Dr Hemanath Swarna

Dr Hemanath Swarna is on the Senior Academic Team at the International College of Management. He is lecturer in economics, finance and statistics.

He started his career as an engineer in the Malaysian oil and gas industry. Transitioning to academia, he was an economics researcher in ecological economics at the University of Queensland, Australia. Working with one of Australia’s most published academic economist, Clem Tisdell, he did pioneering work in combining economics with conservation science. Consequently, his work has been published in peer-reviewed journals in both fields. In Malaysia, he lecture in HELP College’s business school and served as a freelance writer for Malaysian online news, writing about economic reform, political change and environmental sustainability. Returning to Australia, he has been lecturing undergraduate and postgraduate students at ICMS since 2016.

Hemanath holds a bachelor degree in chemical engineering from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia; from the University of Queensland, he graduated with a master degrees in international economics and finance, and in conservation biology. There, he completed his PhD in ecological economics, which investigated the conflict between the oil palm industry and orangutan habitat loss.

He has published papers on economic policy and theory, as well as on environmental conservation of Australian and Asian wildlife species and forests. He has also contributed articles in news outlets on contemporary issues in economics, politics and society.

Selected publications:

Peer-reviewed Journal Articles

Swarna Nantha, H. (work in progress). The opportunity cost of engaging in reduced-impact logging to conserve the orangutan: a case study of the management of Deramakot Forest Reserve, Sabah, Malaysia. Environmental Economics and Policy Studies

Swarna Nantha, H. (work in progress). Political opportunity costs as an obstacle to success of the capitalist mode of nature conservation. Environmental and Development Economics

Tisdell, C. and Swarna Nantha, H. (2011). Comparative costs and conservation of wildlife species in situ, e.g., orangutans. Ecological Economics 70: 2429-2436 • ISI impact factor: 2.72

Swarna Nantha, H. and Tisdell, C. (2009). The orangutan-oil palm conflict: economic constraints and opportunities for conservation. Biodiversity and Conservation 18: 487-502 • ISI impact factor: 2.37

Tisdell, C. and Swarna Nantha, H. (2008). Public attitudes to the use of wildlife by Aboriginal Australians: marketing of wildlife and its conservation. International Journal of Green Economics 2: 108-122

Tisdell, C., Wilson, C. and Swarna Nantha, H. (2008). Contingent valuation as a dynamic process. Journal of Socio-Economics 37: 1443-1458

Tisdell, C. and Swarna Nantha, H. (2007). Comparison of funding and demand for the conservation of the charismatic koala with those for the critically endangered wombat Lasiorhinus krefftii. Biodiversity and Conservation 16: 1261-1281 • ISI impact factor: 2.37

Tisdell, C., Swarna Nantha, H. and Wilson, C. (2007). Conservation and use of the hawksbill turtle— public valuation and attitudes: an Australian case study. Pacific Conservation Biology 13: 35-46

Tisdell, C., Swarna Nantha, H. and Wilson, C. (2007). Endangerment and likeability of wildlife species: how important are they for payments proposed for conservation? Ecological Economics 60: 627-633 • ISI impact factor: 2.72

Tisdell, C., Swarna Nantha, H. and Wilson, C. (2007). Biodiversity conservation and public support for sustainable wildlife harvesting: a case study. International Journal of Biodiversity Science and Management 3: 129-144

Tisdell, C., Swarna Nantha, H. and Wilson, C. (2006). Public support for conserving Australian reptile species: a case study of global relevance. International Journal of Global Environmental Issues 6: 373-390.

