OA Week 2025: Who owns our knowledge? Event 3

Professor Kathy Bowrey is a Professor in the Faculty of Law at UNSW Sydney. Her research focuses on laws and practices related to knowledge creation, intellectual property, information technology regulation, media practice, feminist scholarship, and Indigenous rights. She has a strong interest in open research and research management and has been a consultant for research assessment exercises. Kathy Bowrey has led significant Australian Research Council projects on knowledge production and ownership in universities and has published extensively in intellectual property and cultural value.

Kathleen Shearer is the Executive Director of COAR (Confederation of Open Access Repositories), an international association dedicated to advancing the role of repositories in scholarly communications. She has nearly 20 years of experience in open access, open science, scholarly communications, and research data management. Shearer is based in Montreal, Canada, and actively contributes to global open science initiatives, including the Research Data Alliance and UNESCO Open Science Working Groups. She is also a Research Associate with the Canadian Association of Research Libraries and has played a key role in advancing open science policies and infrastructure worldwide

Ngapera Riley is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Figure.NZ, a not-for-profit organization that provides publicly available data from New Zealand’s public and private sectors in accessible formats. She is passionate about ensuring everyone has access to good information to help solve the country’s biggest problems and supports Māori business and education efforts across New Zealand. Ngapera has held various leadership roles including Global Director of the World Class New Zealand Network for Kea, and has worked for New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, Ministry of Health, University of Auckland, and Manukau Institute of Technology. Ngapera is active in Māori data sovereignty initiatives and serves on multiple boards such as the Simplicity Foundation and Te Ohu Whai Ao Trust. Additionally, she is a professional soul and Motown singer. 

Jayshree Mamtora is the Manager of Scholarly Communications at James Cook University Library. She coordinates the library’s research support services for academic staff and Higher Degree Research students, overseeing advice and training on scholarly publishing, research liaison, copyright, and the institutional repository. Jayshree has extensive experience in academic libraries across several institutions in Australia. She is an active contributor to international professional bodies, serving with the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA)—including as Co-Chair for the Regional Standing Committee for Asia and Oceania—and has also played leadership roles in the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA). Her research interests include open access, social media, bibliometrics, and altmetrics, and she is a passionate advocate for advancing research impact, information literacy, and equitable access to scholarly resources.

Tove Lemberget is the Team Leader, Repository and Metadata Services at James Cook University (JCU) Library, responsible for managing the university’s institutional repository, ResearchOnline@JCU, and oversees metadata standards, copyright, and research output management. With deep experience in research reporting, data quality, and open access, Tove is dedicated to enhancing the accessibility and discoverability of scholarly outputs. Tove is actively engaged in the broader scholarly communication and open access community. She contributes to initiatives aimed at increasing the adoption of green open access and participates in national and international discussions on research data management and repository best practices.

Dr Wayne Bradshaw is the Research Services Officer at James Cook University (JCU) Library, where he plays a key role in coordinating the collection, classification, and verification of JCU’s research outputs. His work contributes significantly to enhancing research visibility and compliance with university research frameworks. Beyond his library role, Wayne Bradshaw is an Adjunct Research Associate at JCU with a PhD focusing on literature and political radicalism. He founded the post-graduate literary and cultural Sūdō Journal and has authored a book titled “The Ego Made Manifest: Max Stirner, Egoism, and the Modern Manifesto” (2023). His research interests extend to Australian literary studies, radical political literature, and the history of education in North Queensland.