Chemistry through an Indigenous lens

Describing the benefits of combining laboratory-based techniques and Indigenous knowledges, Stephanie Beaupark harks back to her experience as a weaver. Much like how she once wove Lomandra grass together to create ropes as a collaborating artist at the University of Melbourne, Beaupark hopes that mixing the two distinct traditions of knowledge acquisition can create something stronger. Her PhD research at the University of Wollongong aims to uncover how the colors of Australian indigenous dyes vary as the seasons change. Because she’s a chemist by training, part of her approach involves modern molecular analysis—a technique that exemplifies what is commonly known as Western science , a framework that tries to rigorously categorize the natural world through experimentation. But she is also relying on traditional Indigenous knowledges. In her case, that means relying on connections that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have built with the continent over at least 65,000 years.