Zara Bending

Zara Bending is an Associate at the Centre for Environmental Law (Macquarie University). She is an award-winning lecturer with multiple commendations for teaching excellence, including two Vice Chancellor's Learning & Teaching Awards and a national citation for outstanding contributions the student learning through the Australian Awards for University Teaching. Her citation reads: "for inspiring the next generation of legal scholars, advocates, and change-makers through holistic mentorship and transformative learning design."

Zara’s research draws on her expertise in criminal, environmental, and health law, with interdisciplinary inputs from criminology, sociology, bioethics, and historiography. Her current research examines the effectiveness of domestic and international legal frameworks in tackling the illicit wildlife trade.

In 2018, Zara was a semi-finalist in the NSW/ACT Young Achiever Awards in the category ‘Women Creating Change’. In 2015, she joined the Board of Directors of the Jane Goodall Institute Australia. She serves as an expert for the Jane Goodall Institute Global's ForeverWild campaign, including representation to the Global Initiative to End Wildlife Crime.