Advisory Board
Frances (Aunty Fran) Bodkin
Frances (Aunty Fran) Bodkin is a D’harawal Elder of the Bitter Water Clans, a Traditional Knowledge Holder, storyteller, teacher and botanist. With qualifications in environmental science, geomorphology, botany and climatology, she has spent decades bringing D’harawal knowledge into education and environmental care. Aunty Fran learned from her mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, who passed down knowledge of Country, plants, medicine, history and Law. She is the author of Encyclopedia Botanica, which contains more than 11,000 entries on Australian plants, as well as works on D’harawal seasons, climate and language. Her D’harawal Pharmacopeia records the medicinal properties of plants on D’harawal Country and is held by Western Sydney University under Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property protocols. Her work has been recognised with the Royal Society of New South Wales Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Scholars Medal. She continues sharing knowledge with schools, universities, cultural institutions and communities.
Gavin Andrews
Mr Gavin Andrews is a D’harawal Elder and knowledge holder whose family ties extend to the Ngatti’mattagal clans of Sydney’s south-west. He has spent many years sharing local history, cultural knowledge and the stories of his ancestors, including Bundle, who lived through the early colonial period and witnessed the events surrounding the Appin Massacre. As a Partner Investigator on the ARC-funded Garuwanga Project, he helped explore the creation of an Indigenous-led authority to manage and protect traditional knowledge, cultural expression and biodiversity knowledge. At the center of his work is the right of Aboriginal communities to decide how their knowledge is recorded, shared and used.
Gerry Turpin
Gerry Turpin is an Mbabaram Traditional Owner from north Queensland, with family links to Wadjanbarra Yidinjii, Nadjon and Kuku Thaypan. He is an Indigenous ethnobotanist with the Australian Tropical Herbarium and an Adjunct Senior Research Fellow at James Cook University. Gerry coordinates the Tropical Indigenous Ethnobotany Centre, an Indigenous-led partnership that helps Traditional Owners protect, manage and pass on knowledge about plants. During more than 30 years with the Queensland Government, he has combined botanical research with a strong commitment to Indigenous decision-making and cultural authority. His work builds trust between communities, researchers and government agencies, while helping younger generations maintain their connections to Country and plant knowledge. Gerry also serves on the First Nations Advisory Team of the Cooperative Research Centre for Transformations in Mining Economies. He received the Public Service Medal for championing ethnobotany and Indigenous science and research.
Virginia Marshall
Dr Virginia Marshall is Wiradjuri Nyemba and is connected in kinship with Nyikina Mangala. She is a Fellow at the Australian National University’s School of Regulation and Global Governance, a practicing lawyer and a leading scholar of Aboriginal water rights. Her work also covers native title in Sea Country, Indigenous governance, traditional knowledge and the relationship between Indigenous knowledge systems and Western intellectual property law. Her doctoral research received the 2015 WEH Stanner Award and was later published as Overturning Aqua Nullius, now an important work in Australian water law. In 2025, Dr Marshall was elected Chair of the national Committee on Aboriginal Water Interests, following several years in senior committee roles. She also serves on the Climate Change Authority Board and contributes to research and policy on Indigenous water reform, climate change and the commercialization of traditional medicines. Earlier in her career, she worked in criminal defense, the Federal Court and the Australian Law Reform Commission.
Ann Poelina
Professor Anne Poelina is a Nyikina Warrwa and Warlunguru woman from Western Australia’s Kimberley region. A scholar, filmmaker and human and environmental rights advocate, she has spent her career protecting the Martuwarra (Fitzroy River) and its communities. She is Professor, Chair and Senior Research Fellow in Indigenous Knowledges at the University of Notre Dame Australia’s Nulungu Research Institute, and serves as the inaugural Executive Chair of the Martuwarra Fitzroy River Council. Her work brings together First Law, Indigenous knowledge, science and policy to argue for water justice, cultural heritage and the rights of nature. She explores how Indigenous-led conservation and regenerative economies can support healthy Country and strong communities. Professor Poelina’s leadership has been recognized through national and international honors, including the 2024 Geoethics Medal and Bessie Rischbieth Conservation Award. Her work rests on a simple principle: when the River is healthy, people and Country can thrive too.
Henrietta Marrie
Professor Henrietta Marrie AM (née Fourmile) is a Gimuy Walubarra Yidinji Elder and the great-granddaughter of Ye-i-nie, a prominent Yidinji leader in the Cairns region. She is an Honorary Professor at the University of Queensland’s ARC Training Centre for Uniquely Australian Foods. She has written more than 100 academic papers, reports and book chapters, focusing on biocultural diversity, Indigenous intellectual and cultural property, traditional ecological knowledge and Aboriginal cultural heritage. Her work is grounded in advocacy for her own Gimuy Walubarra Yidinji families and for Indigenous peoples across Australia and internationally. Professor Marrie was the first Aboriginal Australian appointed to a full-time professional role with a United Nations agency. She later served as a Senior Fellow at the United Nations University and has held positions at several Australian universities. Throughout her career, she has brought Indigenous knowledge and community priorities into academic, policy and international conversations.
Patricia Adjei
Patricia is Director of Stand-alone Legislation at the Australian Government’s Office for the Arts, where she works on new legal protections for Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property. She is a Wuthathi, Mabuiag Islander and Ghanaian woman. Patricia graduated from UNSW with Bachelor of Arts (Sociology) and Bachelor of Laws degrees in 2005. She has worked as a Policy and Legal Officer in the Australian Government, as the Indigenous solicitor in the Artists in the Black program at the Arts Law Centre of Australia, and as an in-house lawyer at National Indigenous Television. She later led First Nations arts and culture at the Australia Council for the Arts, now Creative Australia. Patricia participated in WIPO committee sessions on genetic resources, traditional knowledge and folklore in 2007 and 2008 as an Indigenous representative. In 2010, she was the WIPO Indigenous Intellectual Property Law Fellow.
Susan Moylan-Coombs
Associate Professor Susan Moylan-Coombs is a Gurindji and Woolwonga woman, cultural leader and member of the Stolen Generations. She is the inaugural Indigenous Associate Professor of Practice in the Transdisciplinary School at the University of Technology Sydney. There, she brings First Nations knowledge, cultural practice and community relationships into teaching, research and university life. She is also the founder and director of the Gaimaragal Group, which supports communities through cultural translation, social planning and wellbeing programs. Her career spans government, community development and Indigenous media. She was the first Aboriginal Executive Producer of the ABC’s Indigenous Programs Unit and later served as Head of Production at National Indigenous Television. Susan has led work in employment, education and Indigenous business development. Her work remains focused on cultural renewal, social justice and stronger pathways for younger First Nations people.