What’s in the bag? What we pack for collaborative research work in a remote location

Yolŋu Country, NT, 15 May 2026

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to do research work on a remote island in Arnhem Land? You might be tempted to think it’s all tropical sunsets, red dirt roads, mind-expanding intercultural experiences and eating nyoka (crab) and maypal (shellfish) on the beach.

For our team of Yolŋu and Balanda researchers working together in Galiwin’ku in Northeast Arnhem Land, collaborative research in a remote location is all of these things and so much more.

In our decolonising participatory action research project, we need to stay flexible and nimble, ready to wait patiently when circumstances aren’t right for our work, and ready to jump (mostly figuratively, but also sometimes literally!) when opportunity strikes. 

Here are some of the things we carry with us when we’re out and about to make sure we are ready for anything:

1.       Backpack: we never know where we might be working that day – maybe in the small, shared office, on someone's veranda, or maybe under a tree by the beach – so we tend to take everything we need for research work wherever we go.

2.       Hat and sunglasses: For the Balanda in our team, these items are a necessity for long days spent out and about in the Galiwin’ku sun.

3.       Insect repellent and sunscreen: For spontaneous trips out of town, for example to meet djäkamirr preparing a bush site for ceremony or digging for maypal in the mangroves, these supplies can be a life-saver. Doing these types of activities together is one way our team practices ‘respecting’ and ‘connecting’ in our relational approach to collaborative research.

Photo credit: Jess Davis. Essential supplies for collaborative research work in Galiwin’ku.

4.       Water: Lots of. A necessity when working in the hot tropical weather of Northeast Arnhem Land.

5.       Boiled eggs and oranges: the great intercultural and intergenerational crowd pleasers! These semi-shelf-stable beauties give us a boost when our energy reserves are flagging, and our research brains need a boost.

6.       Audio recorder: for recording our interviews, group discussions, and oral data analysis sessions. To ensure everyone feels comfortable and to encourage full participation, our research discussions happen in multiple Yolŋu languages, and sometimes in English.

Later, a Yolŋu researcher experienced in interpreting between Yolŋu languages and English will sit with one of the Balanda on the team, re-listen to these recordings, and give an oral interpretation in English.

A computer-proficient team member then transcribes this oral interpretation, including key Yolŋu Matha words and concepts, for later analysis.

7.       Zoleo: A satellite messaging device for communication when the mobile network goes down (which it does, often) or in case of an emergency when we’re out of range in this remote setting.

8.       Language resources: These resources help us unpack the meaning of key ideas that may be difficult or impossible to interpret between languages, and check the spelling of Yolŋu Matha words.

As Yolŋu languages were historically oral languages, with written formats produced only relatively recently, the proper spelling of words is often debated by team members.

9.       Paper and coloured markers: for developing ideas in the intercultural space between Yolŋu and Balanda worldviews. Big paper, coloured pens and oodles of sticky notes also help us in our oral data analysis discussions, as we work together to sort out the key ideas in our qualitative data.

10.   Pens: lots of these, they seem to disappear unless you keep them firmly grasped in a closed fist (Balanda co-researchers are surely to blame for this).

11.   Laptop computer: For transcribing research data from interviews and organising our data, wherever we are working. This key tool is also essential for helping Yolŋu co-researchers navigate colonial institutions and systems, including getting ID (extremely difficult for many Yolŋu, who may go by several names, and these may be different to those registered at birth), banking, submitting timesheets to the university and navigating the health system.

12.   Car keys: A worker at a local organisation that we have been waiting to meet with suddenly has a small window to talk to us? Phone call that the barge has landed with essential project supplies that need to be picked up right now? A co-researcher needs to get to the clinic on the other side of town to pick up her regular medication? Or the team needs to get away from the stress of town and go hunting?

Either way, it’s into the car we go… In Galiwin’ku, most residents don't own private transport and there is no public transport, so a car is needed to pick up our research team members and make sure we can get everyone where they need to go, especially in the very hot or wet weather when it’s difficult for senior people to travel on foot.

13.   Large mat that we can all sit on: some of our best research work is done under a tree in someone’s backyard or by the beach. Working together sitting down and outside is one way that we try to find spaces where everyone can be comfortable, think deeply about the research at hand, and express themselves.

14.   Phone: gathering a research team and other participants on a remote island – in a setting where colonisation results in huge food, financial, health and legal insecurity for Yolŋu – takes serious logistical prowess. Phones run hot, ensuring that everyone can participate and stay in touch as we manage complex logistics in this busy community.

Mobile phones also come in handy for snapping photos of our action research work. These photos help the team reflect on our process and progress to date and help us to share insights into the on-the-ground reality of Yolŋu-led ways of working.

15.   Power bank: See above, research coordination takes serious phone battery. This is no problem when we are near a power source – but for research trips to homelands or hunting, or when power on the island goes down (which it does, often) we take a power bank.

16.   Coloured counters and other props: to help us explore abstract concepts related to risk and namba dhäwu (using numerical data to tell stories about the health of women and babies in Galiwin’ku) together.

Lugging all these supplies around in our backpacks means that we sometimes feel like turtles carrying our huge shells around.

But being prepared helps us make the most of our precious research time together, allowing us to focus more on producing research that leads to tangible benefits for Yolŋu mums and bubs, and less on the necessary logistical and administrative side of research.

As a PhD student (read ‘baby researcher’), this way of working – staying flexible and prepared for (almost) anything – also means more time spent connecting with experienced Yolŋu and Balanda researchers, learning new (to me) approaches to collaborative research, and more opportunities for mind-expanding intercultural experiences. And more time for tropical sunsets and maypal hunting too.

Thanks to Dr Emily Armstrong and Bettina Chaseling for assistance with this post.

Learn more with these links

Molly Wardaguga Research Institute

Djäkamirr Co-op Ltd

Jessica Davis