I have a Bachelors degree (1994-1996), Honours degree (1997-1998) and a Ph.D in Cultural Anthropology (1999-2004) and have worked in the University sector for more than 20 years, as an educator and a researcher. Most of my career has involved working with and for, First Nations communities in Australia, especially in Cape York Peninsula, Queensland. Today, I have the honour of working with families I have known for more than two decades and as such, with the grandchildren of the women and men who first asked me to work with them, on their Country. In my career, I have also undertaken long-term ethnographic research in the Cairns region and with subaltern communities in India, Aotearoa-New Zealand and Viet Nam.
My research focuses on the following issues:
- Colonial and ‘post’ colonial Australian history, with an emphasis on the lives of women and children in Cape York Peninsula.
- Indigenous Foodways and Cuisines of Cape York Peninsula.
- Relationships between Country, People and Well being
- Designing Ethical Community Engagement strategies with Communities
- Critical, anthropological analyses of lay, bio-medical and public health understandings of food, diet, obesity and type 2 diabetes.
- Research methods and methodologies, especially ethnography, qualitative research and de-colonising methodologies.
My work is heavily cited (#1888) and recognised internationally (H index 21) and published with the support and acknowledgement of Custodians, who are often co-authors. I have published more than 50 research papers with international peer reviewed journals and publishing houses, alongside a number of community and consultancy reports. Please see the links below for more details.