Joan Benham

I have always loved Straddie since visiting as a child. Now I like to share the island’s interesting history with others.

Howard Guille

Quals BSc (Hons) (Rdg), PhD (Griff)

Awards Centenary Medal

Dr Howard Guille is a retired trade union official and tertiary teacher and researcher.

He was the Queensland Secretary of the National Tertiary Education Union from 1992 to 2006 and represented the Queensland Council of Unions on the Queensland Heritage Council in 1990-92 and 2006-2012. He has undertaken research and written on a wide range of topics. His latest book is Paltry Paradise: A History of the Dunwich Benevolent Asylum. He is an editor of Australian Options and of the Queensland Journal of Labour History.

Karen Rylance

I am a Ngugi woman of Quandamooka. I am the current President here at the NSI Museum on Minjerribah. I grew up in Brisbane where I studied nursing and midwifery and worked in those fields for all my working life. Now retired, I am living on Minjerribah and enjoying every aspect of island life.

Sonja Carmichael

I am a Quandamooka woman of the Ngugi people. I live on Minjerribah and grew up on Quandamooka country.

I am a committee member and volunteer at NSIMM. I am a weaver and my practice draws inspiration from the many stories connected to Quandamooka weaving, guided by Ancestral hands, Elders memories, respect for Mother Earth and our sacred waters.

I recently completed a Master of Philosophy – Regenerating Quandamooka Weaving:   Solving the Knot and continue sharing our practices intergenerationally, ensuring knowledge of our weaving never comes close to disappearing again.

Avril Quaill

Avril Quaill is a Quandamooka woman with extensive experience in Australia’s arts and cultural ecology. Avril has held senior curatorial positions with the National Gallery of Australia and the Queensland Art Gallery. She is a Founding Member of the Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Co-operative. Her past work includes with the Queensland Indigenous Arts Marketing and Export Agency (QIAMEA); Artistic Director of the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair (CIAF), lead curator and artistic director of the Quandamooka Festival. Avril served on significant committees including Australia’s National Cultural Heritage Committee and is a former member of the Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) Board of Trustees. She is currently Principal, First Nations Engagement with the Queensland Museum Network.

Angie Simms

Angie began her career as a newspaper photographer, working across Australia and overseas before co-founding a photography and filmmaking studio on North Stradbroke Island with her husband. Over more than a decade, their work has produced award-winning films, books, and exhibitions focused on community, culture, and place.

She now works across visual storytelling and historical research, contributing to collaborative film projects and serving as a committee member at the North Stradbroke Island Museum.

Angie is currently in the final year of a Research Masters at Murdoch University, where her work focuses on the Zeewijk shipwreck. Her research explores how archival, archaeological, and expert knowledge can be brought together through documentary practice.

Elisabeth Gondwe

I have a Master of Arts in Cultural Heritage Studies from James Cook University. I am the current Secretary of Oral History Queensland and the President of Oral History Australia. I work 20 hours a week at the Museum as a Musarian and bring a strong focus on Oral History to my professional practice. I have been participating at the Museum since 2001.

Tracy Ryan

I have more than two decades' professional experience in the history and heritage sector, having held positions as a community historian and curator on the mainland. My involvement with NSIMM began in about 2002, and included collaborating in a professional capacity on numerous projects as well as sitting on the committee. After a short break, I rejoined the Museum in 2016 as a volunteer and committee member, with a particular interest in collections, exhibitions and displays.