DrSabrina Chakori

Dr Sabrina Chakori is a researcher, educator, policy advisor and multi-award-winning social entrepreneur working to enable sustainability transitions.

She is a Chancellor's Research Fellow at the University of Technology Sydney and Honorary Lecturer at The University of Sydney. Her work contributes to transition theory by exploring transition processes and dynamics. Specifically, her current interdisciplinary research examines the governance of sustainability transitions, with a particular focus on exnovation - the deliberate phasing out of unsustainable technologies, practices, and systems - as a necessary counterpart to innovation. Her interests span ecological economics, political ecology, industrial policy, food systems sustainability, social entrepreneurship, degrowth and post-growth transitions. 

Sabrina holds a BSc. in Biology (University of Geneva, Switzerland) and a MSc. in Environmental Management (The University of Queensland). Previously, she explored sustainability transitions through her trans- and inter- disciplinary PhD research at The University of Queensland, and her postdoctoral research at CSIRO (Australia’s National Science Agency). As a Research Fellow at The University of Sydney (Leeder Centre for Health Policy, Economics and Data), Sabrina worked on ethical and sovereign AI for policymakers and on Complex Adaptive Policy Systems (Sydney Policy Lab). In 2024, she held an honorary research position at the University of Melbourne and a visiting reseach position at the Planetary Health Equity Hothouse at the Australian National University. 

At UTS, Sabrina teaches Sustainability Futures: Navigating the Sustainability Transition, an Australian Technology Network (ATN) course, and Sustainability Practices in Industry. Since 2017, she has taught courses in circular economy, social entrepreneurship, and system dynamics across multiple universities. She previously served as a course coordinator and lecturer at The University of Queensland, where she taught subjects on e-technologies and food systems sustainability. Sabrina is an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Sabrina is the co-founding editor of the Degrowth Journal (2020), an academic journal that explores degrowth, embraces slow science and advances the decommodification of knowledge.

From the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to collaborations with policymakers and communities across Europe, Australia, Kenya, Mexico and Ecuador, Sabrina brings extensive international experience in sustainability and socio-economic transformation. For over 20 years, she has been working towards a more sustainable society leading numerous collaborations, including an initiative with Queensland’s Environment Minister to introduce the law banning single-use plastic bags. To translate her circular and degrowth knowledge into practice, in 2017, she also founded the Brisbane Tool Library Inc. - an award-winning post-growth enterprise that works as a 'library of things', rescuing items from landfill and enabling the community to borrow them. Additionally, she has worked across a range of media, including Switzerland’s National Public Broadcaster (RSI SRG SSR) (2013 - 2017), as well as community radio stations such as 4ZZZ (Brisbane). Between 2008 and 2014, she also contributed as a freelance journalist to several local newspapers in Switzerland. 

In 2025, Sabrina was named a Highly Commended recipient of the Judges' Award at the Queensland Women in STEM Awards. She was also selected as a Post Growth Institute Fellow (2021) and as Hothouse Future Leader Fellow 2024 (Australian National University). Her work led to several recognitions, including the WasteSmart Brisbane City Council Award (2023), Create Change: 7News Young Achiever Award (QLD, 2020) and the Emerging Female Leader bursary from the National Council of Women of Queensland (2020). Her work has appeared in leading academic journals, shaped public and policy debates, and attracted international recognition through invited presentations and sustained media engagement.