Tragedy means different things to different people, so recent PhD graduate Kerry Francis had plenty of scope to explore the concept through her thesis.

Kerry analysed newspaper reports and engaged with focus groups to examine how people talk about tragedy.

Kerry with husband Eddie at the pre-graduation research luncheon

"I looked at how we use words to label something as a tragedy, to make sense of it, to adapt to it and to move on," she said.

"There's an emphasis on finding something positive, putting it in a story and making sense of it."

Mareeba-based Kerry is now working for Centrelink as a psychologist servicing several centres in Far North Queensland.

The graduation milestone