Simon Farley

I am an assistant lecturer in history at the University of Melbourne. I teach a wide range of topics in modern history (1750-present), with particular interests in empire, colonialism, migration and race. My research interweaves these themes with environmental history, animal history and the history of science. Some of this research has been published in the Journal of Australian Studies, Historical Records of Australian Science and Settler Colonial Studies. I was also closely involved, as a research assistant and contributor, in the creation of Dhoombak Goobgoowana, the University of Melbourne's truth-telling history project.

My PhD thesis, completed at the University of Melbourne in 2024, was a history of non-native birds in Australia. During my PhD, I was awarded the Wyselaskie Scholarship, for the highest achieving first year PhD student in History, and the Dr Rodney Lloyd Benjamin OAM History Prize. I have also received a 2024 Gilbert Postdoctoral Career Development Fellowship from the same university and was shortlisted for the Australian Historical Association's Jill Roe Prize in 2023.

I served as a Postgraduate Representative on the executive committee of the Australian Historical Association (AHA) 2022-24. I am also the current reviews editor for the 'History Off the Page' section of History Australia.

I have also worked as a freelance writer and theatremaker. I have lived on unceded Wurundjeri-Woi Wurrung Country my whole life.