Biography and expertise
Biography
I am the Course Coordinator of the Bachelor of Digital Media and a Lecturer in Journalism in the Faculty of Business, Law and Arts at Southern Cross University. I have come to academia with a broad and lengthy professional practice as a journalist in radio, print and online media.
My work contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals
Research
My research currently focusses on locative audio/augmented reality audio experiences, and in particular, their capacity to enhance place literacy (Somerville, 2007). Additional research interests include journalism as practice-based research, journalism ethics, and journalism curricula, and storytelling and creative recovery practice and their intersection with flood impacts and other climate disasters (see Lismore Flood Stories audio walks, Rescue: Stories and portraits of civilian rescuers from the 2022 Northern Rivers floods, and Dear River). Since 2022, I have been a research team member of the multi-disciplinary of the 'Floods and Me: Education in a changing climate' project. I also produce locative audio walks, radio and film documentary.
Community engagement
My focus in community engagement frequently engages students in experiential learning. Between 2010-2020, I supervised the student reporting team at Byron Writers Festival. I am a member of Creative First Aid, a creative recovery collective based in the Northern Rivers, focused on using creative activities to support community through fire and flood recovery.
Teaching
I teach news journalism, radio and podcasting, video journalism and digital storytelling. I also manage students on professional placement and supervise students undertaking media projects and research.
Other current engagement activities
Since 2019, I have been the Vice President (Awards) for the Journalism Education and Research Association of Australia, and between 2020 and 2024 was the Book Reviews Editor of the Australian Journalism Review, ISSN 0810-2686, which is published twice a year by Intellect.