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Jacob is a proud Gamilaraay man from QLD and a PhD candidate within QAAFI. Jacob's work focuses on Indigenous food sovereignty as nation-building, looking at the Gamilaraay peoples' governance of thier native grains industry as a case study.

Jacob is taking a systems approach in developing the nascent native grains industry. His priority is setting strong, strategic, sustainable, Indignoeus-led governace to ensure opportunity and benefit remains with Indigenous people. Jacob also has active interests spanning the ecology and conservaion of native grassland species; agronomic knowledge to help support reintroduction of native grains; supply chain and processing of native grains; nutrition and food safety; product development and marketing; and education and engagement.

Jacob's passion also extends to the broader Indigenous food sovereignty movement. Through his work, Jacob collaborates across disparate spaces and advocates for the transformative potential of integrated, circular, sustainable, Indigenous-designed food systems that prioritise human and ecosystem health over profit and production.

Luke Williams is a proud Gumbaynggirr man of northern NSW. Luke’s research primarily focuses on the traditional uses of native Australian plants with an emphasis on understanding how these plants can contribute to our modern food systems. This includes the promotion of traditional foods in Indigenous communities to improve food security and cultural wellbeing, through to supporting Indigenous businesses to lead the bush food industry, so that the nutritional and environmental benefits attributed to native plants can be enjoyed by all.

Luke’s PhD examined the dietary safety assessment of Australian native foods. He continues this line of research today using a mixed-methods approach that includes working with Traditional Custodians to understand histories of use and cultural context, while supporting consumer safety through the generation of quantitative evidence, such as toxicological endpoints and chemical analyses. Luke is currently expanding this work to develop new laboratory approaches for characterising biological activity and potential toxicity, including emerging non-animal and high-content screening tools to better understand safety and mechanism of action.

Luke sees the growing native foods industry as a culturally appropriate economic opportunity for Indigenous Peoples. However, he also recognises that if these foods and plant-based products are to be made widely available, development must occur under Indigenous leadership and be supported by robust scientific evidence to ensure they are safe for general consumption.