Associate ProfessorSophie Webber

Sophie is an Associate Professor in Geography in the School of Geosciences at the University of Sydney. Sophie returned to Australia and the University of Sydney after completing a postdoctoral fellowship in Geography at the University of Califonia, Los Angeles, and a PhD in Geography at the University of British Columbia. 

Sophie's research is focused on: the economic geographies and political economies of climate finance, investment and markets, and the sociospatial relations of urban adaptation and resilience in vulnerable cities. Her research has been conducted in Australia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

• With collaborators in geography and political economy, she is studying the emerging instruments and institutional configurations of climate finance within climate-changing capitalism. Her book with A/Prof Gareth Bryant (Political Economy at Sydney) examined the pressures and opportunities created by different 'positions' on climate finance and the uneven implications of this around the world. With Gareth, Sophie now leads a team examining the emerging tools and outcomes of state investment in Australia's Climate Economy. 
• Focusing on Southeast Asia and the Pacific, Sophie studies the economic geographies of urban resilience in climate hotspots. Her research in this areas has contributed to debates about the forms and implications of urban climate finance and infrastructures within global development institutions. Most recently, Sophie has examined the material and labour economies of large scales climate infrastructures which seek to protect cities from climate risks.  

Sophie's research aligns with the Faculty of Science Research Strengths - Sustainability, Decision-Making for a Sustainable Future, Climate and Environmental Change.