Research

I lead the ANU Justice and Technoscience Lab (JusTech), a collaboratory based at RegNet that brings together scholars from across Australia and the world to advance more just and equitable regulatory approaches to the governance of science and technology. I am also engaged in research that supports health, safety, and well-being. Recent projects include:

Biometric Technologies, Surveillance, and Social Assistance

Biometric technologies, predictive algorithms, and risk assessment models are increasingly used as regulatory tools in the context of social assistance, often in the name of cost savings and fraud prevention. Emergent research suggests these technologies have negative consequences for social assistance recipients. We ask: how are these technologies informing experiences of regulation? What are their effects and implications for governance? Our case studies, supported by the ANU Futures Scheme, examine humanitarian aid and social welfare practices in Australia, India, and Lebanon.

Governing for Gender Inclusion in Australian Sport

Despite a surge in the popularity of women’s sport, most women athletes receive substantially lower pay and have less job stability than their male counterparts. Few women occupy leadership roles, ethnic minority and Indigenous women face barriers at grassroots and elite levels, and LGBTIQ+ constituencies continue to experience marginalization within and beyond sport. This  project, funded by the Australian Research Council (ARC), aims to develop a baseline measure of gender inclusion efforts in Australian sport and to generate knowledge about governance mechanisms that can facilitate greater access to the benefits of sport.

Sociotechnical Problem Solving during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has created disruptions globally. To access information, resources, and services, individuals have had to manage various issues, such as public health preventive measures, learning and working from home, and unexpected financial burdens. Sociotechnical infrastructure has become central to everyday life. How have individuals and communities navigated systems to acquire needed resources and to accomplish mundane and important tasks? How have these practices varied over the course of the pandemic?

Traumatic Brain Injury and Regulatory Science

This ARC-funded project explores how different forms of knowledge have contributed to the rise of traumatic brain injury (TBI) as a health concern. In addition to looking at scientific and public health discourses, it examines approaches to regulating TBI among sport participants, military personnel, and survivors of intimate partner violence in Australia, Canada, and the United States. The study illuminates how science and regulation reflect shifting beliefs about brain health, the mind and body, and (injured) human agency. This work is the foundation of a co-authored book (with Matt Ventresca), Violent Impacts: How Power and Inequality Shape the Concussion Crisis, which is under contract with University of California Press.