Having grown up in Hobart, Imogen has a strong connection to her island home. She completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Tasmania, before moving to the UK to join the University of East Anglia’s Landscape History MA program. Her dissertation examined the creation of ‘isolated’ parish churches – those that stand in the middle of a field, far from their village. She returned to Tasmania to complete a PhD in History at the University of Tasmania, examining the differences between land grants given to convicts and free settlers. Her research continues to examine the practicalities of life in the early years of a colony, using digital tools such as GIS (mapping) to understand the historic landscape and extract its stories.
Imogen is now a lecturer in history at the University of Tasmania, teaching into the Diploma of Family History and the Bachelor of Arts. She continues to nerd out about maps with her students, teaching them how to find and interpret them for their own research.
Imogen has a keen interest in public histories, and has held a range of non-academic roles that have connected her research with the public. As a tour guide she converted her thesis into a commentary designed for tourists with little to no background knowledge. She also worked behind the help desk in a public library, helping clients research their family history, find information about their house, or pursue other historical questions. She is a popular public speaker, and is regularly invited to speak to diverse audiences. In 2016 she co-founded A Pint of History – a monthly pub-based history event in Hobart, which continues to a provide a space for academics and experts to present their historical research to a large general audience. Imogen has been a member of the THRA committee since 2020.