I am an Associate Professor in Geography and Planning at Macquarie University. My research and teaching experiences focus on Indigenous and Development Geographies, University-Community engagement and practice-based learning. I take an applied, action-oriented and collaborative approach to research and teaching characterised by community partnerships, co-creation of knowledge and an ethics of reciprocity. As a result at the heart of my life-work are innovative co-authored and co-created projects with academic colleagues, community partners, students and Country.

My current work focuses on Indigenous self-determination in the context of cultural tourism in North East Arnhem Land, northern Australia. Since 2006 I have been part of the Bawaka Collective (http://bawakacollective.com/) which is an Indigenous and non-Indigenous, more-than-human research collective. It includes Bawaka Country, Laklak Burarrwanga, Ritjilili Ganambarr, Merrkiyawuy Ganambarr-Stubbs, Banbapuy Ganambarr, Djawundil Maymuru, Sandie Suchet-Pearson, Sarah Wright and myself.

These enduring relationships developed as part of Bawaka Indigenous-academic collaboration, which attend to community aspirations and knowledges, have enabled the creative co-production of shared knowledge with mutual benefits in a cross-cultural setting. My collaborative work with the Bawaka Collective has been supported by two multi-institutional ARC Discovery projects: ‘Closing other gaps: Yolŋu perspectives on and proposals for two-ways learning to improve intercultural communication and policy.’ (2014-2016), and, ‘Intergenerational sharing of songspirals’ knowledges and practices between Yolŋu women and intercultural sharing with non-Indigenous people’ (2019-2021). We have recently extended our collaboration through two SSHRC grants to work on projects that provide a unique opportunity for Indigenous people from Canada, the United States, Borneo, New Zealand and Australia to mobilize and share their specific knowledges of how to care for more-than-human kin in the face of global disruptive change.

I am also passionate about innovative teaching, reflection for learning, and co-creation of curriculum in the area of experiential and work integrated learning (WIL). I have developed innovative content in the curriculum by reintroducing field work to the Human Geography department, developing on-line role plays, running international fieldschools, and co-creating curriculum with international community partners. I have recently returned to the department from a secondment to the PACE program where I contributed to the PACE objective of enhancing community-university relations through transformative learning and teaching, research and community service and engagement. During this time I also demonstrated commitment to scholarship on experiential and Work Integrated Learning (WIL) and employability by leading the PACE Research and Evaluation strategy which encompassed a range of projects such as a 2016-2018 cross-institutional research project on “Developing social network capabilities for graduate employability” with QUT and ECU funded by Graduate Careers Australia ($58,000) and a 2015-2017 OLT strategic priority grant (SP14-4605 $348,000) Co-creating support curriculum with international community partners from Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Philippines, India, Fiji, Indonesia and Peru.

I welcome opportunities to supervise postgraduate students, especially students working in the areas of development geographies, Indigenous knowledges and methodologies; community-based and practice-based learning.

Teaching

I teach in the areas of critical development geographies and applied human geography and am currently convening:

GEOP2010 Theory and Methods in Human Geography

GEOP6080 Theory and Methods in Human Geography

GEOP2060 Geography and Planning Field School

GEOP4080 Planning Experience