Professor Michael Christie is a linguist, educator and researcher. He has worked with remote communities in the Northern Territory, and with the Yolngu Matha language communities of Northeast Arnhemland.

Christie has also worked at the Centre for Aboriginal and Islander Studies at the Northern Territory University. 'In 2008 Professor Christie was awarded a National Fellowship by the Australian Learning and Teaching Council, where he developed a program for enabling Yolngu elders in remote homeland communities to teach their languages and culture to students around the world using remote digital technologies.' (Aust of the Year, 2011).