Contributors

Brigitta Olubas

Professor of English, School of the Arts and Media, UNSW Sydney

Professor of English, School of the Arts and Media, UNSW Sydney

Boudina McConnachie

Ethnomusicology and African Musical Arts lecturer, Rhodes University

Ethnomusicology and African Musical Arts lecturer, Rhodes University Dr. Boudina McConnachie (PhD, PGCE, RULS) is a lecturer in ethnomusicology at Rhodes University in Grahamstown. She co-ordinates various music education courses through the Rhodes University Education department and is integrally involved in the teaching and learning programme at the International Library of African Music (ILAM). Boudina completed her undergraduate music degree majoring in African music (uhadi and mbira) and was a music teacher at a government school in the Eastern Cape for over ten years. She has written two books relating to African music education for school children, Listen and Learn, Music Made Easy (2012) and My Music, My Classroom- Umculo Wam, Iklasi Yam (2016) and is involved in the development of African music curricula for various South African departmental projects.

Bronwyn Parkin

Adjunct lecturer, Linguistics, University of Adelaide, University of Adelaide My background is in education, specifically in the area of language and literacy and pedagogy. I have spent most of my professional life working in Aboriginal education, from remote to metropolitan, and from Junior Primary to tertiary. My research interest is the development of academic language with educationally marginalised students: Indigenous, English as a Second Language, and low-socioceconomic students. I draw on three theoretical fields: systemic functional linguistics (Halliday), sociocultural theory (Vygotsky), and educational sociology (Bernstein). PhD in Linguistics, University of Adelaide (Pedagogy for marginalised students) M.Ed (Language and Literacy) University of South Australia Literacy consultant in South Australian public schools, and NT remote Indigenous schools Vice president, Primary English Teaching Association of Australia (PETAA) Author: Teaching with Intent 1 and 2, Teaching the language of Climate Change Science Formerly project officer, Aboriginal Education Unit and the Literacy Secretariat, SA Dept for Ed

Bryan Lessard

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, CSIRO

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, CSIRO Dr Bryan Lessard was first introduced to the curious world of flies during his undergraduate studies at the University of Wollongong, learning about the behaviour, classification and applications of the winged insects to forensic entomology. With his interest peaked, he enrolled in a PhD at the Australian National University in Canberra to continue his research on flies, this time describing over 18 species new to science and using DNA to solve the mystery behind the evolution of gondwanan horse flies. In the hopes of generating buzz in taxonomy, the science of naming and classifying organisms, he described a horse fly with a golden abdomen after the performer Beyoncé, 'Plinthina beyonceae'. This “bootylicious” ambassador for biodiversity became a viral sensation and sparked a global conversation on the importance of flies. Dr Lessard now works as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Australian National Insect Collection at CSIRO in Canberra. Here he continues to research the evolution of soldier flies, most famous for the black soldier fly 'Hermetia illucens' that powers compost bins and could become the next superfood of the 21st century.

Brad Clark

Researcher, University of Canberra

Researcher, University of Canberra Dr Brad Clark is the UCRISE Sport and Exercise Support Officer. Brad completed his PhD at Federation University Australia in the physiology of training and testing for competitive cyclists in 2014, before joining the AIS Department of Sport Physiology and later UCRISE. Brad maintains a strong research interest in applied sports physiology and supervises a number of PhD students in this area.

Bamini Gopinath

Principal Research Fellow, Sensory Loss Epidemiology, Westmead Institute, University of Sydney Associate Professor Bamini Gopinath is an epidemiologist who has been actively involved in developing and conducting numerous population health studies. To date she has co-authored over 150 peer-reviewed papers, several of which have been in high-ranking medical and health journals (with over 1600 citations to her name). Her publications have attracted >400 media stories with an estimated audience of 210 million people worldwide. Using large population datasets Bamini has provided novel community-based evidence on the health determinants and health outcomes associated with a range of chronic diseases and disability. Her research work is primarily focused on sensory loss epidemiology, which aims to assess the modifiable lifestyle determinants and impacts of age-related sensory impairments. Her ongoing research in the public health field aims to translate key study findings into health policy and practice, with the intention of targeting current gaps that exist in Australian healthcare.