Jen Rae

Dr Jen Rae is a Narrm (Melbourne)-based artist-researcher, facilitator and educator of Canadian Red River Métis-Scottish descent from Treaty 6 Territory. Her practice-led research expertise is centered around cultural responses to climate change/everything change – specifically the role of artists and creative inquiry. During her PhD, she worked for the Australian Collaboration synthesising Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports and later worked for the Climate Action Network. In 2015, Jen shifted focus to the climate emergency specifically on discourses around food futures [via Fair Share Fare], disaster preparedness and speculative futures predominantly articulated through multi-platform creative projects, research, facilitation and community alliances. Jen is a core artist of Arts House’s 5-year REFUGE project, whereby artists, emergency service providers and communities work together to rehearse climate-related emergencies and explore the impact of creativity in disaster preparedness. She is also Director of Fair Share Fare and the Co-founder of Fawkner Commons – creative and research-informed projects that center food justice, land remediation and social cohesion in the climate emergency context.