Vanessa Davis

Alice Springs, NT

Vanessa Napaltjari Davis

Senior Researcher, Tangentyere Council Research Hub, Alice Springs, N.T

Experience:  20+ years

ORCHiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9828-8038

Research Specialities:  Social research and evaluation, Indigenous research, and community engagement and data collection.

Vanessa has over 20 years of experience in social research work, evaluation and data input and analysis. She has the language, cultural knowledge and the expertise to conduct respectful and in-depth research in Aboriginal communities. She has developed as an Aboriginal cultural broker and as a researcher while employed at the Research Hub.

Vanessa works to sensitize other researchers of the importance of doing things the right way with Aboriginal people. It is important that when working together that time must be respectfully given according to our environment and culture.  Vanessa is also an advocate for working in partnership. Building up our relationship with other academic researchers from different universities and other organizations strengthens our work and creates new opportunities in the future.

Being an Aboriginal researcher is a great opportunity.  It gives us the opportunity to be involved with research, to be heard, to voice our concerns and to give voice to people from the communities to act on our collective concerns and to fight in what we believe is the truth. With our strong culture backgrounds we have earned the trust, respect and authorization from our people to gather information and to use it that will benefit Aboriginal people for better living conditions, health, education and employment.

Following is a brief list of some of the projects Vanessa has worked on:

• Our Homes 2019 (CDU/NTG)
• Remote Engagement Coordination – Indigenous Evaluation Research 2017-8 (CDU/NTG)
• Town Camp Health Project – 2014
• Income Management – 2011 – 2014
• Post Occupancy Evaluation– 2008-2011
• Opal Fuel Rollout – 2009 – 2010
• N.T. Intervention – 2007
• Mobility – 2004
• Alice Springs Alcohol Restrictions– 2002

And some of the publications she has co-authored:

• White, L. V., Riley, B., Wilson, S., Markham, F., O’Neill, L., Klerck, M., & Davis, V. N. (2024). Geographies of regulatory disparity underlying Australia’s energy transition. Nature Energy, 9(1), 92-105.
• Riley, B., White, L. V., Wilson, S., Klerck, M., Napaltjari-Davis, V., Quilty, S., Longden, T., Jupurrurla, F. N., & Harrington, M. (2023). Disconnected during disruption: Energy insecurity of Indigenous Australian prepay customers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Energy Research & Social Science, 99, 103049.
• Longden, T., Quilty, S., Riley, B., White, L. V., Klerck, M., Davis, V. N., & Frank Jupurrurla, N. (2022). Energy insecurity during temperature extremes in remote Australia. Nature Energy, 7(1), 43-54.
• Longden, T., Quilty, S., Riley, B., White, L. V., Klerck, M., Davis, V. N., & Jupurrurla, N. F. (2022). Temperature extremes exacerbate energy insecurity for Indigenous communities in remote Australia. Nature Energy, 7(1), 11-12.
• Wright, A., Davis, V. N., Brinckley, M. M., Lovett, R., Thandrayen, J., Yap, M., Sanders, W.,& Banks, E. (2022). Relationship of Aboriginal family wellbeing to social and cultural determinants, Central Australia:‘Waltja tjutangku nyakunytjaku’. Family Medicine and Community Health, 10(4).
• Wright, A., Davis, V. N., Bourke, S., Lovett, R., Foster, D., Klerck, M., Yap, A. Richardson, W. Sanders & Banks, E. (2022). Contextualising measures of everyday discrimination experienced by Aboriginal peoples: A place-based analysis from central Australia. Journal of Rural Studies, 96, 53-63.
• Davis, V. N., Lee, W., & Riley, B. (2021). Behind the Paper: Temperature extremes exacerbate energy insecurity—Australia needs to better support remote Indigenous communities to prepare now. Nat. Sustain. Community.
• Grey, K., Yamaguchi, J., Williams, E., Davis, V., Foster, D., Gibson, J., & Dunnett, D. (2018). The strength of indigenous Australian evaluators and indigenous evaluation: a snapshot of “Ways of Knowing and Doing” reflecting on the 2014 Darwin Conference of the Australasian evaluation society. New Directions for Evaluation, 2018(159), 79-95.
• Campbell, M., Foster, D., & Davis, V. (2014). Looking back, moving forward: The place of evaluation at the Tangentyere Council Research Hub. Learning Communities: International Journal of Learning in Social contexts, 14(Special Issue: Evaluation), 144-153.
• Arnott, A., Guenther, J., Davis, V., Foster, D., & Cummings, E. (2010). Evaluation of the Akeyulerre Healing Centre. Darwin: Charles Darwin University & Social Partnerships in Learning (SPiL) Consortium.
• Audrey McCormack, Vanessa Davis, Dianne Impu, Tiara Foster, Denise Foster and Gillian Shaw. Intervention. Experiences And Opinions of Alice Springs Town Camp Residents of the Northern Territory Emergency Response, 2008.
• Foster D, Williams R, Campbell D, Davis V, Pepperill L. ‘Researching ourselves back to life’: new ways of conducting Aboriginal alcohol research. Drug and Alcohol Review 2006; 25 (3): 213-217.
• Ulrik J, Foster D, Pepperill L, Davis V, Abbott D. New ways, old ways. In 8th National Rural Health Conference. Central To Health:Sustaining Well-being in Remote and Rural Australia. 10-13 March 2005, Alice Springs, Northern Territory. 2005: unpaged.