Honorary Research Fellow
Overview
Dr Margaret Cook is an historian specialising in environment and social history and non-Indigenous cultural heritage. She has a particular interest in floods and other disasters (including bushfire, cyclones, drought and earthquakes) as well as Australian water policies. Margaret is the author of "A River with a City Problem: A History of Brisbane Floods", UQP, 2019, as well as a number of journal articles. She is currently employed by Central Queensland University as an academic and by the University of Western Australia as a Research Assistant on an ARC urban water project.
Research Interests
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Southeast Queensland Floods
History of the 1893, 1974 and 2011 floods (in particular) based on my book "A River with a City Problem: A History of Brisbane Floods" -
Early cotton production in the Callide Valley central Queensland
I am especially interested in gender, environmental history and climate and why we grown cotton in Australia.
Research Impacts
Margaret Cook is keen to apply her knowledge to assist public education and the future managament of floods. She enjoys presenting her work is a varierty of genres (books, articles, magazines) and well as at public speaking events and academic conferences. Margaret is a member of the Brisbane based Flood Community of Practice. Her current research focus is on the history of Southeast Queensland urban water and the Mud Army of the 2011 flood and its impact on the those who were flooded in order to guide future relief efforts
Publications
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Journal Article: ‘A river with a city problem, not a city with a river problem’: Brisbane and its flood-prone river
Cook, Margaret Helen (2018) ‘A river with a city problem, not a city with a river problem’: Brisbane and its flood-prone river. Environment and History, 24 4: 469-496. doi:10.3197/096734018X15137949592034
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Journal Article: "It will never happen again": the myth of flood immunity in Brisbane
Cook, Margaret (2018) "It will never happen again": the myth of flood immunity in Brisbane. Journal of Australian Studies, 42 3: 328-342. doi:10.1080/14443058.2018.1487871
Publications
Journal Article
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‘A river with a city problem, not a city with a river problem’: Brisbane and its flood-prone river
Cook, Margaret Helen (2018) ‘A river with a city problem, not a city with a river problem’: Brisbane and its flood-prone river. Environment and History, 24 4: 469-496. doi:10.3197/096734018X15137949592034
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"It will never happen again": the myth of flood immunity in Brisbane
Cook, Margaret (2018) "It will never happen again": the myth of flood immunity in Brisbane. Journal of Australian Studies, 42 3: 328-342. doi:10.1080/14443058.2018.1487871
