Ngaire is a PhD candidate in Anthropology in the School of Social Science. Her research investigates the socio-cultural dimensions of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in the Beetaloo Basin, Northern Territory, with particular attention to the role of water in shaping environmental conflict, political action, and competing visions of the future. Drawing on political ecology and ethnographic engagement with Aboriginal and non-indigenous activists and communities, her work examines how activists forge alliances, negotiate questions of authority and representation, and respond to the uncertainties generated by extractive development. Her broader interests lie in environmental anthropology, Indigenous–settler relations, and the anthropology of energy, extraction, and environmental governance.
Qualifications
- BA First Class Honours in Anthropology, The University of Queensland, 2016
- BA in Anthropology and Peace and Conflict Studies, The University of Queensland, 2015
Conference papers
- Weaving Water Worlds: Anthropological Translation and the Politics of Water in the Beetaloo Basin (2026) Lines, Layers Depth - Australian Anthropological Society 2026 Conference, Mparntwe/Alice Springs, 11 June 2026.
- Making Precarious Futures: Navigating Risk Governance and Fracking in Northern Australia (2025) Crisis and Resilience: Social Environments in Transition - School of Social Science Postgraduate Conference, Brisbane, QLD, Australia, 28 November 2025.
- Fracking frictions: Protecting underground water with Indigenous perspectives and hydrological science in the Beetaloo Basin, Australia (2024) The Fourth World Congress of Environmental History, Oulu, Finland, 22 August 2024.
Awards
- 1st place prize in the 2025 Australian Network of Student Anthropologists' Visual Anthropology Competition
- 2nd place prize in the 2024 Australian Network of Student Anthropologists' Visual Anthropology Competition
- 3rd place prize in the 2023 Australian Network of Student Anthropologists' Visual Anthropology Competition
- Best Research Poster at the 2016 Social Science Postgraduate Conference, University of Queensland