Sara Dolnicar Explained

Sara Dolnicar (born 9 January 1972 in Ljubljana, Slovenia) is a social scientist trained in Austria who researches market segmentation methodology, sustainable tourism, Airbnb, public acceptance of recycled water, and a range of social marketing questions, such as how to identify and attract high-quality foster carers. Since 2013, she has been a research professor of Tourism at The University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. She has been recognised by the Republic of Slovenia for her research achievements.[1]

Education

Dolnicar completed a Magister degree in Business Administration in 1994, equivalent to a combined Bachelor and master's degree, and was awarded her Ph.D. in 1996 by the Vienna University of Economics and Business (Wirtschaftsuniversitaet Wien) on "Vacation Expectations of Summer Tourists in Austria – a Psychographic Taxonomy Using Neural Network Techniques", supervised by Professor Josef Mazanec. Dolnicar also holds a Magister degree in Psychology from the University of Vienna in 1998.

Career

Dolnicar worked at the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU Wien) Institute for Tourism and Leisure Studies on short-term contracts during her Ph.D. and psychology degree. From 1998 to 2002 she was a researcher in a Centre of Excellence funded by the FWF (the Austrian research funding body) on a half-time fixed-term contract, as well as working in administrative roles, including serving as the Secretary General of the Austrian Society for Applied Research in Tourism.

Dolnicar took up a full-time teaching/research academic position in 2002 as a Senior Lecturer in the School of Management and Marketing at the University of Wollongong, Australia, and became a full professor relatively young in 2006.[2] She served two terms as the Associate Dean (Research) in Commerce and was the Founding Director of the Institute for Innovation in Business and Social Research. She has received over AUD$4 million in funding,[2] and was awarded an Australian Research Council Queen Elizabeth II Fellowship of AUD$1.46 million in 2010 to research market segmentation, the highest of any ARC Discovery Scheme grant that year.[3] [4] In 2011, UOW's tourism research, including Dolnicar's, received a 5 rating from the ARC, the only for tourism research in Australia.[5] She was on the board of Tourism Wollongong.[5] [6] In 2013 she became a research professor at The University of Queensland in the then School of Tourism.[7] She was awarded an Australian Research Council Laureate Fellowship in 2019.[8]

Dolnicar's research has contributed to the improvement of market segmentation methodology,[9] measures in the social sciences, and the development and testing of measures to improve the environmental sustainability of tourism.[10] In August 2017, she did a TEDxUQ talk on her sustainable tourism research.[11] Dolnicar also researches public perceptions and acceptance of water conservation[12] [13] and water from alternative sources such as recycled water,[14] [15] including media inaccuracy and bias.[16] She has also studied attracting high-quality foster carers, and researched how to restore tourism to areas hit by disasters, by identifying "resilient travellers".[17] [18] She has studied attendance of lectures by undergraduate students.[19]

Since 2018 she is Co-Editor-in-Chief of the journal Annals of Tourism Research. Her h-index is 89.[20] In 2020 Dolnicar commenced her Australian Research Council Laureate Fellowship five-year program of research into Low Harm Hedonism.[21]

Recognition

Dolnicar is an elected fellow of three societies for tourism researchers, the International Academy for the Study of Tourism in 2013,[22] the International Association of Scientific Experts in Tourism (AIEST), and the Council for Australasian Tourism and Hospitality Education (CAUTHE). She has won a number of awards, including the Charles R. Goeldner Article of Excellence Award[23] for the best paper published in the preceding year in the Journal of Travel Research (in 2004 and 2016),[24] the UQ Excellence in Research Supervision award (2017),[25] the Travel and Tourism Research Association's Distinguished Researcher Award recognising Dolnicar as a valuable resource in the tourism research community (2017),[26] the Association of Children's Welfare Agencies (ACWA) Service Partnership Award and the University of Wollongong Research Excellence Award for Senior Researcher.

Dolnicar received the Ambassador of Science Award of the Republic of Slovenia at an award ceremony held on 21 November 2016 in the country's capital and Dolnicar's birthplace, Ljubljana.[27] [28] [29] The Ambassador of Science award is the highest national prize the Republic of Slovenia awards to expatriate native Slovenian researchers in recognition of their global research excellence, the high impact of their work as well as their active engagement in international knowledge transfer. The US-based Travel and Tourism Research Association (TTRA) awarded her the Distinguished Researcher Award (2017) for ground-breaking research that positively impacts the tourism industry, and outstanding service to the tourism research community. In the Association's 48-year history this award has been given to only four people.

