Sarah Drummond

Sarah Drummond is a Part-Time Lecturer in the School of Humanities at The University of Western Australia's Albany Campus, with over a decade of teaching experience across English, Creative Writing, Environmental History, and Indigenous Studies. She actively supervises PhD and HDR students in interdisciplinary research at the intersection of historical scholarship and creative practice.

Education:

• PhD in History, Murdoch University (2015) - Thesis: 'Exiles and Island Wives: History, Fiction and the Breaksea Islanders'

Research Interests: Drummond's work bridges environmental humanities, Indigenous history, and creative nonfiction through Southern Ocean narratives. Her scholarship examines precolonial contact experiences, fire ecology in the Anthropocene, maritime communities, and cultural connections to the Great Southern Reef. She pioneers methodologies combining historical research with fiction to explore colonialism, decolonisation, and ecological change in Australian contexts.

Scientific Awards:

• Teaching Excellence Award, Albany Campus UWA (2019)

Advising and Grants: She supervises HDR candidates in historical fiction, fire history, and environmental writing, with research aligned to UN Sustainable Development Goals for environmental sustainability. Her community-engaged projects include collaborations with Menang/Bibbulmum Country knowledge holders and fire management initiatives. Current grant activities focus on Southern Ocean cultural heritage and marine park conservation narratives.

Labs and Teams: Drummond integrates fieldwork as a firetower lookout and radio support operator during fire seasons, forming practical research teams with emergency services to document smoke behavior and fire ecology. She collaborates with Great Southern Reef communities on audio storytelling projects and marine conservation narratives through the South Coast Marine Park initiative.