Supporting healthy and resilient Country, inaugural Natural Hazards Research Australia (the Centre) First Nations Research Scholar is exploring the ecological impacts of cultural burning.
The First Nations Scholarship Program structure has been co-designed with First Nations leaders and academics using a Research Scholar-centred approach and will be implemented in collaboration with the selected university, First Nations scholars and communities.
As part of its Biennial Research Plan 2024-26, the Centre committed to delivering a research scholarship to support First Nations Research Scholars through applying a decolonised First Nations lens (Costello & Neale, 2023).
Jarod’s project at the University of Wollongong will build on this foundation by investigating the broader ecological benefits of cultural burning across a range of sites and communities, with a focus on soil ecosystem recovery, vegetation succession and biodiversity. The research will compare outcomes between cultural burns and hazard reduction burns, while working collaboratively with Local Aboriginal Land Councils, Traditional Custodians and cultural fire practitioners.
Using a co-designed research approach, the project will integrate cultural knowledge with western scientific methods, supporting partnerships and knowledge-sharing with communities across southeast Australia.
Below Jarod shares his research and the journey that brought him to this part of his academic journey.
I became interested in cultural fire practices after my experience interning with the Kimberley Land Council. During my time there, I got to briefly see how the different ranger groups and community members up there were managing and caring for their own Country through fire. I then worked on a research project in 2025 looking at how cultural burning had impacted soil health in Narrawallee with the University of Wollongong, the Ulladulla Local Aboriginal Land Council and Walbunja Rangers. Having the opportunity to be brought onto Country and research cultural burning inspired me to become more engaged and undertake further research.
Being a proud Wodi Wodi man and deeply passionate about conserving Country and deepening my connections to Country and community, I am really excited to join the community of researchers that are investigating the environmental impacts of fire.
I’m most interested in developing an understanding of how different fire regimes shape vegetation communities in southeast Australia. Through abundance and diversity of different species, as well as looking at the different factors that may contribute to the structure of our ecosystems.
Through this research, I hope to gain better insight into the way fire shapes our environment, hopefully leading to better conservation outcomes through a deepened understanding guided by over 60,000 years of cultural knowledge.
By gaining a deeper insight into the impact that different types of fire have on our ecosystems, we can make better land management decisions while elevating cultural practices to protect our natural biodiversity and human life from bushfire impacts. This elevated understanding can help us live in better relation with our incredible natural environment and ensure we are looking after Country properly, just as it looks after us.
In the long term, I hope this research helps develop a deeper understanding of how different fire regimes shape vegetation communities on the south-east coast of Australia. I hope that this deeper understanding can play a small part in the growing movement of cultural application of fire and help empower communities to revitalise these critical practices on the east coast of Australia, not just for the environmental and ecosystem aspects of caring for Country, but also for the benefit of culture and community.