My research focuses on gender and rurality. I draw on theories of affect and feminist materialism in conjunction with creative research methods to understand and co-produce rural community wellbeing. Whilst my background is in sociology, I am an interdisciplinary scholar who engages with and across cultural studies, feminist studies and cultural and social geography.  I have published 3 authored and co-authored books and 4 edited books and have over 100 publications.
 
With over 30 research grants my expertise lies in codesign and community and stakeholder engagement to create artefacts that address critical cultural/social issues like climate change and environmental crises, farmer mental health and the intersectional lives of rural women, equity and their engagement in community and farming. Recent projects focus on environmental concerns including droughts in Australia and their gendered impact on rural community life and wellbeing and a project on regeneration of the Coorong and Lower Murray Lakes.
 
A current ARC (2026-2029) explores rural women’s cultural and creative connections. It asks the question what kind of creative spaces do rural woman want? How can we co-design creative spaces that address women’s engagement with nature (culturenatures) as well as, their desire to reduce social isolation? How can women only creative networks be created within creative material spaces? This project addresses these questions through creative workshops where rural women codesign a collective artefact that tells their stories of place, social connection, environmental engagement and aspirations for creative spaces.