Associate Professor Gareth Butler

Gareth teaches Human Geography at Flinders, including the coordination of an international research topic that enables students to travel to SE Asia (Malaysia or Cambodia) in their final year of study. He is currently Co-Editor in Chief of the Journal of Heritage Tourism, and has produced almost 50 research outputs on themes including the impacts of tourism development on communities, and tourist mobilities. His work has been cited in policy documentation for the World Bank and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Gareth recently worked on the Federally-funded Passport to Recovery project on Kangaroo Island that built citizen science projects to support 2019-20 bushfire recovery, a project that was selected as a Finalist for the Australian Museum’s 2024 Eureka Prize for Innovation in Citizen Science.

Beyond Australia, Gareth presently holds the title of Senior Research Affiliate at the University of Johannesburg and continues to work on funded research projects in rural South Africa and Lesotho. His research interests include the social impacts of tourism on regional communities, built and natural heritage tourism management, and human mobilities.