About the Team

Rebecca Olive is a Senior Research Fellow in the Social and Global Studies Centre at RMIT University. With a background in anthropology, political science and feminist cultural studies theories, she is fascinated by recreational lifestyle and action sports and physical activities, and the ways these sports shape how we experience and relate to the world. In particular, her work has focused on surfing and how the growth of women’s participation is changing surfing culture. Rebecca has published books, journal articles and book chapters, writes for mainstream and surf media and blogs, and presents her work at conferences and festivals. Rebecca is also a Research Fellow at AustLit, Australia’s online literary bibliography, where she has two on-going projects – Waves of Fiction and Swimming Wild.

Naomi Edwards is a force for change when it comes creating change to improve the lives of people and the health of the planet. In her work, Naomi bridges the sciences and social sciences, and brings a critical perspective when creating communications and community advocacy initiatives. She currently works as a campaign manager at cChange, a regional communications NGO in the Pacific on a range social and environmental justice issues, though mostly heads up fisheries management campaigns. Naomi has almost completed a PhD that investigated the coastal professional in Australia. Naomi acknowledges the Turrbal and Yugambeh People where she lives, works and plays.

cyberBanshee aka Hannah Reardon-Smith (they/she) is a flutist, electronic musician, radio producer, and thinker-writer-researcher living on the unceded land of the Jagera, Yuggera, and Turrbal Peoples. Their music explores the sweetness in unsettling difficulty, and reveals the monsters lurking in traditionally beautiful instruments. Her work and thinking are rooted in queer and feminist collaborative and contaminative co-creation with other soundmakers and weirdmakers, physical and social environments, ecologies, histories, and narratives, exploring the possibilities of making-kin and finding agency within community.

Amelia Hine is a human geographies researcher and emerging artist living and working in Wollongong. She is an Associate Research Fellow in the School of Geography and Sustainable Communities at the University of Wollongong, and freelances in visual communication. Her research and practice identifies instances of socio-political agency in nonhuman stakeholders, and provides rich insight into the overlooked role of nonhumans in directing extractive and megaproject development outcomes. She works to better understand how particular visions of the future do or do not come to fruition, and her arts and visual communication practices thrive on science fiction aesthetics and imaginative endgames in the Capitalocene.

Doortje Hörst is a PhD Candidate at The University of Queensland, and her PhD Project is part of Moving Oceans. Having previously studied local wildlife rehabilitation in the Dutch Wadden Sea, she is intrigued with the sea and its relations with all beings who dwell near or in it. Her current research will focus on environmental movements in sailing. With a background in anthropology and social sciences she especially attends to power dynamics that give shape to these movements. Doortje is a sailor and can often be found on the water — be it with a yacht or a dinghy, for leisure or competitively, she loves to be with the sea and those who inhabit it.

Alex Norman is a Graphic Designer who studied Visual Arts and Graphic Design at the University of Wollongong and graduated on the Dean’s Merit List. With a passion for using design as a conduit for change, she is lucky enough to busy herself creating brands, websites, packaging and video for projects that are good for people and the planet. Alex has worked with a range of clients, such as vegan food companies, environmental sustainability projects, ethical investment funds and consultants who work in the disability sector. A keen listener, she thrives on hearing other people’s stories and fosters close relationships with her clients. She acknowledges the Dharawal (Tharawal) people as the traditional owners and custodians of the unceded land on which she lives, works and plays, and pays her respects to elders past, present and emerging.