National Reconciliation Week: Profiles 2
Volunteers from the Research School of Chemistry and the RSC IDEA committee have come together to recognize National Reconciliation Week 2021 by highlighting the work of a few chosen Indigenous leaders in STEM.
Jamie Graham-Blair
A proud Trawlwoolway Pakana man from the North-East of Iutruwita (Tasmania), Jamie Graham-Blair was the recipient of the 2019 CSIRO Aboriginal and Torres Strait Tertiary Students STEM Achievement Award. Jamie graduated with a Bachelor of Marine and Antarctic Science from the University of Tasmania in 2020. Jamie’s key focus is integrating practices from both Indigenous knowledge and Western science to protect the land and tackle sustainability from a broader perspective. In particular, Jamie believes that the knowledge offered by the Indigenous science has great capacity to heal the world. Jamie is actively involved in sharing and teaching Indigenous philosophies about sustainability, technology, science and practical knowledge about connections to the country. He works with NITA Education to reach out to Tasmanian schools, is the State Coordinator for Seed Mob, and has been involved in many Fire Ecology and traditional land management programs.
For more information regarding Jamie Graham-Blair and his work, please feel free to visit these links:
https://i-d.vice.com/en_uk/article/8xzz7g/indigenous-activist-decolonising-environmentalism
Dr Cass Hunter
Dr Cass Hunter is a Kuku Yalanji and Torres Strait Islander woman from Far North Queensland. Dr Hunter is an Indigenous social-ecologist and quantitative marine scientist currently working with CSIRO in northern Australia. Her current research involves developing tools to help Indigenous communities and government agencies in Australia, as well as Papua New Guinea and Indonesia, address and manage key priority issues, such as climate change. Through her interdisciplinary and collaborative work with involves working closely with many different local communities, stakeholders and agencies, Dr Hunter aims to make research more inclusive, relevant and accessible to all. Dr Hunter considers “The most rewarding part of [her] job is helping to increase Indigenous-led research that is relevant to communities, has benefits, and builds capacity in new area.” Most recently, Dr Hunter was awarded the Advance Queensland Indigenous Fellowship by the Queensland Government.
For more information on Dr Cass Hunter and her research feel free to have a look at the following links:
https://people.csiro.au/H/C/Cass-Hunter
https://stelr.org.au/career_profiles/cass-hunter/