I am currently a Visiting Fellow at the School of Culture, History and Language at the Australian National University, teaching at the University of Melbourne, and settler co-convenor of the Fenner Decolonising Research and Teaching Circle. You can visit some of my current projects via the button above.
My research priorities entwine with my creative practice: I am centrally interested in narrative production, creative ethics, imaginative practices, the politics of emotion, Indigenous standpoint theory, and building strong culturally rich futures through creative work. A key theme that spans these disciplinary areas, is understanding and intervening in contemporary power relations. My research reflects and informs my professional craft: from audio documentaries to essays, humor and satire to ensemble improv – I’m focused on telling stories well by understanding relationships, motivations, integrity, and power.
I have presented research at The Indigenous Futures Conference with colleague Dr kate harriden (Kabi Kabi Country), Critical Animals (Awabakal Country), the Nordic Network for Gender, Body, and Health (University of Stockholm), The National Library of Australia (Ngunawal Country), and lectured on colonial assumptions in music history at the ANU School of Music (Ngunawal Country).
Journal: Environmental Justice
Volume 18 Issue 4, August 2025
Special Issue: Indigenous Peoples & Environmental Justice
Harriden, K., Gordon, B., Gross, R., Stevens, R., & Weir, J. (2025). Disrupting Colonial Environmental Research and Teaching, Yarn by Yarn. Environmental Justice, 18(4), 261-268.
“This article documents a collective of Indigenous and non-Indigenous students and scholars who have spent 5 years operationalizing Indigenous rights agendas within our multi-disciplinary environmental school by creating and nourishing an autonomous decolonial teaching and learning Circle. By centering Indigenous leadership in environmental studies research and teaching, we have created space, solidarity, and resources to encourage a different standard within the school.”
I completed my Doctorate in writing and cultural studies at the Australian National University, thanks to the supervision of Associate Professor Shameem Black, Darug composer Professor Christopher Sainsbury, Professor Katerina Teaiwa, and Associate Professor Lucy Neave.
My thesis title was: White Fantasy, Indigenous Sovereignty: Tools for an Ethics of Representation in Settler-Colonial Creative Writing Practice. It was supported greatly by the work of Aboriginal women, including Dharug Elder Dr Jacinta Tobin and Kungubula woman Jackie Stewart.
In 2018 I was the Seymour Summer Scholar for the National Library of Australia Summer Scholars program, studying the archives of settler Australian composer Peter Sculthorpe. Like any successful researcher, none of my time with his archives made it into my final thesis.
I’m known in the research communication world for my multiple award-winning Three Minute Thesis, and my advice about succeeding at 3MT.
I’ve trained and supported 3MT finalists and winners from ANU, University of Sydney, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and The University of Winnipeg.
Ro Stevens 