Nellie Pollard‑Wharton is a Kooma woman, Lecturer and Indigenous scholar in the School of Population Health. Nellie's background is in social work, her academic focus centres on Indigenous knowledges, narrative, and power within settler‑colonial institutions.

Her scholarship to date has focused on Indigenous voices shaping public health approaches to preventing unintentional injuries and program design. Nellie is particularly interested in using her skills as a public health researcher to drive community-based research assisting in the design of initiatives and programs by community for community. Her research is grounded in Indigenous epistemologies and critical Indigenous methodologies, drawing on narrative, reflexive, and relational approaches to challenge dominant knowledge systems.

Nellie actively contributes to Indigenous‑led research and governance through her involvement in faculty‑based sovereign and research working groups.  Her academic practice is underpinned by a strong commitment to Indigenous self‑determination, ethical research relationships, and culturally safe pedagogies that disrupt deficit‑based framings and centre community accountability.