Researcher biography

Sara Dolnicar was born in Ljubljana (Slovenia), grew up in Vienna (Austria) and now lives and works in Brisbane (Australia). She holds a Masters and PhD degree from the Vienna University of Economics and Business and a Masters degree in Psychology at the University of Vienna.

Sara is best known for her work in improving market segmentation methodology and testing and refining survey measures used in social science research. She has also worked in the areas of environmental volunteering, foster care and public acceptance of water alternatives. Currently she is focused on developing and testing interventions that trigger pro-environmental behaviour in tourists.

To date, Sara has (co-)authored more than 300 refereed papers, including more than 160 journal articles and led 16 Australian Research Council (ARC) grants. In 2011 she was awarded an ARC Queen Elizabeth II Fellowship, in 2019 an ARC Laureate Fellowship. She won more than 30 awards, including two lifetime achievement awards: The US-based Travel and Tourism Research Association (TTRA) 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); and the Slovenian Ambassador of Science 2016, the highest honour the Republic of Slovenia bestows on expatriate Slovenian researchers in recognition of global excellence, impact, and knowledge transfer.