About me
Hello!
I’m Amy, an Aussie currently based in Adelaide, Australia. I’m committed to improving human health, and I gravitate to topics that are resistant to being addressed using the scientific approach alone – perhaps because they sit between specialisations, or because they’re new, or old, or unquantifiable, or culturally taboo, or complex and dynamic…
As a medical anthropologist and ethnographic researcher, I work on complex topics that sit between fields and sectors, including obesity, diabetes, food systems, endometriosis, gender and health, and health technology. You can find my research outputs in my online library.
As an educator, I’m most at home teaching students how to make sense of complex topics and wrangle multiple perspectives with rigour, creativity, and a bit of a sense of humour. This has included teaching into the University of Oxford’s Human Sciences and Medicine undergraduate degrees and Medical Anthropology masters program, as well as the Master of Applied Cybernetics at the Australian National University and Bachelor of Medical Studies at Adelaide University. It has also included mentoring recipients of the Tuckwell Scholarship and General Sir John Monash Scholarship programs, as well as designing and delivering vibrant research-infused learning experiences, including corporate training programs, government policy, and a public art exhibition.
As a facilitator, I work best with cross-disciplinary, cross-sectoral and/or cross-generational groups who seek ways to collaborate to make something new. I’ve designed and delivered academic conferences, as well as workshops for Australian federal government departments, Future Foundations, the International Olympic Committee, and the Commonwealth Secretariat.
As a senior policy analyst in the Australian Government Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, I applied my social research expertise to complex team projects that spanned multiple government departments and agencies, such as women’s safety, innovation, capacity building, technology procurement, and cyber security. I still do some project-based work with the Australian Public Service Commission. You won’t see my name listed as an author, but my online library contains links to any publicly-released works our Project Office team completed.
As a colleague, I am open, honest, and committed to my team. I have a deep sense of community, having grown up in the countryside, and I like to infuse complexity, creativity, curiosity, and care into my work.
My current affiliations
Associate Professor
College of Systems and Society, Australian National University
Teaching, supervision and research broadly relating to navigating complex societal transformations
Adjunct Associate Professor
Adelaide Medical School, Adelaide University
Contributing to medical education, including teaching on women’s healthcare, and health and society.
John Monash Scholar
General Sir John Monash Foundation
Building and part of a network of leading Australian scholars across a wide range of subjects and worldwide universities
International Fellow
Unit for Biocultural Variation and Obesity, Oxford
Engaging in a vibrant cross-sectoral community of researchers focused on complex and interwoven causes of obesity
Consulting researcher
Currently includes roles with the Australian Public Service Commission (EL2) and
RiskLayer GmbH (chronic disease impact modelling)