Harnessing her dual background in both science and law, Judith Jones began her research career as an environmental and planning lawyer by focussing on uncertainty, precaution and risk assessment. This included over a decade (1999 – 2014) of service, in different capacities, on federal non-statutory and statutory bodies that provide advice to the Gene Technology Regulator on legal and ethical issues relating to risk assessment and the regulation of gene technology in Australia. Judith has a range of scholarly publications in the areas of environmental impact assessment, risk regulation and precaution. The emphasis in those publications is designing regulation in conditions of scientific and other uncertainty. She is also a member of the ANU Institutional Biosafety Committee.

More recently, Judith’s research has taken a new direction, combining her environmental law research interests with Australian legal history to examine the impact of historical and current landuse practices on Australian soils, water and vegetation. In terms of the colonial era, this research focusses on the impact of colonial property law and culture on landuse practices and consequent environmental degradation. In terms of contemporary agricultural landuse, this research focusses on law and culture relevant to encouraging sustainable landuse practices in regions of high agricultural value.