In 2007 Renee was awarded the Fremantle–Peel Award for Teaching Excellence and Innovation, and in 2009 was promoted to Level Three status for her exemplary teaching practice. Renee presently works on Christmas Island where she teaches English to refugee students and creative writing within mainstream classes. Renee’s desire to teach creative writing was born from her own writing practice. An active poet and travel writer, Renee’s writing has been published widely in magazines and journals such as Westerly, Landscapes and dotdotdash. In 2010 Renee was shortlisted for the Trudy Graham Biennial Literary Award and in 2011 she won the Ethtel Webb Bundell poetry prize.