Dr Mark Fielding holds a doctorate from The University of Western Australia on the internationalisation of education and is currently senior lecturer at Sheridan Institute of Higher Education in Perth, Western Australia. During the last ten years he has travelled extensively throughout the Indian Ocean region speaking at conferences and consulting in many local schools and universities. He has a particular interest in building opportunities for collaborative action on improving schools and teacher education in the region. He also has a passion for the maritime history of the region and how early Europeans viewed, interacted and learned from Indian Ocean people. Dr Fielding sees the Indian Ocean Research Centre as a wonderful opportunity to further develop cross-cultural engagement and regional learning and understanding. With Dr Joshua Esler, he has edited the multi-discipline book, Indian Ocean Imaginings: People Time and Space (Lexington, 2022). 

Dr Joshua Esler holds a doctorate in Asian Studies from The University of Western Australia. He is a Director of the Indian Ocean Research Centre at Sheridan Institute of Higher Education, where he is also a lecturer and researcher in Asian Studies. His research is focused on the diffusion of Tibetan Buddhism among Chinese communities, both in historic and contemporary contexts, the subject of his recent book Tibetan Buddhism among Han Chinese (2020). His wider research interests include the diffusion of Buddhism across maritime and land trade routes, and how this in turn influenced developments in both Chinese and Tibetan Buddhism. With Dr Mark Fielding, he has edited the multi-discipline book, Indian Ocean Imaginings: People Time and Space (Lexington, 2022). 

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