KARIN GERHARDT

I am currently working for the Great Barrier Reef Foundation as the Director of the Traditional Owner Partnerships Program, whilst at the same time providing scaling and evaluation expertise to the Queensland Indigenous Women Rangers Network (QIWRN).  This provides an amazing opportunity to co-design with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in programs that are important to their Country (including sea country). 

Throughout my career, I have kept a central focus on the evaluation of Indigenous programs and projects and how to resituate the evaluation narrative to one that is important to Traditional Owners.  I enjoy research that is community based and fosters participation and ownership of projects by Traditional Owners and this includes adopting more contemporary, participative social science methods which are used in pro-social research or human centred design.   My current work with the Great Barrier Reef Foundation is focussed around Nature Based Economies and how Traditional Owners of the Reef can leverage this business opportunity for ongoing and resilient funding.  I also have an interest in junior ranger programs and how to make them more accessible throughout Queensland.  Using all of my experience I work to deliver an effective program for Traditional Owners of the Reef and Indigenous Women Rangers which is respectful of Indigenous  Cultural and Intellectual Property protocols and places Indigenous knowledge at the centre of management and decision making.