Melissa Harper has escaped the university and is now an honorary senior research fellow in Australian Studies at the University of Queensland where she was lecturer from 2003 to 2021. Her research interests include everyday cultural practices, in particular on bushwalking and dining out, Australian popular culture and national identity. Her book, The Ways of the Bushwalker: On Foot in Australia (2007, 2020), explores how bushwalkers have engaged with the natural environment through leisure.