Skye Doherty

Dr. Skye Doherty is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Communication and Arts at the University of Queensland. She holds a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Queensland (2017), with a thesis titled Journalism Design: The NewsCube, Interactive Technologies and Practice, a Bachelor of Journalism from Queensland University of Technology, and a Graduate Diploma of Digital Media Management from Birkbeck University of London. Before entering academia, Doherty pursued an international career as a journalist, holding leadership positions in international media companies and startups. She previously led the Global Change Scholars Program in the UQ Graduate School, a year-long initiative focused on industry research collaboration and impact for PhD candidates. Currently, she is affiliated with the Centre for Communication and Social Change, the Human-Centred Computing research group in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, the Centre for Digital Cultures & Societies, and the Research Centre in Creative Arts and Human Flourishing. She serves as Treasurer of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR).

Doherty employs creative and design-led research methods to explore alternative futures and address wicked problems in news media, law, disaster resilience, energy and water security. Her design artefacts include the award-winning NewsCube storytelling tool, Vim—a tangible energy story—a suite of concepts for community-led bushfire management, and Wicked Thinking, an independent magazine of speculative news. She has developed frameworks for journalism innovation and used codesign methods to enhance experiences for injured workers, leading to legislative change. Key publications include her book Journalism design: interactive technologies and the future of storytelling (Routledge, 2018); journal articles such as Fire futures: design for community-led resilience (Environmental Hazards, 2025), Materialising new forms of journalism: a process model (Digital Journalism, 2022), The publics of design: challenges for design research and practice (Design Studies, 2022), Design thinking, wicked problems and institutioning change: a case study (CoDesign, 2022), Sketching: a method for imagining journalistic tech (Digital Journalism, 2020), and NewsCubed: journalism through design (Journalism Practice, 2015). Awards include the UQ Award for Excellence in Promoting Industry Engagement in Graduate Research (2024) and the Walkley Grant for Journalism Innovation (2014). Her contributions extend to projects including the GEF-funded Coral Reef Rescue and the ARC Training Centre for Climate-Resilient Water.

Professional Email: s.doherty@uq.edu.au