With an interdisciplinary background in international development, gender studies, and social work, her research sits at the intersection of decoloniality, epistemic justice, social movements, and activism. She is particularly interested in how research can be reimagined to challenge colonial hierarchies of knowledge and support the recentring of epistemic agency and authority among communities whose experiences and ways of knowing have historically been marginalised. To this end, her work employs methodologies such as photovoice, photo-elicitation, and appreciative inquiry to explore how knowledge is produced, whose knowledge counts, and how research can contribute to more just and accountable forms of social change.

Prior to joining CCS, Tanja worked across Africa and Europe in advocacy, programme management, and community development, particularly in the fields of HIV/AIDS, gender-based violence, and LGBTIQ+ rights. She has also taught social work and social policy at the University of Sydney where she also did her PhD, which examined decolonial praxis and collaborative knowledge production with LGBTIQ+ activists in Uganda.