I am a nurse and midwife with specialisation in nurse education and international development in maternal and newborn health. My Doctor of Education degree was completed at the Centre for Program Evaluation, University of Melbourne, Australia. The D.Ed. research focused on the use of an evaluation method called ‘evaluability assessment’ in a community health service delivery change project. In 2016, I completed a PhD degree where I studied the antenatal care needs of pregnant teenagers using focused ethnography and the social ecological determinants of health framework.
In 2011, I joined the Rotary Club of North Hobart District 9830, Australia. I have served as the club President and club Bulletin Editor. I am also a Rotary Foundation Technical Cadre.
One of the highlights for me in Rotary was the Kumudini Hospital project in Bangladesh established with a lot of support from my club and other Rotary clubs in my district. Between 2010 and 2014, I was the project manager and made yearly self-funded visits to the Kumudini Hospital where I stayed one month each year for a period of five years. On each visit, I took a small group of health practitioners (infection control, nurses and midwives). Through my club and other clubs in D9830, I initiated shipment of 250 decommissioned quality steel hospital beds for the hospital. I am currently an honorary Senior Nurse Lecturer at the Kumudini Hospital and will commence twice yearly teaching inputs in 2020.
Another major project for me is my involvement in Rotarians Against Malaria (RAM) Australia. In June 2019, I took up the position of National Manager for RAM Australia. RAM is a network that exists in all Australian Rotary Districts and is governed by Rotary Australia World Community Service (RAWCS) Ltd. We support our partner countries: Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Timor Leste. In 2020, we will provide support to West Timor (NTT province, Indonesia) and Vanuatu. I am passionate about growing our resources to accelerate malaria elimination in our partner countries, and beyond.
