Biographical Note:

Sara Mohamed is an Egyptian-Canadian Social Science researcher presently perusing her PhD at The Cairns Institute JCU.

Sara has completed a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology minoring in Business at Mount Royal University in Calgary, Alberta. She then moved to Australia in 2018 to undertake a Master of Social Science in Environment and Heritage at James Cook University, Townsville.  Finding JCU a great learning environment, Sara has continued on with JCU at TCI to develop her Doctoral research.

With a multicultural background Sara’s positionality contributes to her interests in social and environmental justice, social stratification and inequality, self-presentation, social movements, political economy, and decolonization. Now her multiple interests converge in her PhD to explore the intersectional dynamics between separation from Country for Aboriginal Rainforest People and facilitating (re)connection through rainforest restoration.

Current Research Project:

Sara’s research explores experiences of environmental disconnect and ways in which (re)connection are built. More specifically, her current research examines the intersectional ways Aboriginal Rainforest People experience Separation from Country in The Wet Tropics of Far North Queensland, and the ways rainforest restoration enables or constrains (re)connection to Country.

This is a qualitatively driven project working to facilitate a dynamic exploration of everyday lived experiences and alternative imaginings of what it means to (re)connect with the environment. Sara strives to focus on empowerment and service to underrepresented environmental perspectives in the goal of diversifying the sociological imagination to support social and environmental justice and a more sustainable future.

Supervisory Team:

• Distinguished Professor Stewart Lockie
• Associate Professor Theresa Petray
• Associate Professor Nick Osbaldiston

Funding:

James Cook University High Degree Research Scholarship