For more than two decades, Katrina has worked across Cape York and Far North Queensland in various roles dedicated to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education. Her experience spans classroom teaching, remote teacher education, community-led research, strategic consultation with school leaders, and independent program evaluation in discrete Indigenous communities. A consistent focus of her work has been ensuring equitable access to education and developing culturally safe and responsive systems that centre the strengths, perspectives, and aspirations of First Nations students, families, and communities.

Katrina's PhD research investigated the post-school transitions of Cape York boarding school graduates, informed by deep consultation with students and their communities. During this time she also contributed as an associate investigator to a nationally funded research project examining resilience and suicide prevention among remote Indigenous boarding students.

She is currently a Senior Research Officer on a community-driven project with the Yarrabah Leaders Forum, exploring place-based tertiary access in discrete First Nations communities through Community-Based Participatory Action Research (CBPAR). This work with the Yarrabah Leaders Forum's Smart Pillar has contributed to driving transformational education reform through the development of a community driven education vision and strategic framework.

As co-founder and director of Many Tracks, her team supports schools through strategic planning, resource development, and professional learning that embeds Indigenous knowledges and promotes student wellbeing. Their Resilience Toolkit website provides educators with access to culturally informed resources. Her career has centred on building long-term, respectful relationships to support systemic, sustainable change in education for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people.

Katrina has presented at twelve national (9) and international conferences (3), including being an invited keynote speaker. As well as her thesis, she has published nine peer reviewed journal articles and one report. Three of these have been as first author. She regularly designs and delivers workshops for school staff and runs strategic planning with school leaders. She has coordinated three educations forums (2 in community) with over 80 attendees and runs annual cross-cultural camps with students.

Central Queensland University - Bachelor of Education (Primary)

Central Queensland University - Doctor of Philosophy (School of Medicine and Health Sciences)

Central Queensland University

Katrina is a primary school trained teacher with current Qld registration.

Katrina was a teacher co-ordinator in Yarrabah for two years - supporting students to complete Cet III, Cert IV, Diploma and Bachelor of Education.  

2024-current: Senior Research Officer - Jawun research Institue CQU utilising CBPAR to support the development of community designed placed-based tertiary education access models in discrete Indigenous communities

2021 - current:  Co-Founder and Director of Many Tracks - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social and Emotional Wellbeing and Education Consultancy 

2021-2022:  independent consultant  Youth Empowered Towards Independence's (YETI) Schools Up North (SUN) mental health in schools project 

2021: Katrina was engaged as an independent consultant for Interplay in 2019 to evaluate the Hitnet health promotion program in remote First Nation communities.

2017 - 2019: Research Officer - Resilience Research Project CQUniversity 2017-2019 

2018: Facilitator - Yarns for Life: Early Suicide prevention workshops. Cairns (2018) 

2014-17: Associate Investigation: NHMRC/CQU/TSS Resilience Research Project. Psycho-social resilience, vulnerability and suicide prevention: Impact evaluation of a mentoring approach to modify suicide risk for remote Indigenous Australian students at boarding school

2011-2016:  Transition Support Office - Cairns and Cape York. (Education Queensland

• Deputy principal level (including acting in state manager role on two separate occasions)  

2009 - 2010:  RATEP Teacher Coordinator - Yarrabah Remote Area Teacher Education Program (Education Queensland)

2001-2008:  Primary school classroom teacher (Education Queensland) 

Queensland College of Teachers registration - 791876

• Leads and contributes to research projects, including publishing findings and presenting at conferences and seminars.
• Collaborates with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, industry partners, and policy stakeholders to inform and guide research.
• Coordinates project governance activities, including advisory and stakeholder meetings.
• Co-develops and implements community forums and workshops.
• Monitors project progress, ensuring timely delivery of milestones and reporting requirements.
• Builds and maintains strong, respectful relationships with collaborators and stakeholders.
• Contributes to the design and dissemination of research outputs and promotional strategies.
• Supports the development of funding proposals and strategic research initiatives.
• Participates in professional development activities and academic forums.
• Supervises postgraduate research students.
  
  
  

First Nations Education in remote and discrete First Nation communities in the following areas: 

• Equitable access to education 
• Education across the lifespan (Primary. secondary, post-school, adult tertiary education and training
• Community self-determination to drive educational reform
• Post schooling transitions 
• Boarding school educations
• Culture and Language in schools 

First Nations wellbeing, mental health and suicide prevention 

Community Based Participatory Action Research 

Capacity building community-based researchers

Grounded Theory research

Creative research 

Collective impact

(2021 - current) Katrina works as a consultant through her business Many Tracks.  Many Tracks drives transformative change by assisting schools in creating culturally responsive education experiences and promoting holistic well-being for remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. Through strategic planning, resource development, and workshops they integrate community experiences into education systems. Many Tracks also developed and curate an online Resilience Toolkit https://manytracks.com.au which provides educators access to a wide range of Indigenous focused resources and links to community pages. 

(2021-2022) Katrina was engaged as an independent consultant for Youth Empowered Towards Independence's (YETI) Schools Up North (SUN) project promoting First Nation student wellbeing in remote communities through strategic planning with schools and communities, teacher training and implementation of the Skills for Life social Emotional Learning program (Weipa, Napranum and Kowanyama) 

(2021) Katrina was engaged as an independent consultant for Interplay in 2019 to evaluate the Hitnet health promotion program in remote First Nation communities.