Listening to Country: Brianna Gordon, PhD Student at ANU

On Wiradjuri Country near Hill End in New South Wales, Brianna Gordon carefully collects soil and water samples as part of her research into the legacy of the Gold Rush. This country still carries mercury, arsenic, and lead from gold mining in the 1800s, begging the question of how changing climatic patterns may lead to leaching that could disproportionately affect Indigenous communities.

A PhD candidate at ANU and a proud Wiradjuri woman, Brianna’s research is both scientific and personal. Her family’s Indigenous heritage was hidden until her teens: “Of course, I have always been Wiradjuri, I was born Wiradjuri, but I just didn’t know it.” Now, her work is shaped by Yindyamarra, a Wiradjuri way of working with respect, gentleness, and deep listening.

Brianna’s “Two-Way Methodology” integrates Western science with traditional knowledge. She walks Country with Elders to understand sites that hold cultural as well as ecological significance. In doing so, she helps reconnect communities to land and story, while also tackling environmental harm.

Her research reminds us that environmental restoration must involve those with cultural authority.