Dr Penelope Mitchell | UniSC | University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia

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Dr Penelope Mitchell

BArch University South Australia (USA), PhD University Queensland

  • Research Fellow, National Centre for Timber Durability and Design Life, Forest Research Institute
Email
Telephone
+61 7 54565778
Office location
B1.53
Campus
Sunshine Coast
Dr Penelope Mitchell

Penelope is a research fellow in circular economy (CE) within the National Centre for Timber Durability and Design Life, which is part of the Forest Research Institute. Pene is investigating End-of-life opportunities for preservative treated timber and Engineered Wood Products (EWPs) within the circular economy. Pene was awarded her PhD from the University of Queensland, Department of Architecture, on life cycle thinking along the supply chain using engineered wood products as a case study. She received a grant from the Plywood Association of Australia and a Gottstein Memorial Trust Fund Fellowship in 1997 to investigate Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in the timber industry. Pene was involved in developing the Timber Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) with CSIRO and completed an investment plan for the Forest and Wood Product Association in 2011 to increase timber in housing for carbon storage and sustainability. Pene’s consistent career providing innovative solutions to environmental challenges has seen her conducting research for world leading organisations including the Centre for Sustainable Construction, Built Research Establishment, UK, CRC for Construction Innovation and CSIRO, Australia, developing sustainability tools and methodologies. Pene transferred her knowledge to industry, developing world-leading waste management technology (including the OSCA composting system used to process organic waste at USC, and the world-first solar powered composting system) and becoming a director of two award-winning companies. Pene’s recent research has focussed on Life Cycle Assessment, Product Stewardship and Circular Economy in the built environment and commercial furniture industry. Pene has lectured in CE, sustainable architecture, and waste management. Pene co-founded Architects for Resilient Communities (ARC) Sunshine Coast in 2019, conducting regular meetings, advocacy to council, and collaborative community workshops to action resilience on the Sunshine Coast.

Awards/Fellowships

  • Australian Postgraduate Award, UQ, 1998
  • Gottstein Memorial Trust Fund Award, UQ, 1997

Professional Social Media

Research Grants

Grant/Project name

Investigators

Funding body & A$ value

Year(s)

Focus (of research grant)

OSCA Technology

Dr Penelope Mitchell

Dr Paul Harrey

Business Industry Transformation Initiative (BITI)

$50000
2010 Developing new technology for organic waste management

Research areas

  • Circular economy, product stewardship, forest and wood products, LCA
  • Implementation of sustainability & resilience strategies
  • Designing out waste and systems thinking for a circular world

Dr Penelope Mitchell's specialist areas of knowledge include Circular economy, product stewardship, forest and wood products, Implementation of sustainability & resilience strategies, designing out waste and systems thinking for a circular world.

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