Dr Amy Cutter-Mackenzie, who graduated with a PhD from CQU last Saturday (Feb 26), grew up in the mining town of Tieri and is now specialising in the area of environmental education.

She is the youngest of six children and the first to attend and graduate from university (in 1999).

Following the completion of her B.Ed Honours degree, Amy won an APA scholarship to undertake a PhD.

"My PhD supervisor was Professor Richard Smith. My PhD was aimed squarely at assessing the scope and range of teachers’ eco-literacy," she said.

During and following the completion of her PhD, Amy has worked tirelessly in the field of environmental education and teacher education in Australia and abroad.

She has built an international profile in environmental education (and teaching) and has won numerous awards and travel scholarships.

Dr Cutter-Mackenzie was previously a lecturer at Charles Sturt University and is now a lecturer at Monash University (Melbourne).

"My interest in the environment began at a very early age. I moved to a small open-cut mining town in Central Queensland (Tieri) when I was five and lived there until I was 13," she said.

"The conflict between environmental conservation and destruction was always a lively discussion, often with the ‘destruction line’ being favoured.

"I accepted this position as a child and it was not until I commenced reading books like ‘Time to Change’ (David Suzuki) and ‘The Population Bomb’ (Paul Ehrlich) that I began to appreciate the notion of environmental conservation (or sustainability as it is referred to now).

"And as many teachers often recount, a teacher inspired me to take this interest further. From that moment, my passion for the environment and more specifically environmental sustainability has never ceased."