Ms Ruby Ekkel

Ruby Ekkel is an Associate Lecturer in History at the Australian National University and the 2026 Australian Religious History Research Fellow at the State Library of New South Wales. Her research focuses on changing attitudes towards animals and the environment, with special attention to the voices of women, and to the contested roles of science and faith. After completing a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) as a Chancellor's Scholar at the University of Melbourne, Ruby achieved a Master's degree at the University of St Andrews and a PhD at the Australian National University. As part of her PhD, she completed a year-long residency at the University of Oxford, Christ Church College, where she taught undergraduate tutorials in History of Science. Ruby has published and presented on topics spanning animal history, environmental history, and women's history in the nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. Ruby also contributes to public forums, including The Conversation, ABC Radio, and the Australian Book Review. She has served as an HDR Representative for the Australian Historical Association Executive, and was a co-editor of the ANU Historical Journal II no. 4. She was recently awarded the CHASS Future Leaders Writing Prize for an emerging leader under the age of 35 for an outstanding written contribution in the Humanities, Arts or Social Sciences that deepens understanding of Australian society and culture.