Meet Louise. Self-confessed country gal living in the city without a car.

Work stuff

I’ve been at Macquarie for…
Just a few months. I joined the newly expanding Corporate Engagement team at the end of November 2017.

In a nutshell, my job is to…
Identify and develop deep relationships between the Faculty of Science and Engineering and external partners.

I’m really enjoying it. I get to use my stakeholder relationship management skills to support opportunities to collaborate and share knowledge to tackle challenges in business and our society.

The question I hear most often in my work is…
“Are you available to talk about ….?”

As a visually-impaired woman, how have you found Macquarie University? What tools do you use to assist you in your work?
I’ve found Macquarie University to be very welcoming and helpful in accommodating some special adjustments I need for work.

For example, I have a large computer screen with magnification, speech and dictation software; and sitting next to it is my desktop video magnifier which I use for reading documents. I make full use of the excellent accessibility features on my iPhone, too.

I have no central vision, but it’s not obvious that I have poor vision until I whip out my little magnifying glass to read or hold my phone and documents close to my face to read.

When I’m out and about on campus, I cannot see people’s faces until they’re very near or passing by, which can be a bit embarrassing. I love it when people see me and give me a wave first, so we can say hi!

I get my campus coffee fix from …
Kevin at Burger Freight in the Campus Common – I think he makes the best flat white on campus 😊

Personal life

My ethnic heritage is…
Scottish/Welsh farmer-graziers who settled near the small town of Canowindra in 1888. (I’ll buy you a coffee if you can pronounce Canowindra correctly 😊). The town is best known for its fertile river flats, the bendy Main Street, and more recently the International Hot Air Ballooning Championships. The farm and my rural childhood was wonderful, but my poor vision means I’m unable to drive, so I live an urban life now.

In fact, my life is so urban that as a young adult I moved to the UK and lived in and around London for 14 years. I made the most of my time away by completing my undergraduate and master’s degrees and exploring the world on many holidays. It was an amazing experience and I highly recommend living and working overseas if you can. I still travel overseas regularly but I call Australia home.

Outside work, you’ll often find me…
Tapping into nature and the arts.

I walk because I don’t drive, and I walk in nature whenever I can. I love Sydney beaches and get to the beach regularly for a dip.

I’m a keen learner and participator so you might find me at an art appreciation lecture, museum or exhibition, out to the theatre/cinema, deep in conversation at book club, singing in a choir, volunteering my time to charities, or setting-off on the next mini-adventure holiday.

If we went to happy hour, what would you order
Bubbly!

Flashback to when you were 10 years old. What do you want to be when you grow up?
A back-up singer in a rock band.

If you could have dinner with anyone (living or dead) who would it be…
My family. My large immediate and extended family get together rarely but we have a great time when we do!  It would be a spring ‘paddock bbq’ in the Hill Paddock on the family farm. The hill is covered in rocks and trees and has sweeping views of south and west farmland to the dramatic peaks and ridges of the Nangar National Park. The wheat crops will be lush green, and the canola crops will be a sea of yellow flowers.

Do you have any skills or talents that most people don’t know about?
‘Old-school’ country baking and preserving! My 2017 strawberry jam has been a hit with family and friends!