People

Dr Cynthia Sear (Director, on leave 2024) specialises in the anthropology of personal finance, gambling, consumption, gender and capitalism and has over a decade of experience using ethnographic methods for consulting and applied settings.

Dr Joanne Byrne (Co-Director, 2024) is a digital anthropologist, interested in the complex interplay between technology and culture. Her work is situated in digital ethnography, cross-disciplinary social media analysis, and investigations into the use, construction, and meaning of digital spaces. Her research interests include: gender, digital social space and identifying methodological intersections between quantitative ‘Big Data’ projects and qualitative social research.

Dr. Jeff Garmany is Senior Lecturer in Latin American Studies and Program Director for the Master of Development Studies. His research focuses on inequality in urban settings.

Dr Rachel Morgain is an interdisciplinary environmental researcher with interests in biodiversity and climate change, the science-policy interface, nature-based climate solutions, ESG and biodiversity risk for business, knowledge brokering, research effectiveness, science communication, science and technology studies, Pacific studies, decolonising methodologies, gender, race and the practice and study of processes for building large research collaborations.

Dr Rebekah Plueckhahn is a lecturer in Anthropology at the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Melbourne. She is an anthropologist studying prefiguration, sociality and emerging ethics as people negotiate access to shifting urban infrastructures, housing finance and engage in emerging politics and performance.

Dr Erin Fitz-Henry is a Senior Lecturer in Anthropology, Discipline Chair of Anthropology and Development Studies, and Co-Convenor of the Politics and Policy stream of Melbourne Climate Futures.

Prof Meredith Rossner's research focuses on emotions, rituals, the built environment, and technology in justice practices.  Past and current projects include investigations into the emotional dynamics of restorative justice, therapeutic courts, the role of courtroom design on access to justice, and the use of video technology in courts.

Ms Cindy Stocken is currently undertaking her PhD in Anthropology with a specific interest in ritual creativity, death studies and alternative funerary rituals (namely Living Funerals).

Dr John Cox is a Social Anthropologist and Development Studies specialist. John has more than twenty-five years’ experience in Pacific Islands countries working as a volunteer, NGO program manager, development consultant, researcher and educator.

Dr Kimberly Perkins, an Honorary Fellow at the Critical Ethnography Lab, is a Boeing 787 airline pilot with experience spanning commercial and business aviation across six continents. Her doctoral research explores ways to enhance aviation safety by integrating interpersonal skills and behavioural science in human factors training. Her work aims to optimize risk mitigation and improve socio-processing capacity, reconceptualizing such training within the complex sociotechnical system of the flight deck.

Nina Zepecan is a Junior Researcher at the Critical Ethnography Lab, with practical and theoretical experience in emerging tech sectors, international relations, and sustainable advocacy.

Ridge Pang is a Junior Researcher at the Critical Ethnography Lab, working closely with interdisciplinary teams to innovate novel ethnographic methodologies projects such as AI in Aviation and AI in Psychotherapy

Dr Paul Green is Senior Lecturer in Anthropology in the School of Social and Political Sciences. He is currently involved in two longitudinal ethnographic projects based on the life experiences of later-life foreigners/retirees and digital nomads, respectively, in and beyond Southeast Asia.

Dr Hannah Gould is a cultural anthropologist studying death, Buddhism, and material culture in Australia and Asia. She holds the Melbourne Postdoctoral Fellowship, for the project "Mobile Mortality: Transnational Futures of Deathcare in the Asia Pacific". Dr Gould works with the DeathTech Research Team. Alongside academic research and publishing, Dr Gould creates public programs to advocate for more equitable systems of deathcare for all.

Prof Tamara Kohn’s research expertise is in humanistic anthropology, death studies, the anthropology of the body and senses, trans-cultural communities of practice, and methods and ethics in anthropology. She is Professor of Anthropology in the School of Social and Political Sciences and one of the founding members of the DeathTech Research Team.

Dr. Adrian Watts is Sessional Lecturer in Anthropology. He completed a thesis on social inequality and is interested in working on this angle.

Peter Derrick is the General Technology Manager at AvSoft, an Australian Aviation Software service focused on developing and delivering innovative solutions for the evolving aviation industry.

Waqar Hussain is a Senior Research Scientist at CSIRO's Data61, specializing in the ethical development and implementation of AI. He has expertise in auditing systems for fairness, trust, privacy, and security and develops frameworks to help organizations integrate ethical principles into AI for responsible and effective use.