Connecting Vietnamese and Australian Women Entrepreneurs in Agri-food Business
- Western Sydney University
- Australia
- PhD, University of New England
Areas of interest
Water resources planning, surface and groundwater management and irrigation and environmental hydrology with a focus on engaging stakeholders, community and government agencies to enhance sustainability of water and land use in both urban and rural landscapes.
Biography
Maria is an agricultural economist with expertise in agricultural, water and resource economics, with a special focus on rural development, gender equity, sustainable consumption, sustainable tourism, cost benefit analysis and capacity building. She also conducts research on corporate social responsibility, finance, and business education. Maria Estela has participated in several consultancy and research projects, including a $1.2 million project with ACIAR on water management, a CRC project on water use, and a Westpac Foundation project on NGO-corporate relationships. She has published in various academic journals such as Journal of Hydrology, Economic Record, Emerging Markets Review, Asia Journal of Tourism Research, Third Sector Review, China-USA Business Review, International Journal of Economics and Finance, International Journal of Development and Conflict, International Business Research, Asia Pacific Development Journal.
Research Project
Urbanisation and its Impact on Peri-urban Water and Food Security in Africa: Developing Research Collaboration and Capacity Building
Improving Village Scale Groundwater Recharge and Management for Agriculture and Livelihood Development in India
Key Publications/Reports
Varua, M., Ward, J., Maheshwari, B., Dave, S. and Kookana, R. 2018, ‘Groundwater management and gender inequalities: the case of two watersheds in rural India’, Groundwater for Sustainable Development, vol 6, pp 93 – 100.
Varua M, Ward J, Maheshwari B, Oza S, Purohit R, Hakimuddin O, and Chinnasamy P, 2016, Assisting community management of groundwater: irrigator attitudes in two watersheds in Rajasthan and Gujarat, India, Journal of Hydrology, vol 537, pp 171-186.
Ward, J., Varua, M., Maheshwari, B., Oza, S., Purohit, R., Hakimuddin, O. and Dave, S. (2016), ‘Exploring the relationship between subjective wellbeing and groundwater attitudes and practices of farmers in Rural India’, Journal of Hydrology, vol 540 , pp 1 – 16.
Kookana, R., Maheshwari, B., Dillon, P., Dave, S., Soni, P., Bohra, H., Dashora, Y., Purohit, R., Ward, J., Oza, S., Katara, P., Yadav, K., Varua, M., Grewal, H., Packham, R., Jodha, A. and Patel, A. (2016), ‘Groundwater scarcity impact on inclusiveness and women empowerment : insights from school absenteeism of female students in two watersheds in India’, International Journal of Inclusive Education, vol 20, no 11 , pp 1155 – 1171.
Maheshwari, B., Varua, M., Ward, J., Packham, R., Chinnasamy, P., Dashora, Y., Dave, S., Soni, P., Dillon, P., Purohit, R., Hakimuddin, .., Shah, T., Oza, S., Singh, P., Prathapar, S., Patel, A., Jadeja, Y., Thakar, B., Kookana, R., Grewal, H. and Chew, M. (2014), ‘The role of transdisciplinary approach and community participation in village scale groundwater management : insights from Gujarat and Rajasthan, India’, Water, vol 6, no 11 , pp 3386 – 3408.