About

I’m a PhD student at the Australian Research Centre for Sex, Health and Society, part of La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia. My research focuses on the intersections and interactions of sexuality, gender and social status in high school environments. ARCSHS is an amazing place full of people doing fantastically interesting and relevant research, and if you’re interested in gender and sexuality, the site is well worth a look.

In my pre-PhD life, I studied biology and anthropology at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, and then completed an honours year at James Cook University in Queensland. In my second year of university, I discovered Scarleteen.com, an inclusive, feminist sex education resource for young people, and I’ve been volunteering there ever since. Quite a lot of my time there is spent discussing contraception and STIs, but I also write the occasional blog post, tweet the occasional tweet, and generally try to be what my friend Kate McCombs calls a “beacon of permission”, creating sex positivity one conversation at a time. From time to time I also volunteer with Youth Empowerment Against HIV/AIDS here in Melbourne, running sex education workshops in schools and handing out condoms at music festivals and other events.

When I have some free time, I bake, do crossword puzzles, take dance and yoga classes, and read dystopian fiction. My favourite things include chocolate, platypuses, my sex geek community (online and in person) and good coffee. You can find me on twitter @karynfulcher.

 

Thanks to Paul Fenwick for a headshot that makes me look far more put-together than I really am.