist and science advisor in a number of Australian states and with the Australian Government as an advisor on forests and climate change. From 2009-14 he was Director of the Victorian Centre for Climate Change Adaptation Research, a research partnership between Victorian universities and is was a member and Chair of the UN-FAO Advisory Group for the Global Forest Resource Assessment from 2003 to 2015.

Rod is a senior member of the Environmental Social Sciences Group in the School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences. This Group focuses on the interaction between human and biophysical elements of urban, rural and wildland ecosystems and landscapes. We use a systems perspective to focus on major environmental issues and challenges, based on our comprehensive expertise in environmental psychology, landscape sociology, environmental economics, forest management, policy analysis and sustainability science.