Natali Pearson is a Senior Lecturer and DECRA Fellow at the University of Sydney, specialising in maritime heritage in Southeast Asia. Her journey into Asian Studies began with a high school trip to Vietnam in 1994, which sparked a lasting fascination with the region. After a year on a language and culture program in central Java, she switched her university enrolment to Asian Studies at UNSW Sydney, going on to complete an honours thesis in Timor-Leste, two master’s degrees, and eventually a PhD on the politics and ethics surrounding a 9th-century shipwreck found in Indonesia. Before committing to academia full-time, Natalie gained valuable experience working at the Australian Department of Defence and the anti-money laundering regulator AUSTRAC.

Natali went on to publish her PhD as a book with the University of Hawaii Press, co-host the New Books in Southeast Asia podcast, and has led numerous New Colombo Plan field schools across Southeast Asia. She is currently President of the Indonesia Council and holds a DECRA fellowship researching WWII shipwrecks across Malaysia, Indonesia, and Timor-Leste. On the state of Asian Studies in Australia, Natali is candid: while the scholars working in the field are producing exceptional work, she is concerned about a shrinking pipeline of Australian students, the closure of language programs, and an over-reliance on individual enthusiasm rather than structural support for deeper regional engagement.

Watch Natali’s interview below or on the ASAA’s youtube channel here. See the other interviews in the series here.