Mel is the co-convener of the Migration and Refugee Research Network and Senior Lecturer at UniSA Education Futures. She is currently working on a number of research projects that explore aspects of refugee resettlement. She is a Chief Investigator on the ARC Linkage project 'How schools foster refugee student resilience'. She was a 2017 Endeavour Research Fellow at the University of Glasgow where she worked with the Glasgow Refugee Asylum and Migration Network. She has research expertise across a broad range of fields, including refugee and migration studies, belonging, gender, ‘race’, family and kinship studies refugee education, sociology of education, learning environments and policy in schools, volunteering, social movements and gender based violence. Her book 'Negotiating Belongings: stories of forced migration of Dinka women from South Sudan' was published by Brill Sense Publishers.
Experience
–present
Convener Refugee and Migration Research Network, University of South Australia
2021–present
Senior Lecturer, University of South Australia
Education
2013
University of South Australia, Ph.D.
Publications
2021
Recognition of refugee students’ cultural wealth and social capital, International Journal of Inclusive Education
2021
Education department policy constructions within highly political contexts: a critical policy study of multiculturalism, Journal of Education Policy
2021
Preventing Violent Extremism: Resourcing, stakeholder strategies and fostering belonging and connection in Australian Schools, British Educational Research Journal
2021
“It is not an acceptable disease”: A qualitative study of HIV-related stigma and discrimination and health for people from ethnically diverse backgrounds in Australia, BMC Public Health
2021
We have to be really careful’: policy intermediaries preventing violent extremism in an era of risk, Journal of Education Policy
2021
A Cautionary Tale: CVE Policy Actors Managing Risk in Australian Schools, Current Sociology
2021
A systems framework for inclusive education for students with refugee backgrounds, Australian Educational Researcher
2020
Tensions between policy intent and enactment: Assessment and inclusion for refugee background students, Journal of Education Policy
2016
Negotiating Belongings: stories of forced migration of Dinka women from South Sudan, Brill Sense
Grants and Contracts
2022
How schools foster refugee student resilience
Role:
Chief Investigator
Funding Source:
ARC Linkage, Department of Education (SA), Deparment for Education (Qld), Catholic Education South Australia, Brisbane Catholic Education
2021
Neighbourhood life and social determinants of health for children and young people from refugee backgrounds
Role:
Chief Investigator
Funding Source:
Channel 7 Children's Research Foundation
2018
Engagement of African-Australian families in Catholic Schools in South Australia
Role:
Lead Investigator
Funding Source:
Catholic Education South Australia
2017
Culturally Responsive Pedagogy in Catholic Schools in South Australia
Role:
Lead Investigator
Funding Source:
Catholic Education South Australia
2017
Improving educational outcomes for students from refugee backgrounds in the South Australian Certificate of Education: a case study of two Catholic secondary schools.