Panel: Beyond the Horizon

Dr. Misty Jenkins

Misty is of Gunditjmara descent and was born in Ballarat, where she attended the local public school.  She was awarded a scholarship to study Science at The University of Melbourne, where she subsequently graduated with first class honours.  Misty worked in a laboratory researching epilepsy, but her real passion was to study the immune system.  She was intrigued by infectious disease and was keen to work with influenza virus.  She completed her PhD with Nobel Laureate Peter Doherty and Dr Stephen Turner at the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Melbourne, where she studied how T cells (white blood cells) fight influenza infection.  Particularly, the focus of her research is to understand how T cells become armed with the cytotoxic weapons that they use to destroy virally infected cells (and cancerous cells), at the single cell level.  This research led her to Oxford University, and then Cambridge University, where she continues her work on T cell killing.  This research will improve our understanding of how T cells function, which will enable us to identify novel therapeutic targets. 

Mr. Todd Phillips

Todd Phillips is a 27 year old Aboriginal man from the Bundjalung Nation of northern New South Wales. He currently resides in Brisbane where he is completing his final year of a Bachelor of Education (Primary) degree at Queensland University of Technology. As well as studying, he is working on several educational research projects across Queensland and Northern New South Wales that aim to improve the school retention rates and numeracy and literacy levels of Indigenous students by using a range of new, relevant and engaging teaching strategies as well as gaining community support, and participation, while educating the public on best teaching practice.

 

One of these projects is ‘Deadly Maths’. Deadly Maths is based around early algebra concepts as well as literacy work and is done in conjunction with classroom teachers and community members. This program is currently running in 18 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities throughout Queensland and northern New South Wales and in five primary schools in Queensland's Western Alliance cluster to construct a model of children's cognitive development with regard to algebraic reasoning and develop instructional strategies and teaching episodes to facilitate this. The projects are overseen by Professor Tom Cooper from Queensland University of Technology and Dr Chris Matthews from Griffith University.

 

Todd’s involvement with the numeracy and literacy projects has been and continues to be a very rewarding experience and he has seen much success as well as recognition. In March of this year he was recognised for his achievements and was selected as one of five Australians to attend the Bill Clinton Global Initiatives University in New Orleans, USA where he had the opportunity to be mentored by former President Mr Bill Clinton and was provided with the opportunity to address 1500 people from around the globe to discuss the current state of Indigenous Education in Australia, his intentions to improve Indigenous education and what people across the globe can do to improve Indigenous peoples education in their countries.

 

Todd has also worked for Vibe Australia for several years which is a media and public relations company in Sydney, as a Research Officer and has implemented a series of numeracy and literacy programs in Aboriginal communities in Western Australia, Northern Territory, South Australia, Queensland and New South Wales in conjunction with the Vibe National 3 on 3 Basketball, Health and Hip Hop Challenge.

Ms. Lluwannee George

Lluwannee George is 23 years old; her mother is from Erub (Darnley Island) in the Torres Strait and her father is from Ghana in West Africa. She currently lives and works in Sydney. Lluwannee has a double degree in Journalism and Politics and is currently undertaking her Masters in International Law and International Relations at the University of New South Wales. In 2004, Lluwannee had the opportunity to study political science at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada. She is very passionate about Indigenous affairs, Human Rights and Juvenile Justice. Lluwannee has been involved in a number of youth initiatives both government and non government, and has been apart of the National Indigenous Youth Leadership Group 2003, The National Youth Roundtable 2007, the Brooklyn Project 2008, the Youth 2020 summit and its steering committee in 2008. Lluwannee is also apart of Oxfam's International Youth Action Partnerships 2007-2010 and has attended international youth conferences such as the Civicus Youth Assembly in Glasgow, Scotland 2008 and the World Youth Congress in Quebec City, Canada 2008. In late December she will be part of Youth Challenge Australia where she will be spending 10 weeks in Vanuatu doing community work and volunteering. Currently Lluwannee is co-writing a book on identity in Australia, which looks at issues of culture, relationships and spirituality.

 

Dr. Chris Matthews

Dr Chris Matthews is a traditional owner within the Quandamooka Nation (Moreton Bay, Queensland). In 2003, Chris completed a PhD in Applied Mathematics at Griffith University, Australia. Chris’ PhD thesis was on the development of a mathematical model that simulates water flow through a multi-layered cover liner for a waste dump. The model was used to explore various cover liner designs with the aim of diverting water away from the underlying waste to minimise groundwater pollution. Chris has the privilege of being the first Indigenous Australian with a PhD in applied mathematics.

 

Since 2006, Chris has been employed as a lecturer at Griffith University in the Griffith School of Environment. His research interests are the field of applied mathematics and mathematics education. These two fields have strong interconnections and enables Chris to explore questions like: As an Indigenous Australian, why would you study and/or practice mathematics? How objective is mathematics and how does culture determine the teaching, learning and practice of mathematics?

 

In 2006, Chris, in collaboration with Prof. Tom Cooper from the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), successfully bid for an Australian Research Council (ARC) Grant entitled “Indigenous world view, algebra pedagogy and improving Indigenous performance in secondary mathematics”. This project aims to develop an algebra pedagogy that promotes 1) a positive self-image for Indigenous students; 2) relevance by drawing on the students cultural knowledge; and 3) self-expression through creativity. The pedagogy is Maths as Story Telling (MAST), which is currently being trialed at Dunwich State School, Minjerribah (Stradbroke Island) in Chris’s own community.