About

I am incredibly energetic and passionate and have a very full plate! I want to use my skills as a researcher to help improve the lives of the people who share our planet. Topics I am passionate about include climate change, advocacy for corporate and government regulation and accountability, dissemination and communication of research surrounding complex socio-political and environmental issues (i.e., sustainability practices including renewables energy and transport), advocacy and inclusion for marginalized and disadvantaged groups, and improving access to evidence-based education for critical thinking.  

Area of study (info beyond degree title eg .majors/minors)

 I am a social epidemiological researcher with a strong background in psychology (particularly social psychology and clinical psychopathology)

Epic Fail

Thinking I didn't belong in Academia!

Key experience areas

I grew up largely experiencing compound disadvantage. I left home and joined the army and went to ADFA when I was 17. I began my PhD when I was 22 and I am the first in my family to study and be awarded a doctorate. I also feel my doctoral candidature was challenging due to being a single mother and negotiating the demands of providing stability and safety for my young children throughout. Whilst I have completed my PhD, I do not have a publication record, which was a choice I had to make throughout my PhD as I was already managing so much. I am now at the beginning of navigating alternative pathways to maintaining and developing a career in research.

Proudest moment

 Watching my sons be kind to themselves and others.

Top tip

Attend ANU Thesis Bootcamp if you can! If you can't, draw a graph illustrating your confidence and enjoyment in writing across your life to date, and at the low moments, identify the situational circumstances you were in and your thoughts about writing. Doing this really helped me to gain clarity that I wasn't a bad writer at all but was pressuring myself at an already difficult time.