Keynotes

Kerrie Foxwell-Norton is an Associate Professor of Environmental Communication and Media at Griffith University, where her work is supported by the Griffith Centre for Social and Cultural Research and the Griffith Climate Action Beacon. Her research explores communication politics at the juncture of community, culture and nature, with a particular focus on coastal and marine environments.  Recent and current Reef projects include a co-edited  (with Professor Iain McCalman, USyd)  special issue of Queensland Review, 'Between Pride and Despair: Stories of Queensland’s Great Barrier Reef and Wet Tropics Rainforests'.  With Dr Deb Anderson (Monash), she co-leads the project: Women of the Great Barrier Reef: Untold Stories of Conservation.  Her book, The Great Barrier Reef: Media, Politics and Ecology (Palgrave MacMillan, with Dr Claire Konkes, UTAS) is due for release in 2024.  

Jason Ramsamy is a proud Eastern Kuku Yalanji (Jalunji Clan) man on his maternal side and his paternal connections are to Boigu Island (Malu Kiwai) in the top western cluster group of the Torres Strait Islands. He is also the Director, of the TUMRA Section within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (Reef Authority). Jason has more than 20 years’ experience as a public servant working across various sectors. The Reef Authority is committed to strengthening its relationships with Traditional Owners of the Reef by increasing the capacity of existing Traditional Use of Marine Resources Agreements (TUMRAs) and providing options for new Traditional Owner groups in sea country management. He is also responsible for establishing and maintaining partnerships with Reef Traditional Owners and overseeing the Traditional Owner-led TUMRA Program and Sea Country Values Mapping projects. These agreements are based on Traditional Custom and Lore and ensure traditional use can be maintained in an ecologically sustainable way, through a collaborative and cooperative approach with managing partners.