MORE ABOUT ME
I’ve always loved learning about diverse places, and using storytelling, historical research, conversation and technology tools to bring them to life.
In my early career I worked across Federal Government agencies to build public investment and policy programs in fields such as the arts, media and telecommunications and creative industries. I became involved in digital strategy and production through various roles at the ABC, leading innovative media programs and services in the early years of broadband, interactive television and mobile media.
A fascination with the increasingly embedded nature of media and communications in urban lives inspired me to explore the potential to engage with the recorded histories of urban transformation in the context of a practice-led PhD. I immersed myself in the world of ‘acoustic ecology’ and sound design, to create novel soundscapes integrating built and recorded histories of place. Specifically, I explored the role of the BLF Green Bans in the shaping of contemporary Sydney using ambient sound recordings from the time, including the work of legendary Sydney film maker Pat Fiske.
An interest in digital archives and urban media led me towards a fascination with evolving platform ecosystems shaping the city. This involves engagement and thought leadership with the smart cities domain, and designing a range of digital interfaces, dashboards and engagement programs linking urban data, community engagement and urban policy.
I was awarded a UK Urban Studies Foundation Fellowship, led research consultancy programs for Western Sydney University, CSIRO Land & Water, NSW Government Urban Growth and Data61 on smart city precincts, urban living labs and urban data governance. I wrote a book called Platform Urbanism: Negotiating Platform Ecosystems in Connected Cities published in late 2019 by Palgrave, and is a key text exploring the influence of digital platform strategy on urban policy & governance. I’m interested in how digital and immersive platforms are shaping how we know and understand our natural world.
In an era of climate emergency, my focus is increasingly on practices of regenerative placemaking, which I am exploring through an RMIT-based research fellowship which is focused around key sites of urban transformation where ecological regeneration & creative partnerships are prioritised in the creation of place value and identity.
This work engages with practices of nature-based placemaking in urban and regional settings. I’m working with Miyawaki forest practitioners