Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander researchers

Pro Vice-Chancellor Indigenous
 

Professor Megan Davis is Cobble Cobble woman from Barrungam Nation, Pro Vice-Chancellor Indigenous and Professor of Law at UNSW.

She is Acting Commissioner of the NSW Land and Environment Court and was recently appointed the Balnaves Chair in Constitutional Law. Prof Davis is also a current member of the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous peoples.

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Director of Nura Gili Academic Programs

Nicole Watson is a Murri academic from south-east Queensland, whose family hail from the Munanjali and Birri Gubba peoples. Nicole is the Director of Nura Gili Academic Programs. She has an LLB, an LLM and a DCA. Nicole has published a large body of work on legal issues that are pertinent to Indigenous peoples. Her most recent work is looking at how the stories of Indigenous peoples can be incorporated into legal decision making.

Deputy Director, Indigenous Law Centre (ILC) and Lecturer, Nura Gili.

Dani is a Bundjalung, Kungarykany woman from Grafton, New South Wales and a public lawyer. Dani is a legal academic and advocate for constitutional reform and political empowerment of First Nations and her research interests include: Indigenous self-determination and cultural identity, electoral law and policy reform, Indigenous political participation, comparative constitutional law and international human rights.

Lecturer 

Janine Gertz's cultural heritage is drawn from her connections to both the Gugu Badhun in the Upper Burdekin region & the Ngadjonji on the Atherton Tablelands. Janine is a lecturer at Nura Gili with research interests grounded in her work with the Gugu Badhun Nation.

Her doctoral project is titled Gugu Badhun Sovereignty, Self-Determination, and Nationhood. 

Dr Jason Sharples is a Professor at the Faculty of Science at UNSW Canberra. He is a mathematical scientist with research interests in mathematical modelling of environmental and industrial processes. These include things like combustion reactions, extreme and dynamic bushfire behaviour and fire weather processes.

Dr Laura Parker is an Indigenous Scientia Fellow and ARC DAATSIA Fellow in the Faculty of Science, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences.

Laura is interested in understanding and overcoming the impacts of climate change and environmental stress on marine organisms. 

Shane is a Dunghutti (Bellbrook, Northern NSW) and Dharawal (Coastal Sydney) descendant and has a background in microbiology and molecular biology of bacteria and fungi that live within medicinal plants of Botany Bay.

Shane is a post-doctoral researcher in Science Communication with the Education and Engagement team (CABAH).

Dr Kalinda Griffiths is an early career Scientia Lecturer at the Centre for Big Data Research at UNSW and holds honorary positions at Menzies School of Health Research and the University of Sydney. Kalinda is a Yawuru woman, and an epidemiologist who has worked in the research sector in a number of roles for over 20 years. Her interest is in empirically addressing complex health disparities in populations through existing data and Indigenous data governance. 

Dr Brett Biles is a Murrawarri man from Brewarrina. He has been living on Wiradjuri country for the last 16 years. He holds a Bachelor of Physiotherapy, a Masters in Indigenous Health and a PhD. He is currently the Director of Indigenous Health Education in the Office of Medical Education, UNSW Medicine. 

Dr Withall is a Kurial-Yuin woman, holding a combined research and teaching role in the School of Public Health and Community Medicine, where she leads the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research Theme. She is an expert on ageing and mental health and her research focuses on promoting wellbeing, care and cognitive health for at-risk populations. She leads a sub-stream on Ageing at the Margins in the recently funded UNSW Ageing Futures Institute

Dr Lauren Kelada is a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow with the Behavioural Sciences Unit (BSU), School of Women’s and Children’s Health at UNSW Sydney and the Sydney Children’s Hospital. Dr Kelada is the Team Leader of the Family Systems and Relationships team of the BSU and leads a busy team of eight (a research fellow, three research officers and four students).

Ms Telphia Joseph is a Wajarri Yamatji woman from Western Australia. Community Development was her first passion which led to her interest in environmental health and otitis media. Telphia has a qualitative research base and in a previous life acted in a liaison position between the National Immunisation Committee and service providers offering immunisation programs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. 

Ebony Lewis has come from a background of Emergency nursing with a passion for improving the end-of-life experience for older people with advanced chronic illness. She has extensive experience in geriatrics assessment and gerontology research. 

Adam Howie is a Bardi man from the Kimberly’s in Western Australia. He spent the first part of his working life in the Navy on surface ships and then submarines. Upon leaving the Navy Adam stated on his journey within health. He has extensive experience working within Emergency Services in Western Australia and New South Wales as a Paramedic and Intensive Care Paramedic. He has performed this role in remote, rural and metropolitan locations.