About

Dr E. Rebecca Sanders grew up in the Upper Yarra Valley surrounded by tall trees and books. During her early teens she developed an obsession with period costume and a strong interest in the effect of bushfires in shaping her local community.

After completing a Bachelor of Arts majoring in English Literature and History in 2003, Sanders secured her first taste of professional history work in 2006. eGold: Electronic Encyclopaedia of Gold in Australia and the Maryborough-Rushworth Oral History Project, both with the Cultural Heritage Unit, The University of Melbourne, opened her eyes to the possibilities of working as a historian on public projects. Sanders graduated from her Honours Degree in History from University of Melbourne in 2007, writing her thesis on Bushfire Disaster Relief in 1906. In 2008 Sanders secured her first independent contract as the consulting historian for the Australian Pavilion for the 2010 World Expo (Shanghai) with Think!OTS.  A stint of radio interviews with RRR for their Touch My History segment followed in 2012 on subjects as diverse as women’s public toilets in Melbourne and early Victorian seaside excursions. She completed her PhD, A History of Churchill Island: Settlement, Land Use and the Making of Heritage Site in 2015.