Dr Daniela Rizzo is an Australian theologian whose work advances new pathways in contemporary systematic theology through a focus on animals, creation, and the Spirit. She is a Lecturer in Systematic Theology at Alphacrucis University College, where her research provokes critical rethinking of the creature–Creator relationship and challenges anthropocentric defaults in Christian thought.
She is a Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics, and her memberships include the Australasian Animal Studies Association, the Society for Pentecostal Studies, A Rocha Australia, and the Pentecostal World Fellowship Creation Care Task Force. Daniela is also actively engaged at the civic level as a member of the Warrnambool Environment and Sustainability Advisory Committee, contributing theological imagination to local environmental strategy and public discourse.
Her scholarship sits at the intersection of pneumatology, animal theology, and eco-theology. Through a Pentecostal and ecumenically open lens, she examines how religious worldviews shape moral responsibility toward non-human life and the wider Earth community. Her work seeks to leverage theological imagination to influence cultural attitudes, ecumenical consensus, and interfaith dialogue, inspiring new practices of care for more-than-human neighbours.
Daniela’s research excellence has been recognised through the 2025 Alphacrucis President’s Doctoral Research Medal and the inaugural Ross Winchester Award for Pentecostal Studies. Her forthcoming monograph, Animal Pneumatology: A systematic theological inquiry into the Spirit's work in non-human creatures (Palgrave Macmillan Animal Ethics Series, 2026), establishes the first systematic pneumatology of animals and contributes a foundation for a more holistic and inclusive theological future.
Australasian Animal Studies Association (AASA) Online Conference
In this masterclass, Professor Danielle Celermajer, author of the critically acclaimed work Summertime: Reflections on a Vanishing Future (Penguin 2021), will explore creative non-fiction as an approach in making sense of more-than-human worlds. Participants will have an opportunity to read sections of Summertime, and also to workshop their own creative non-fiction writing or experiment with this form.
Are you new to animal studies research? Do you grapple with current theoretical debates – such as intersectionality and decolonial approaches? Do you wonder how and where to publish? If you would like to understand the basics of the publication process, from pitching an article idea to responding to peer review and get advice on what’s possible when working with non-traditional outputs – such as visual art and creative writing – join us at the master class: Tools for Animal Studies Research.
This interactive online event, presented by the Australasian Animal Studies Association (AASA), is aimed at higher degree and early career researchers interested in animal studies. You will have an opportunity to hear from scholars doing innovative work in the field and ask questions.