Clare is an Adjunct Lecturer in History, Archaeology, Indigenous Studies and Geography at Flinders University. She is a political scientist, specialising in the history of women’s experiences under colonisation in Eastern Africa. She has published in areas such as women’s changing marriage arrangements within colonial Kenya, the impacts of women’s identity as farmers in Kenya, and women’s capacity to use lore vs law to obtain economic status. She has taught extensively in the areas of development studies and political science at Flinders University, and has done peer review work for the Australian Review of African Studies. Her current research focus includes the hydrology of the Nullabor, the experiences of First Nations peoples and economic development, and post-fire bushfires impacts on karst landscapes on Kangaroo Island. She currently is the Chair of the Australian Speleological Federations Conservation Commission, which protects and helps manage Australia’s unique caves and karst landscapes.

• Colonialism and gender in Eastern Africa 
• Speleology in south-eastern Australia
• Impact of bushfires on South Australian karst landscapes 

Funding highlights include:

• $72000: Friends of Parks SA on behalf of the South Australian Speleological Council Friends of Parks group. Multidisciplinary study of the caves and karst of western Kangaroo Island. Jan 2022- current.
• $5500- Friends of Parks SA on behalf of the South Australian Speleological Council Friends of Parks group. Relocating and documenting the caves and karst of Western Kangaroo Island post the 2020 bushfires. December 2021-December 2024. 

Current research collaborations include the SA Speleological Council in collaboration with South Australian Friends of Park to conduct a multi-disciplinary study of the post-bushfire impacts on caves and karst in Western Kangaroo Island, focusing on cave surveying, fauna studies, vegetation analysis, and the effects of soot and ash pollution. 

See https://caveconservationaustralia.org/bushfire-impacts & https://www.sasc.info/kangaroo-island/ for more information.