adviser. Academic career Sowada was undertaking a postgraduate degree at the University of Sydney when she was appointed to the Senate, and spent the 1991-92 parliamentary recess in an archaeological dig in Jordan. After her electoral defeat, she resumed her studies, gaining her PhD in Egyptian archaeology from the University of Sydney in May 2002. Sowada undertakes archeological fieldwork and research in Egypt and Jordan and has published in scholarly books, academic journals and popular magazines. She has lectured around Australia and appeared as a media commentator on archaeology and Egyptology. From 1996–2005, she was the assistant curator of the Nicholson Museum at the University of Sydney. She was controversially passed over for the job when it was revised while she was on maternity leave and she had to reapply for it. She is a researcher in Egyptian archaeology with Macquarie University and is a specialist in the foreign relations of Egypt and the Near East during the Bronze Age. In 2008, Sowada was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of the Anglican Deaconess Institution Sydney. She stepped down from the role in February 2015. She has been elected to a number of committees in the Anglican Church Sydney Diocese, including the Standing Committee, Sydney Synod and General Synod. She also acted as a lobbyist for Capitol Research, a small corporate communications company run by she and her husband. Personal life Sowada married then-Democrat staffer Armon Hicks in July 1991. They have two daughters, born in 1997 and 2004. References External links Karin Sowada's website Egyptology in Australia Archaeology and the bible Interview at the Centre for Public Christianity The Hebrew Stone Rocks Foundations Interview at the Centre for Public Christianity 1961 births Living people Australian Democrats members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian Senate Members of the Australian Senate for New South Wales Australian women scientists Women members of the Australian Senate Delegates to the Australian Constitutional Convention 1998 20th-century Australian politicians 20th-century Australian women politicians Australian Egyptologists University of Sydney alumni Australian women archaeologists