معرفی
Emma Kowal is a Deakin Distinguished Professor of Anthropology and Deputy Director of the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation. She holds a joint appointment in the Faculty of Arts and Education/School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Deakin University. Her research focuses on medical anthropology, science and technology studies, and Indigenous Australian experiences of colonialism and racism. Kowal is a leading scholar in the ethics of genomic science, particularly regarding Indigenous communities' engagement with biotechnology and genetic research. She co-founded the Deakin Science and Society Network and has held leadership roles in the Society for Social Studies of Science (4S).
Her work critically examines how race and genomics intersect, including studies on Indigenous biospecimen collections, epigenetics, and the colonial legacies embedded in scientific practices. Kowal's book Haunting Biology: Science and Indigeneity in Australia (2023) explores how biological sciences have historically marginalized Indigenous knowledge while shaping contemporary debates about Indigenous identity and health.
Professionally, Kowal has served on national health ethics committees, editorial boards of journals like Social Studies of Science, and was a 2015 recipient of the Paul Bourke Award for Early Career Research. Her teaching interests include medical anthropology, Australian racial politics, and settler colonialism.
Her research outputs span over 50 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, with recent works addressing ethical challenges in ancient DNA research, genetic genealogy's impact on Indigenous land rights, and the role of Indigenous communities in postgenomic science. Kowal's work consistently bridges academic scholarship with policy advocacy, emphasizing equitable partnerships between scientists and Indigenous peoples.