In 2019 Dolnicar was elected Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia.[30]

In 2021 Dolnicar's research team - The Low Harm Hedonism Initiative - were awarded the CETT Alimara 'Through Research' award for their work promoting pro-environmental action.[31]

She was a finalist for the Eureka Prize in the Outstanding Mentor of Young Researchers category in 2021[32] and 2022.[33]

Research contribution to UN SDGs

As a researcher, Dolnicar is contributing to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals  (SDGs).  Her work, and that of her ‘Low Harm Hedonism’ research team, contributes principally to Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and production and also to  Goals 6, 8,10,11,13, and 17.[34] Details at The Global Academy Under Goal 12 Dolnicar's research is helping to achieve the following targets:[35]

Selected work

Personal life

Dolničar was born in Ljubljana, Slovenia, grew up in Vienna, Austria, and moved to Australia in 2002.[36]

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Slovenia honours UQ Business School professor. UQ News. 2018-02-15. en.
  2. Book: Johnson, Nicola. https://books.google.com/books?id=Jx5bPutG9RMC&pg=PT160. Publishing from Your PhD: Negotiating a Crowded Jungle. 15: Professor Sara Dolnicar. Gower Publishing. 1 October 2012. 28 October 2015. 9781409486527.
  3. Web site: ARC research grants success across the disciplines. UOW News. 26 October 2010. 28 October 2015.
  4. News: UOW academic gets a grand grant. Illawarra Mercury. 9 November 2010. 28 October 2015.
  5. Web site: University of Wollongong tops nation in tourism research. 31 January 2011. 28 October 2015.
  6. News: Board elects new chairman. Ellis. Greg. Illawarra Mercury. 26 November 2009. 28 October 2015.
  7. Web site: UQ Tourism welcomes new professor. UQ News. 25 February 2013. 28 October 2015.
  8. Web site: ARC Laureate Fellowships. Australian Research Council . 16 September 2019. 17 September 2019.
  9. News: Looking for an unbiased answer. Illawarra Mercury. 7 December 2012. 28 October 2015.
  10. News: Enjoy 'green' getaway. Illawarra Mercury. Hoctor. Michelle. 25 October 2011. 28 October 2015.
  11. Web site: How to waste less on vacation - Sara Dolnicar - TEDxUQ. TEDx Talks. 13 September 2017. 9 November 2018. YouTube.
  12. News: Public 'aware but not acting' on saving water. ABC News. 14 October 2009. 28 October 2015.
  13. News: Our alien desiccated home. ABC Environment. Young. Damon. 30 July 2012. 28 October 2015.
  14. News: Recycled water? We're not that thirsty. William. Birnbauer. The Age. 7 January 2007. 28 October 2015.
  15. News: It's time to talk about drinking recycled toilet water. ABC Wide Bay. Ross. Kay. David. Dowsett. 2 April 2015. 28 October 2015.
  16. News: Media may influence water-saving behaviour. Lizzie. Thelwell. Science Network Western Australia. 15 October 2012. 28 October 2015.
  17. News: Philippines tourism to suffer as Super Typhoon Haiyan hits. The Australian. 8 November 2013. 28 October 2015.
  18. News: Resilient travellers key to disaster recovery. Wilson. Cameron. ABC Radio. 2 October 2013. 28 October 2015.
  19. News: Dodging lectures with some digital help. Hall. Sam. Illawarra Mercury. 15 March 2011. 28 October 2015.
  20. Web site: Sara Dolnicar - Google Scholar Citations. Scholar.google.com.au. 24 October 2022.
  21. Web site: Low Harm Hedonism . business.uq.edu.au . Business School - University of Queensland . 24 October 2022.
  22. Web site: Academy awards fellowship to tourism researcher. University of Queensland. 14 October 2013. 28 October 2015.
  23. Web site: SAGE Journals: Your gateway to world-class journal research. jtr.sagepub.com. 9 November 2018.
  24. Web site: Tourism Professor receives acclaimed award for the second time in career - UQ Business School. www.business.uq.edu.au. 4 July 2016 . 9 November 2018.
  25. Web site: UQ shines spotlight on research excellence. Uq.edu.au. 9 November 2018.
  26. Web site: 2017 Conference Award Winners - International Conference Award Winners | Travel & Tourism Research Association . 2017-08-09 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170809093304/http://www.ttra.com/events/2017-conference-award-winners/# . 2017-08-09 . dead .
  27. Web site: Slovesnost ob podelitvi Zoisovih nagrad in priznanj, priznanja ambasador znanosti in Puhovega priznanja 2016, prenos iz Cankarjevega doma. 4d.rtvslo.si. 9 November 2018.
  28. Web site: V znamenju vrhuncev slovenske znanosti. Silvestra Rogelj. Petrič. Delo.si. 9 November 2018. 2016-11-21.
  29. Web site: Letošnja bera slovenske znanstvene odličnosti. Radioprvi.rtvslo.si. 9 November 2018.
  30. Web site: Academy Fellow: Professor Sara Dolnicar FASSA. 2020-10-06. Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia. en-US.
  31. Web site: 36thEdition Alimara CETT Awards. 2021-10-12. www.cett.es.
  32. Web site: Smith. Kate. 2021-09-02. 2021 Australian Museum Eureka Prizes finalists. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20210901234754/https://australian.museum/get-involved/eureka-prizes/2021-eureka-prizes-finalists/. 2021-09-01. 2021-09-01. The Australian Museum. en.
  33. Web site: 2022 Australian Museum Eureka Prizes finalists . 2022-09-15 . The Australian Museum . en.
  34. Web site: Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Department of Economic and Social Affairs. 2022-01-18. sdgs.un.org.
  35. Web site: Prof Sara Dolnicar FASSA - The Global Academy. 2022-01-18. en-GB.
  36. Web site: In the spotlight: Sara Dolnicar. CONNECT: iTouR WOLLONGONG. July 2012. 28 October 2015.