Rate My Professor Michael Watkins

Michael Watkins is a Lecturer in Aboriginal Allied Health in the Department of Rural Health, College of Health at Adelaide University. His teaching is dedicated to developing the cultural capabilities of nursing and allied health students. Watkins' research focuses on the cultural outcomes of engaging with bush foods and traditional knowledges. He maintains a keen interest in developing Aboriginal health curricula and placement opportunities in Aboriginal health settings. With a background in rural and remote health practice, teaching and learning in higher education, and nutrition and food sciences, he brings practical and academic expertise to his work. Watkins holds qualifications including a Master of Aboriginal Studies and a Bachelor of Nutrition and Food Science from the University of South Australia, a Graduate Diploma in Remote Health Practice, and a Graduate Certificate in Higher Education (Learning and Teaching). He is a PhD candidate. Previously associated with the University of South Australia before its merger into Adelaide University, his career emphasizes cultural safety and competence in health professions.

Michael Watkins chairs the Aboriginal Strategy Group, operating across the Allied Health and Human Performance, and Clinical Health Sciences academic units. He serves as Chief Investigator for the ESCULENT Study, titled 'Establishing and sharing the narrative on Australian native plant foods for Aboriginal people.' He also led the Community Native Food Garden Project in partnership with the Corporation of the City of Whyalla from July 2021 to June 2022. Key publications include co-authoring 'Pride and prejudice: what influences Australians' attitudes toward changing the date of Australia Day?' with Mortimer-Royle, E., Webb, S., McLinton, S., and Clark, Y. L. in Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy (2024, 24(3), 777-802). Another is 'Centring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices and ways of knowing, being and becoming in fully online undergraduate health course curriculum development' with Marsh, B., and Cornelius-Bell, A. in Canadian Journal of Educational and Social Studies (2024, 4(6), 74-88). Conference posters feature 'Rebellious reimagining of a fully online discrete Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health course' presented at HERGA (2023) and ''Do the systems matter anyway?' Mapping Aboriginal content and pedagogies across undergraduate programs at the University of South Australia' at the Indigenous Higher Education Curriculum Conference (2022). Through these contributions, Watkins supports Indigenous perspectives in health education.