Dr Felecia Watkin Lui is a Torres Strait Islander woman with giz from Erub, Mabuiag and Badu.  She is an Associate Professor of Indigenous Studies in the Indigenous Education and Research Centre and Thematic Convenor of Indigenous Futures for the Cairns Institute, JCU. 

She graduated with a PhD from JCU in 2010. Her doctoral research was the first intergenerational study examining cultural and political identity for Islanders living outside the Torres Strait.   Dr Watkin Lui's doctoral research on the Torres Strait Diaspora led to an interdisciplinary collaboration with colleagues in environmental science and economics and ground breaking work on the sharing of marine bush meat in Indigenous communities. Her focus on collaborative community projects piqued her interest in exploring issues of engagement, impact and benefit, and the role of Indigenous leadership in research uptake.  Dr Watkin Lui was Principal Investigator on an ARC Indigenous Discovery Project (2014-17) which focused on research impact and benefit in Indigenous research contexts.

Dr Watkin Lui was project leader of Meriba buay - ngalpan wakaythoemamay (We come together to share our thinking): Evaluating a Community of Practice for Torres Strait Islander Health and Well-being funded by the Lowitja Institute.  Further details about the project can be found at  https://www.lowitja.org.au/page/research/research-categories/cultural-and-social-determinants/social-determinants-of-health/projects/meriba-buay

She is currently the lead researcher for ARC Indigenous Discovery IN190100061, titled Knowledge Integration for Torres Strait Sustainability with CIs Dr Sanchia Shibasaki (Lowitja Institute), Dr Cass Hunter (CSIRO), Prof Natalie Stoeckl (JCU) and Prof Stewart Lockie (JCU).  This project aims to investigate how Torres Strait Islanders use context-specific local knowledge and research evidence to address environmental sustainability challenges. The Torres Strait is experiencing significant threats to its environment and there is a need to use research to identify strategies that can meet these challenges. However, at present significiant barriers exist in the translation of current research knowledge to the Torres Strait context. The project will examine how knowledge is constructed (culturally) and develop new methods to allow research findings to be integrated into Torres Strait knowledge. This project will support the empowerment of Torres Strait Islander people to seek the research information that is most useful for their decision-making.

 

 

 

Teaching

• IA3030: Navigating the Cultural Interface (Level 3; CNS & TSV)

Research Disciplines

• Applied economics (3801)
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander environmental knowledg (4503)

Socio-Economic Objectives

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage and culture (2104)

These are the most recent publications associated with this author. To see a detailed profile of all publications stored at JCU, visit ResearchOnline@JCU. Hover over Altmetrics badges to see social impact.

Journal Articles

• Shibasaki S, Harvey A, Ah Mat L and Watkin Lui F (2022) A Research Participant and End-User Approach to Research Collaboration and Co-Development in the Torres Strait. International Journal of Community and Social Development, 4 (4). pp. 375-395
• Grainger D, Watkin-Lui F and Cheer K (2021) The value of informed agency for Torres Strait climate change. Ecological Economics, 180.
• Kiatkoski Kim M, Watkin Lui F, Ah Mat L, Cadet-James Y, Bainbridge R and McCalman J (2021) Indigenous leadership in research in Australia. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 43 (4).
• Larson S, Stoeckl N, Jarvis D, Addison J, Grainger D, Watkin Lui F, Walalakoo Aboriginal Corporation , Bunuba Dawangarri Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC , Ewamian Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC and Yanunijarra Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC (2020) Indigenous land and sea management programs (ILSMPs) enhance the wellbeing of Indigenous Australians. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17 (1).
• Shibasaki S, Sibthorpe B, Watkin Lui F, Harvey A, Grainger D, Hunter C and Tsey K (2019) Flipping the researcher knowledge translation perspective on knowledge use: a scoping study. Alternative: an international journal of Indigenous peoples, 15 (3). pp. 271-280
• Heyeres M, Lui S, Klieve H, Cadet-James Y, Baird L, Brown C, Watkin Lui F, Grainger D, Gabriel Z, Millgate N, Cheniart B, Hunter T, Liu H, Yang Y, Yan L, Lovett R, Chong A, Kinchin I, Tsey K, Onnis L, Whiteside M, McCalman J and Williams M (2019) Assessing research impact: Australian Research Council criteria and the case of Family Wellbeing research. Evaluation and Program Planning, 73. pp. 176-186
• Delisle A, Kiatkoski Kim M, Stoeckl N, Watkin Lui F and Marsh H (2018) The socio-cultural benefits and costs of the traditional hunting of dugongs Dugong dugon and green turtles Chelonia mydas in Torres Strait, Australia. Oryx, 52 (2). pp. 250-261
• Geia L, Broadfield K, Grainger D, Day A and Watkin-Lui F (2018) Adolescent and young adult substance use in Australian Indigenous communities: a systematic review of demand control program outcomes. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 42 (3). pp. 254-261
• Jarvis D, Stoeckl N, Addison J, Larson S, Hill R, Pert P and Watkin Lui F (2018) Are Indigenous land and sea management programs a pathway to Indigenous economic independence? The Rangeland Journal, 40 (4). pp. 415-429
• Kinchin I, McCalman J, Bainbridge R, Tsey K and Lui F (2017) Does Indigenous health research have impact? A systematic review of reviews. International Journal for Equity in Health, 16. pp. 1-16
• Tsey K, Lawson K, Kinchin I, Bainbridge R, McCalman J, Watkin F, Cadet-James Y and Rossetto A (2016) Evaluating research impact: the development of a 'RESEARCH for IMPACT' TOOL. Frontiers in Public Health, 4.
• Watkin Lui F, Stoeckl N, Delisle A, Kiatkoski-Kim M and Marsh H (2016) Motivations for sharing bushmeat with an urban diaspora in indigenous Australia. Human Dimensions of Wildlife, 21 (4). pp. 345-360

More

ResearchOnline@JCU stores 27+ research outputs authored by A/Prof Felecia Watkin from 2012 onwards.

Current and recent Research Funding to JCU is shown by funding source and project.

Advisory Accreditation: I can be on your Advisory Panel as a Primary or Secondary Advisor.

These Higher Degree Research projects are either current or by students who have completed their studies within the past 5 years at JCU. Linked titles show theses available within ResearchOnline@JCU.

Current

• Best practice and cultural appropriateness: Governance of the Torres Strait fisheries into the future. (PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Exploring Indigenous Cultural Competence in Legal Practitioner Client Relations (PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• INDIGENOUS AND FIRST NATIONS WOMEN IN INDIGENOUS LEADERSHIP: A COMPARATIVE STUDY (PhD , Primary Advisor)
• Non-Indigenous narratives of land in Australian news media: A history of the present (Masters , Secondary Advisor)

Completed

• Self-Determination Discourses of Zenadth Kes People through Time (2023, Masters , Secondary Advisor)
• Drawing the threads together: Aboriginal screen-printed textiles (2022, PhD , Advisor Mentor)
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural competence in legal service delivery; how can it be defined, measured and produced? (2022, Masters , Secondary Advisor)
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and consumer law (2018, PhD , Secondary Advisor)

The map shows research collaborations by institution from the past 7 years.
Note: Map points are indicative of the countries or states that institutions are associated with.