About

I am a communication researcher, educator and former senior communication executive working at the intersection of digital culture, social marketing, health communication and public relations.

My research explores how young people encounter, interpret and respond to communication in the digital spaces they already inhabit — particularly gaming, esports, streaming platforms and influencer-led communities. I am interested in how these environments shape social norms, identities and behaviours, and how they can be better understood as sites for positive health communication and social change.

I investigate how to communicate with people in ways that are culturally meaningful, credible and useful.

My PhD examined the relationship between online gaming, esports and social marketing, with a focus on engaging emerging adults in positive health behaviours. This work mapped the behavioural ecology of gaming communities, including the influence of peers, content creators, sponsors, platforms and esports organisations. Rather than treating games as separate from everyday life, my research positions gaming environments as rich social spaces where health, identity, lifestyle and behaviour are constantly being discussed, modelled and negotiated.

I have published on gaming and health behaviour, the influence of Fortnite streamers, food discourse in online gaming communities, influencer-led anti-vaping communication, collective intelligence and social marketing practice. My work has appeared in journals including Nutrients, the Journal of Social Marketing, the Journal of Electronic Gaming and Esports and Public Relations Review. My publications and conference presentations contribute to an emerging field that connects communication research, gaming studies, health promotion and behaviour change.

I bring industry experience to my academic work

Alongside my academic work, I bring more than 20 years of experience in communication, marketing, public relations and social marketing across government, non-profit and private sectors. Before joining academia, I led major communication teams and campaigns across areas including public health, education, sustainability, youth engagement, vaccination, mental health, sexual health, family violence and cancer prevention. This professional background continues to shape my research agenda. I am particularly interested in research that helps practitioners design communication that is ethical, evidence-informed and grounded in the lived realities of audiences.

I lead Australia’s longest-running public relations program

I am currently a Senior Lecturer and Program Manager in Public Relations in the School of Media and Communication at RMIT University. In this role, I lead public relations education of our industry-accredited program, which has the honour of being Australia’s first undergraduate degree in public relations. In this role I am responsible for the undergraduate public relations curriculum, our connection with industry and our wonderful students.

I currently lead our Public Relations Capstone course, a Work Integrated Learning course for our final year students that brings together their public relations learning and prepares them to enter industry.  In late 2025 I also had the honour of developing and leading our first Professional Communication Study Tour to Vietnam

Did I mention puppies?

I’m a proud foster carer with Vision Australia Seeing Eye Dogs, and you will often see me with with a labrador puppy in training. I am currently caring for Sarge, who has joined us at RMIT as my Assistant Lecturer or “Pawfessor” as he’s referred to in the school.