C.A.S. Hawker Scholars

Being awarded the Hawker Scholarship changed the course of my life. I will always be deeply grateful to the Hawker Foundation for supporting my studies and accommodation at Burgmann College for three formative and inspiring years.

Today, I am the Innovation Lead at the ABC’s Digital and National News division, where I drive strategic initiatives exploring how emerging technologies like AI and innovative storytelling tools can support public interest journalism.

In parallel, I am undertaking a PhD at RMIT University, researching the intersection of artificial intelligence, personalisation, and editorial decision-making in public service media. My work investigates how news organisations can harness recommender systems ethically while preserving their core democratic responsibilities.

In 2023, I was honoured to be selected as a Reuters Institute Journalism Fellow at the University of Oxford, where I developed a research paper titled “Personalised News: How to Balance Technology and Editorial Integrity”. The fellowship allowed me to connect with global leaders in journalism and technology, and to explore how values-based design can shape the future of news.

Prior to these roles, I was a digital producer for ABC’s Four Corners, Australia’s premier investigative current affairs program, where I was part of the Walkley Award–winning team behind the Black Summer documentary and digital feature on the 2020 bushfire crisis. Before that, I worked as a digital journalist in the ABC’s Specialist Reporting Team, and earlier as the state environment reporter for ABC News Queensland, where I covered critical issues including water security, climate policy, and Indigenous land management.

In 2016, my feature about Australia’s oldest working scientist, aged 102, won a national media award and helped drive conversation around science, ageing, and purpose. My journey into journalism was inspired by my academic foundation during my time as a Hawker Scholar.

I studied anthropology and development studies at ANU, where I developed a passion for understanding culture, power, and storytelling. I was awarded the Attorney-General’s Department Native Title Anthropology Scholarship, which enabled me to complete two field placements in the Northern Territory, working from Alice Springs and Timber Creek on land rights and traditional ownership claims.

In my final year of university, I undertook a month-long Trans-Siberian journey from Beijing through Mongolia to St Petersburg, followed by a semester abroad studying political science and public policy at the University of Exeter in the UK.

I remain passionate about using innovation to strengthen journalism in the public interest.