Tisdell, C., Wilson, C. and Swarna Nantha, H. (2006). Public choice of species for the ‘Ark’: phylogenetic similarity and preferred wildlife species for survival. Journal for Nature Conservation 14: 97-105 • ISI impact factor: 1.54

Tisdell, C., Wilson, C. and Swarna Nantha, H. (2005). Policies for saving a rare Australian glider: economics and ecology. Biological Conservation 123: 237-248 • ISI impact factor: 3.76

Tisdell, C., Wilson, C. and Swarna Nantha, H. (2005). Association of public support for the survival of wildlife species and their likeability. Anthrozoös 18: 160-174 • ISI impact factor:

Book Chapters and Working Papers

Swarna Nantha, H. and Tisdell, C. (2014) The opportunity cost of engaging in reducedimpact logging to conserve the orangutan: a case study of the management of Deramakot Forest Reserve, Sabah, Malaysia. Economics, Ecology and the Environment, Working Paper No. 194. Brisbane, Australia: School of Economics, The University of Queensland

Tisdell, C. and Swarna Nantha, H. (2009). Supply-side policies to conserve biodiversity and save the orangutan from oil palm expansion: an economic assessment. Pp. 171-180 in F. Aronoff (ed.). Handbook of Nature Conservation: Global, Environmental and Economic Issues. New York: Nova Science Publishers

Tisdell, C. and Swarna Nantha, H. (2007). Management, conservation and farming of saltwater crocodiles: an Australian case study of sustainable commercial use. Pp. 233-263 in C.K. Gupta (ed.). Perspectives in Animal Ecology and Reproduction, Vol. IV. Delhi, India: Daya Publishing House

Tisdell, C., Wilson, C. and Swarna Nantha, H. (2005). Australian tropical reptile species: ecological status, public valuation, attitudes to their conservation and commercial use. Pp. 1-40 in A.R. Burk (ed.). Trends in Biodiversity Research. New York: Nova Science Publishers

Tisdell, C., Wilson, C. and Swarna Nantha, H. (2005). A report on the management of saltwater crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus) in the Northern Territory: results of a survey of pastoralists. Economics, Ecology and the Environment, Working Paper No. 130. Brisbane, Australia: School of Economics, The University of Queensland

4 H. Swarna |  Jan 2018

Book Reviews

Swarna Nantha, H. (2014). Book review: Reclaiming Public Ownership: Making Space for Economic Democracy (Zed Books), by Andrew Cumbers. Political Studies Review 12: 248-343

Swarna Nantha, H. (2014). Book review: The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making of the Neoliberal Thought Collective (Harvard University Press), by Phillip Mirowski and Dieter Plehwe. Review of Radical Political Economics 20: 1-4

Op-eds in news media and portals, selected (under a nom de plume)

Swarna Nantha, H. (2013). On Malaysia’s debt and ‘growth at all cost’. Center for Policy Initiatives. 22 April. Available from: http://www.cpiasia.net/v3/index.php/malaysiadebt/2522-on-malaysias-debts-and-growth-at-all-cost. Accessed 29 October 2015.

Swarna Nantha, H. (2013). Malaysia’s debt: the misleading debt-to-GDP ratio. Center for Policy Initiatives. 29 March. Available from: http://www.cpiasia.net/v3/index.php/malaysiadebt/2510-malaysias-debt-the-misleading-debt-to-gdp-ratio. Accessed 29 October 2015.

Swarna Nantha, H. (2013). Malaysian government’s debt to approach RM1 trillion by 2020. Center for Policy Initiatives. 25 February. Available from: http://www.cpiasia.net/ /v3/index.php/malaysia-debt/2484-malaysian-governments-debt-to-approach-rm1-trillionby-2020. Accessed 29 October 2015.

Swarna Nantha, H. (2012). Before meddling with subsidies, ask why we need them. The Malaysian Insider. 26 October. Available from: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/sideviews/article/before-meddling-with-subsidiesask-why-we-need-them-pak-sako. Accessed 29 October 2015.

Swarna Nantha, H. (2012). Ideology and debt: a reply to Dr. Mahathir. The Malaysian Insider. 23 August. Available from: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/sideviews/ /article/ideology-and-debt-a-reply-to-dr-mahathir-pak-sako. Accessed 29 October 2015. [Malaysian prime minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamad’s response, dated 25 August 2012, can be found here: http://chedet.cc/?p=827]