The MLT is made up of fixed-term and casual staff who bring a large range of expertise and experience to the projects we work on in partnership with Aboriginal communities. Based out of Adelaide University and working across the length and breadth of South Australia, the MLT prides ourself on our ability to apply expertise from not only linguistics and Traditional Indigenous Knowledges, but also from education, health, and community advocacy sector.
Director / Senior Aboriginal Language Expert
(08) 8313 0707
Karina is a Yankunytjatjara Anangu woman who grew up on the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands (APY Lands) in the Far North West of South Australia. In her spare time she works as an Anangu Interpreter and Translator for the Western Desert Language that covers a large area of the state. Karina is very passionate about maintaining her Aboriginal Language and about hearing from other South Australian Aboriginal people on how they would like to maintain their languages.
Director / Senior Linguist
(08) 8313 0790
Paul is a foundation member of the MLT and has worked on a wide range of language and culture documentation and revitalisation projects in Australia and overseas. He has significant experience working in the galleries, libraries, archives and museums sector; providing expert linguistic anthropological opinion in Native Title matters; and performing social research and analysis with partner Aboriginal communities. His current focus is on languages of the Far North region of South Australia, including the Dieri language, and the Riverine region, including the Tanganekald language of the Coorong and the Naiawang language of the River Murray. More broadly, Paul is committed to the goal of reversing the decline of SA Aboriginal languages and proving opportunities for young Aboriginal people to connect to and undergo meaningful experiences with their heritage languages. Recent projects have explored ways to combine language, education, health and wellbeing outcomes towards Closing the Gap.
Aboriginal Language Worker
Amelia is a Kokatha/Pitjantjatjara woman and a NAATI-accredited interpreter and translator for Pitjantjatjara. With over 30 years of experience working with languages, Amelia is a fluent Pitjantjatjara speaker. She has contributed to a range of projects in Indigenous health, education, and community engagement working on empowering Aṉangu and ensuring their voices are accurately represented in all aspects of life. At the Mobile Language Team, Amelia focuses on developing language resources for the community aimed at building language skills among younger generations of Aṉangu.
Project Linguist
Juliet has an honours degree in Linguistics with a specialisation in Aboriginal languages. She is a TESOL-qualified teacher and Trainer & Assessor, with language teaching experience in the VET and tertiary sectors. Juliet is based in Port Augusta, and she is passionate about working with Aboriginal communities on projects using language to strengthen connection to culture and identity.
Project Linguist
Phoebe completed a Linguistics Honours degree in 2023 at the University of Melbourne with a focus on the morphological and syntactic features of Aboriginal languages. Since joining the MLT in 2024, Phoebe has worked with communities from the North-east, Mid-North, Far North and Riverland regions of South Australia to revive, reclaim and reconnect with their heritage languages. Central to her work is the belief that knowing and speaking your heritage language is a fundamental human right. She is also strongly committed to empowering First Nations people to undertake language and linguistic work themselves. Through the MLT’s Pathways and First Nations Language Education projects, she has provided dedicated language revitalisation training to workshop participants and trainees, covering a range of areas including pronunciation, sentence structure, making audio recordings, developing language learning resources and using linguistic software programs. Phoebe is particularly passionate about developing culturally relevant language learning materials to enable more First Nations people to learn and share their languages. She brings nearly a decade’s worth of experience teaching a second language to high school students, including previous work as an assistant teacher for two years, when co-designing language learning resources with communities. Phoebe most enjoys working alongside community members as they connect with their language and identity, as well as the yarns they share along the way. Outside of linguistics, Phoebe is also a keen amateur musician and loves any opportunity to include songs and music in her work at the MLT.
Creative Content Producer
Jaylon is a Narungga and Kaurna man based on Kaurna Country. He is a storyteller whose work centres on language revival, cultural resurgence, and digital storytelling. With an academic background in media and an honours thesis focused on Aboriginal microcelebrity culture, he brings a deep understanding of how First Nations identities are expressed and reclaimed through contemporary online platforms. His work is about presence, pride, and power. It is grounded in the belief that language is not just communication, but it is a living connection to Country, culture, and kin.
Linguistics Officer (Education and Training)
Celena is a Nedut’en (Lake Babine Nation) woman who grew up on the West Coast of British Columbia, Canada. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (Applied Linguistics) and a Bachelor of Psychology and completed her Honours degree in 2024 with an autoethnographic study focused on Migrant Indigenous Identity. Celena’s work is grounded in a strong commitment to Indigenous language revival, oral histories, storytelling, and creative approaches to language learning. At the Mobile Language Team, she supports development of diverse language resources that centre culture, narrative and community knowledge. Outside of work, Celena enjoys making traditional beadwork.
Linguistics Officer
Cody holds a Bachelor of Languages, with a specialisation in Spanish and Applied Linguistics. He has a strong interest in both international and Indigenous languages, and a commitment to supporting language preservation and revival. He is currently working on the production of language learning resources for schools and communities.