Fiona Sheppeard is the 2021 recipient of the APS Bendi Lango bursary.
Fiona Sheppeard is a proud Dunghutti woman who has grown up on Dharawal country (Illawarra).
Fiona has worked and volunteered within several Indigenous and non-Indigenous community settings. These include, supporting young people in forensic settings, in social community settings and within out of home care services.
Fiona is also a research assistant who has worked at Ngarruwan Ngadju First Peoples Health and Wellbeing Research Centre for the last two years. This centre is an Indigenous-led and focused health research centre. During this time, Fiona has worked primarily on evaluations, which provide evidence for the important work that Aboriginal community-controlled organisations do to contribute to the social and emotional wellbeing of the Indigenous people that reside within the Illawarra.
Fiona has completed a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Psychology and a Bachelor of Psychological science (honours). Fiona is currently undertaking a Doctor of Philosophy in Clinical psychology. Fiona’s research focuses on the importance of place and how place can be considered within mental health and social and emotional wellbeing interventions. After completing her doctorate, Fiona is hoping to gain a post-doctorate position to continue researching in the Indigenous social and emotional wellbeing space. Fiona aspires to create positive change through research and clinical practice.
The APS bursary is funded through generous donations from APS members. Since the launch of the Bendi Lango initiative in 2006, eleven Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students have been supported in their postgraduate psychology studies.
More about the Bendi Lango initiative, including previous bursary recipients and how to make an online donation.