The ANU School of History warmly welcome the Dr Alexandra Vlachos

The ANU School of History warmly welcome the Dr Alexandra Vlachos
Reflecting on McDermid Rock, Great Western Woodlands (WA)
Wednesday 15 May 2019

Dr Alexandra Vlachos (PhD 2015) is an environmental historian based in Bern, Switzerland. Focusing on land and natural resources conflicts with Indigenous involvement, she is particularly interested in the Commonwealth settler societies of Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Her areas of research further include the conservation histories of large-scale ecosystems, human-animal relations, forest history, the role of community based land care, heritage, stories, memories, narrative-networks and knowledge production in contested environments.

Alexandra writes: “I have been very fortunate to spend time at both the ANU and UWA as a visiting research fellow from June 2018 to November 2019 as the recipient of a post-doc scholarship awarded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). I am writing an environmental history of the “forgotten” Great Western Woodlands in south-western Australia, the largest expanse of fairly healthy temperate woodland remaining on earth. I visited some remote and incredibly interesting parts of Western Australia for fieldwork and to conduct oral history interviews in 2018. Focusing on writing this year, the ANU and the National Library of Australia have provided me with the ideal intellectual environment in which to reflect upon the rich material I gathered in WA. The School of History and the Fenner School of Environment here at the ANU are terrific places to discuss my work and deepen my understanding of Australian history. I am grateful to have met wonderful and outstanding scholars from a variety of disciplines during my stay at the ANU and appreciate their generosity. As an environmental historian coming from tiny Switzerland, I also feel privileged to stay in the beautiful “bush capital” where I can spend my free time bushwalking with my family and watching king parrots in our backyard.”

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Updated:  15 May 2019/Responsible Officer:  Head of School/Page Contact:  CASS Marketing & Communications