Karen is a Ngarrindjeri educator, curriculum expert, researcher, and governance advocate with extensive experience across teaching, higher education, research, and Aboriginal board governance. She holds a Bachelor of Early Childhood Education and a PhD in Aboriginal Education.
 
Karen's expertise lies in curriculum design, Aboriginal education, and educational transformation. Her early work as an early years educator informed the development of initiatives aimed at improving learning outcomes for Aboriginal students and supporting pathways to educational success. She has worked within the South Australian Department of Education as an Early Learning and Curriculum Officer, providing advice on curriculum design and culturally responsive pedagogies that support Aboriginal children's learning and wellbeing.
 
In 2019, Karen received the nationally competitive Early Childhood Australia Doctoral Thesis Award, recognising the distinctive theoretical, empirical, and methodological contribution of her research to early childhood policy and practice. Karen was also a member of the consortium led by Macquarie University in partnership with Queensland University of Technology and Edith Cowan University, engaged by the Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) to deliver the National Quality Framework Approved Learning Frameworks Update project. Through this work, she contributed to the development of 20 recommendations that strengthened the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF), with particular emphasis on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives, inclusion, equity, cultural responsiveness, and culturally safe environments for children and families.
 
Karen began her career as a junior primary teacher, teaching in Adelaide and at Raukkan Aboriginal School before moving into higher education, where she served as Program Director for Aboriginal Studies at the University of South Australia. She is currently Professor of Indigenous Learning and Teaching at Adelaide University, where she leads major curriculum transformation initiatives, including the Indigenisation of Curriculum and First Nations Common Core projects. She also teaches courses in Aboriginal Research Methodologies and Ethics, First Nations Knowledges in Research, Indigenous Nation Building and Governance, and Rebuilding Aboriginal Nations.
 
Karen's governance expertise includes serving as the Indigenous Representative on the University's Human Research Ethics Committee and Transitional Academic Board, as well as being a Board Director of the Australian Indigenous Governance Institute. Karen also served as a Board Director on the SA Aboriginal Lands Trust from 2018 to 2026 and during this time also served as the first female Chairperson. Through her leadership in curriculum, teaching, research, and governance, Karen is committed to centring Aboriginal voices, perspectives, aspirations, and inherent governance rights, while strengthening future generations of Aboriginal leaders, professionals, and institutions.