Saarah Jappie is program officer for the Transregional Collaboratory on the Indian Ocean. Trained formally in history, her interests lie in interdisciplinary approaches to histories of the Indian Ocean world with a focus on cultural mobilities across islands of Southeast Asia and Southern Africa. She has studied and worked in Australia, South Africa, the United States, Indonesia, and Jordan. She holds an MA and PhD in history from Princeton University, an MA in historical studies from the University of Cape Town, and a BA in international studies (languages) from the University of New South Wales. She is an associate member of the Oceanic Humanities for the Global South Initiative and an executive committee member of the Islam in Africa Studies Group. Prior to joining the Council, she lectured in histories of the Global South at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.