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USC researcher shares prestigious grant
A University of the Sunshine Coast researcher is the only Queensland member of a team that has received a $226,000 Discovery grant from the Australian Research Council (ARC) to study Indigenous governance issues.
Associate Professor Julie Matthews, who is Director of Research at USC’s Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, is part of the successful seven-member team led by the University of South Australia.
Associate Professor Matthews, who is also Associate Director of USC’s Sustainability Research Centre, said ARC Discovery grants involved fundamental, innovative projects and were sought-after because they supported standalone research generating new knowledge and theories.
“We are now in the conceptual phase of the three-year project, which will examine how the Ngarrindjeri people of South Australia’s Lower Murray River and Coorong areas negotiate issues with the local, state and federal governments, post-apology,” she said.
Associate Professor Matthews, whose contribution will include data-gathering, methodology and analysis, expects to focus on the issue of “caring for country” such as how both parties can better manage scarce water resources in the Murray Darling Basin.
“I did my PhD in South Australia 12 years ago and it looked at how minority communities are represented and represent themselves, at a time when not a lot of people were concerned about such things,” she said.
“This is my third Discovery grant at the University of the Sunshine Coast and I’m delighted to be working with a team that includes a Cambridge University academic and a Ngarrindjeri academic.”
USC Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Greg Hill said the grants were the most prestigious and competitive in the national higher education sector. The success is very significant in growing USC's research profile.
– Julie Gatehouse