Alumni

When I was a kid I loved the idea of coming to UWA. I thought it seemed very grand and romantic. I was surprised, to be honest, when I got accepted. I don’t think I actually would have, if it wasn’t for the Provisional Entry Scheme for Indigenous students through the School of Indigenous Studies. I'm so thankful to UWA for having this scheme. It has certainly made a big difference in my life.

I completed my undergraduate studies in Conservation Biology and Management in early 2011. This included a fourth year research project, for which I was awarded Honours. This put me in a good position to find work when I graduated. Which has allowed me to work in the government sector over the past six years (on and off with breaks for travelling and looking after family!). I'd considered returning to uni to do a research project over the years, and, this year, the opportunity came up through my workplace. I was lucky enough to receive a scholarship, which has allowed me to leave work to undertake a Master's by research. My project is in Environmental Engineering in the area of Urban Water Management. I am excited to have the opportunity to return to UWA six years later as a postgraduate and to continue learning.

I have always felt compelled to make a difference in the world and have spent years trying to figure out how to do so; where my niche is. I am absolutely passionate and certain that humans can learn to live sustainably in this world. I hope to be able to share this vision with as many people as possible. I firmly believe that our amazing innovative capacity as a species, if put to use toward this end, will solve all of our current problems. We need to spread a shared vision and work collectively towards this goal.

I see the job of ‘changing the collective dream’ of our society as of paramount importance. Once we have a critical mass of people with this dream - rather than the consumerist dream that our society currently espouses, I believe that things will tip. I therefore take advantage of any opportunities I come across to try to make this difference. Through social media, blog writing, teaching yoga classes, within the workplace, volunteering, through my current research, through conversations with friends. Any opportunity I have. I am passionate to share a vision of a healthy, fulfilled and happy future. A future where connection with each and with ‘the land’ is facilitated. Where we are all contributing to the betterment of the world, and rather than seeing sustainability as a sacrifice, we instead see that this way of life brings us joy and fulfilment.

Put simply, my view is that we need the land and the land needs us. It is our sacred and most important job to protect and care for the land - for the benefit of this beautiful planet of ours and the other species we share it with, but also for our own benefit. Indigenous peoples have had an understanding of this for many thousands of years. Our modern society seemed to momentarily forget it in a bid to progress and conquer and grow. But I think that we are collectively beginning to remember. Through the massive environmental and social issues we face today (climate change, habitat loss, loss of biodiversity; depression, obesity, disease) we are beginning to see the vast consequences of our modern world view. Thinking of ourselves as seperate from the land and from each other, has allowed us to trash and use the planet and each other. In my view, the land is amazingly beautiful. It’s wondrous to think how life, and our species, has evolved over such a huge expanse of time to fit our environment. We have adapted to our environment, and in turn, it has adapted to us. We live within this beautiful co-existence. Although we get busy with the details of our everyday lives that can be so removed from this basic fact, I believe that there is nothing more important than this connection, for our survival, our wellbeing and inner contentment.

I think we all need to come to an intimate understanding of how inextricably linked we are to the land. In our modern lives, especially when living in cities, we tend to think of ourselves as quite removed from ‘nature’ and from ‘the land’. It is easy to think that we can survive without ‘it’. But the simple fact of the matter is that our survival and our health depend on that of the whole planet. The more we learn about ecological linkages and climate science, the more it becomes apparent just how connected we are. Ideological boundaries between cities, states, countries mean nothing to natural processes. What we do here, in this moment, affects every other country, and every other person on the planet - and vice versa. This might sound like hippy talk, but the science supports it. This is what we all need to know, not just in a theoretical sense, but really aware of this, to feel it in our bellies. So that this understanding informs our actions, what our dreams are, what we strive for and put our energy towards. What I would like to say is, whenever you’re feeling disconnected - as we all inevitably do in our modern, busy, technologically-driven lives - go out and sit on ‘the land’ and see if you can get a sense of this connection! It belongs to all of us.