Fiona Walsh

Research Scientist and Ethnoecologist, CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences

Fiona is an ethnobiologist living in Alice Springs. She has been a research scientist with CSIRO since 2004 and previously worked for Central Land Council and other Aboriginal organisations in Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Her introduction to bush foods and desert Aboriginal views of the world was through Martu people. She learnt from and worked amongst Martu in the 1980s to early 90s to record contemporary Martu land use strategies. This contributed to the successful Martu native title determination and was the basis of her PhD research. Her recent work with CSIRO and Kanyirninpa Jukurrpa has involved the compilation of a Martu lands atlas, the repatriation of old photos and records and support to the intergenerational transfer of traditional knowledge about fire and burning.