Ms Marita Basson

As a planner, I get really enthused by the knowledge that what I do today, is contributing to creating a better life for people in the future. As a lecturer, there is nothing more gratifying than observing students becoming aware of the importance of urban and regional planning and stepping up to the challenge to make a difference to the way people live their lives. 

Given my experience in both planning and education, it almost seems like natural progression to have ended up lecturing planning at uni. My family emigrated from South Africa in 2008, and I started off at USQ by doing casual work and completing my master’s degree. I liked USQ so much, that it led to me now doing a PhD in planning governance and being a permanent staff member.

My main aim is to share my passion for planning and to expose students to examples of town planning decisions, both good and bad. I would like them to develop the ability to evaluate critically so that we can learn from the past. I try to show my respect for my students in the way that I treat them, by doing simple things like learning their names and responding to their queries as fast and as helpful as possible.