Ursula Rodrigues

Cross-cultural ecological researcher

Dr Ursula Rodrigues works on cross-cultural ecological research at the University of Western Australia, Albany Campus. Ursula grew up in coastal Perth, exploring limestone reefs and caring for coastal dunes. She spent school holidays with her biologist grandparents checking pitfall traps, identifying birds from the verandah and pressing wildflowers. When Ursula moved to live at Wadjemup (Rottnest Island) as a young adult, the important connection between landscapes and people and human histories became apparent.

Ursula’s affinity with southwest Australian landscapes and interest in how humans interact with them led her to an undergraduate degree in natural resource management and Indigenous history, culture and heritage at UWA, Crawley. After graduating, she quickly moved to the south coast to pursue cross-cultural research, bringing together Noongar and scientific ways of knowing Boodja (Country).

Using mixed methods approaches, Ursula and her colleagues at UWA Albany work alongside Noongar Elders and knowledge holders to investigate shared questions about Country. Ursula’s PhD, completed in 2025, investigated collaboration between Noongar peoples and land managers in fire management in the Fitz-Stirling region (Fitzgerald River National Park to the Stirling Range (Koi-kyeunuruff)) of southern WA. Through this work, she has learned so much about Country from many knowledgeable teachers. She continues to apply this knowledge in her research, as as well as work with Gondwana Link on collaboration to achieve cultural burning.

Ursula intends to maintain these collaborative relationships through further research that continues to inform how we can all live in this incredible landscape in more sensitive ways.