EMPLOYMENT

Post Doctoral Research Associate, Department of Social Anthropology, University of Cambridge 2025 - 2028

  • Research Associate to William Wyse Professor Rebecca Cassidy

  • Pursuing research on theme of ‘Multispecies Succession’ relating to evolution and conservation

  • Co-convening Multispecies Succession Conference (2026) & Environmental-Kinship Film Festival (2027) and edited collection book project based on Multispecies Succession (2027)

Undergraduate Supervisor, University of Cambridge 2024-2026

  • Supervisor of SAN1 (Social Anthropology: The Comparative Perspective) and SAN8 (Environment, Development, and Indigeneity)

Consultant, Lord Howe Island Board and Lord Howe Island Marine Park Authority  2023-Present

  • Report writing, policy development, archive organisation, community consultation, public engagement, advising on biodiversity management plan

  • Produced 2500+ source digital archive and 90+ page historical report for Lord Howe Island Marine Park to inform cultural/environmental heritage management

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE / EDUCATION

PhD, Department of Social Anthropology, University of Cambridge 2021 – 2025

  • 'Tides of Change: A Political-Ecology of Belonging and Conservation on Lord Howe Island’

  • Conducted 16 months of ethnographic fieldwork on Lord Howe Island, Australia

  • Investigated multispecies relations, biodiversity conservation, bureaucracy/governance, and kinship relations

  • Invited to advise local government on policy, community engagement, and cultural heritage

  • Used multimodal forms of research, including photography, art, and film

MRes (with Distinction), Department of Social Anthropology, University of Cambridge 2020-2021

  • Investigated forms of multispecies kinship and relationality developed through sourdough baking during the COVID-19 pandemic

  • Conducted in-person, digital, and autoethnographic research

Bachelor of Arts Honours (First Class), Social Anthropology, University of Sydney 2016-2019

  • Bachelor of Arts majoring in Anthropology and History

  • Honours (2019) in Social Anthropology, awarded First Class Honours, and The University Medal

  • Digital ethnography of online sale of breastmilk in USA, examining kinship and digital trust

AWARDS

  • First Prize, University of Cambridge, Department of Social Anthropology Fieldwork Photography Competition (2023). Third Prize (2024)

  • The University Medal, The University of Sydney, 2019. Awarded to an honours student for outstanding academic performance over the entirety of enrolment

  • The University of Sydney Department of Anthropology’s Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Anthropology Honours for 2019

  • The Frank Bell Memorial Prize for Anthropology, The University of Sydney, 2018; for most outstanding Anthropology student of the year

  • The Marion Lucy Whitford Dallison Prize in Anthropology, The University of Sydney, 2018; for best essay within the area of Social Anthropology

PUBLICATIONS

  • Montgomery, Sally (2024). ‘A Freediver Finds Belonging without Breath’ in SAPIENS, 2 May 2024. Listed in SAPIENS’ Best of 2024, the editors’ list of the top ten articles of the year

  • Montgomery, Sally (2024). Lord Howe Island Marine Park: Social, Economic, and Environmental History Source Report. (Internal report for Lord Howe Island Marine Park Authority, NSW)

  • Montgomery, Sally (2019). ‘Breastfeeding as Cultural Taboo’ in Sibyl: The Women’s College Academic Journal. Vol. 7, p. 29-37