Myfany Turpin

Myfany Turpin is an Associate Professor of Ethnomusicology, Linguistics, and Ethnobiology at the University of Sydney’s Sydney Conservatorium of Music. She serves as Associate Dean for Indigenous Strategy and Services. Her research focuses on Central Australian Indigenous languages and music, particularly Kaytetye, and explores the interplay between language, song, and ecological knowledge. Turpin has authored dictionaries, grammars, and scholarly works on Aboriginal song-poetry and ethnobiology. She holds an ARC Future Fellowship investigating relationships between words and music in Aboriginal song, and a University of Sydney Fellowship tracing a ceremony’s historical spread across Australia.

Her key projects include the Dingo Lingo initiative, analyzing Indigenous terms for dingoes to understand historical language dynamics, and Recirculating Indigenous Travelling Songs, revitalizing cross-cultural song networks. Turpin supervises PhD students in music, linguistics, and ethnobiology, including topics like First Nations hip-hop and Indigenous language revival. She has published over 50 works, including books like Yaru! Gudjal Learner’s Guide and Dictionary (2023) and Songs from the Stations (2019).

Awarded the International Council for Traditional Music’s Honorable Mention (2021), Turpin collaborates with global institutions to repatriate cultural archives and empower Indigenous communities. Her work bridges linguistics, musicology, and ecology, emphasizing sustainability and cultural revitalization. Current roles include editorial work for Sydney University Press’s Indigenous Music series and membership in the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies.