Vincent Backhaus

Vincent is a Chief Investigator on an ARC Discovery Indigenous, DAATSIA research fellowship (2026 – 2030) examining Indigenous environmental and place-based Caring for Country approaches.  He completed his doctoral degree at The University of Cambridge in Psychology & Education with a core focus within Indigenous Research. He matriculated from Trinity College as the first Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander to complete a PhD at Cambridge. He also holds an MPhil from Cambridge and holds first class honours (BA) Anthropology and Psychology from James Cook University. Vincent's doctoral research examined the relationship between Indigenous Stories, Learning and Country. His research informs Indigenous Education, Psychology and broadly Indigenous Research.

Vincent currently serves as Graduate Research & Training Manager with the ARC Centre of Excellence for Indigenous and Environmental Histories and Futures (CIEHF), where he leads a national Indigenous higher degree research training and recruitment program supporting up to 90 PhD candidates (70 Indigenous identified) across 9 partner universities, 8 Indigenous partner organisations, and 15 industry and government partners. Additionally, he leads the design of Working with Country professional development training and oversight of added mandatory training requirements for all CIEHF members.

His research focuses on Indigenous-led environmental governance and Traditional Owner partnerships across the Great Barrier Reef. Vincent has advised on the co-designed and delivery of two landmark programs with the Great Barrier Reef Foundation—Healing Country ($1.77 million) and Helping Country ($5.33 million)—which together enabled 27 projects across 22 Traditional Owner groups (2021-2025). These programs are recognized as best practice for delivering culturally grounded outcomes in reef stewardship. He serves on the Great Barrier Reef Foundation Crown of Thorns Starfish/Reef Restoration and Adaptation Science Technical Working Group and provides advisory support to the Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program (RRAP) Indigenous Futures initiatives, Indigenous reef industry partners, DCCEEW and Reef Sea Alliance development. His research supports the development of co-design strategies aligned with Traditional Owner community priorities, intergenerational learning, and governance challenges across the Great Barrier Reef.

Vincent's research extends to Indigenous health and wellbeing through collaborative projects with the Lowitja Institute. He secured competitive funding through the Lowitja Institute which contributed towards exploring aged care advocacy for Torres Strait Islander communities as well as intergenerational leadership programs that strengthen connections between senior community leaders and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people developing their leadership capacities.

Vincent has built deep place-based partnerships with various Indigenous communities which maintain continuity within existing and future competitive research grant allocations. These collaborations have resulted in ranger diving certifications, customized undergraduate pathways for remote learners, on-Country training programs, and co-developed cultural protocols such as the Darumbal Yadaba (Respect) Protocol. He serves on various university committees supporting JCU Indigenous doctors’ recruitment, Great Barrier Reef industry partnerships, university research and impact planning. He has previously supported the operation group and Indigenous working group for the James Cook University - Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (JCU-CSIRO) strategic partnership, with a key focus on Building Indigenous Research Capacity in the North (BIRC). 

His scholarship includes Q1 publications in Environmental Science & Policy (2024) on reef futures and community storylines, and The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education (2023) on Indigenous Studies teaching and cultural interface theory. He has authored chapters with Routledge and Springer on Indigenous methodologies and decolonial critique in marine and Pacific contexts.

Previously as a Senior Lecturer with the Indigenous Education and Research Centre (IERC), James Cook University (2019-2021), Vincent designed and delivered Indigenous Studies curriculum across undergraduate, graduate certificate, and HDR intensives. He continues to supervise Masters and Doctoral candidates (6 MPhil and 3 PhD candidates across disciplines, with completions recorded) and mentors Indigenous HDR students across JCU and partner institutions.

Vincent maintains international collaborations, including as 2025 guest lecturer at Cambridge University on cultivating learning dispositions and Sami-First Nations Australian partnerships. He previously held the position of Senior Teaching Fellow, Department of Psychology and Human Development, UCL Institute of Education, London, supervising MSc students towards dissertation completion, and held visiting fellowship to Trinity College, University of Melbourne. He has held professional associations with the British Psychological Society (BPS), The Australian Psychological Society (APS), and The Native American and Indigenous Studies Association (NAISA). He also holds interest in OCHRe membership, a national network of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health researchers.