Celebrating 25 Years of Regional NRM
The 9th National Natural Resource Management Knowledge Conference, held September 8–12 in Cairns, marked a significant milestone, 25 years since Australia adopted the regional natural&...
The Cairns Institute Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research Cadesthip welcomes our newest recipient. Already a young cultural leader, an award-winning artist and proudly connected to her heritage, Wudarabin Snider is a Kuku Yalanji Bama (Aboriginal) from Laura – Quinkan Country – Queensland, and a Guwamu, Murrdi from Southwest Queensland.
Wudarabin was named Young Citizen of the Year by the Cook Shire Council during the 2021 Australia Day Awards. This recognized her contributions as an Indigenous dancer, artist, and role model. After completing a Diploma of Higher Education in 2023, she commenced full-time study of the Bachelor of Education (Secondary) at James Cook University (JCU) in 2025 and looks forward to a career that promotes Aboriginal understanding, language, and culture through education and curriculum change.
As a passionate artist, her work was featured on the Royal Flying Doctors Service (RFDS) uniform. Wudarabin has been featured in RFDS videos and social media, where she shares her cultural pride and connection to the land through her art. One of her pieces, titled Lores, illustrates the values of the RFDS.
In recognition of her contribution and leadership, Wudarabin was inducted into the RFDS ‘Light the Way’ Ambassador program in 2024 and remains involved in 2025.
In 2025, she was honoured with the Indigenous Education and Research Centres (IERCs) ‘Spirit Award’. This award acknowledges her ongoing contribution to the IERC, where she is President of the Indigenous Student Association.
The research cadetship enables Wudarabin to work as a casual research assistant at The Cairns Institute (TCI). She is thoroughly enjoying collaborating with Dr Leigh-ann Onnis, while continuing to develop her research skills and academic insight. Wudarabin works two days a week with Leigh-ann on the Sharing Power for Advocating for Reform Collectively (SPARC) project, alternating between working alongside Leigh-ann and working independently.
The SPARC project uses a collective impact approach where community-controlled First Nations leadership organisations work in partnership with a research team, to co-develop evidence-based advocacy to drive systems change.
As a Research Cadet, Wudarabin provides valued support to Leigh-ann and the research team on several discrete projects which involves, conducting literature searches, locating academic articles, searching websites for industry and government reports, and meeting with industry partners.
For one project, Wudarabin is working with Leigh-ann to develop a toolkit to assist community-controlled organisations to capture their origin stories. Writing origin stories is a good way for First Nations community-controlled organisations to showcase their successes and guide the next generation on the path to self-determination. This research work has helped Wudarabin to gain stronger academic literacy, critical thinking and understand how to be a professional educator in practice.
November 2025