Rate My Professor Brooke Kennedy

Dr. Brooke Kennedy is a proud Gomeroi woman and Senior Lecturer in Anthrozoology and Indigenous Knowledge in the School of Environmental and Rural Science at the University of New England. As the first in her family to attend university, she graduated with a Bachelor of Science with Honours from UNE, supported by the Oorala Aboriginal Centre's Internal Selection Program. In 2017, she was awarded the Vice-Chancellor's Australian Indigenous Research Fellowship, a research-only position to support Aboriginal researchers completing their PhD. She completed her Doctor of Philosophy in December 2021, with a thesis titled 'Improving Management of Free-roaming Dogs in Remote Indigenous Communities.' Her doctoral and honours research focused on the roaming behaviours of free-roaming dogs and cats in remote Aboriginal communities and their impacts on humans and wildlife. Kennedy has presented her work at international conferences, including the Asia for Animals Conference in Nepal and the World Indigenous Peoples' Conference on Education in Toronto, Canada. She mentors students through programs like TRACKS at Oorala and serves as Chief Investigator on the RSPCA NSW's Keeping Cats Safe at Home project, evaluating the impact of social education programs on owned domestic cat roaming behaviours across four Local Government Areas in New South Wales.

Kennedy's research specializations include anthrozoology, global wild canid ecology, working dogs, and traditional ecological knowledge systems. She teaches units such as Australian Aboriginal Sustainability Systems (ENSC220), integrating Indigenous perspectives on environmental sustainability and the NSW Department of Education's 8 Aboriginal Ways of Learning. Her key publications include 'Dog and Cat Interactions in a Remote Aboriginal Community' (2018), 'Global Strategies for Population Management of Domestic Cats: A Systematic Review to Inform Best Practice Management for Remote Indigenous Communities in Australia' (2020), 'Frame Analysis: An Inclusive Stakeholder Analysis Tool for Companion Animal Management in Remote Aboriginal Communities' (2021), 'In Situ Provisioning Wildlife with Food, Water, or Shelter after Bushfires: Using a One Welfare Framework to Guide Responses' (2023), and 'Feline Encounters Down Under: Investigating the Activity of Cats and Native Wildlife at Sydney's North Head' (2024). In 2024, she received the UNE Alumni Rising Star Award for her dedication to education, leadership, and support for First Nations programs. Through her work, Kennedy advocates for sustainable animal management, Indigenous representation in academia, and the integration of Indigenous knowledge into Western science for wildlife conservation.