Dr Shelley Brunt is an Associate Professor at RMIT University, Melbourne, and is the Program Manager for the BA (Music Industry) degree. She holds a PhD in ethnomusicology and researches music cultures across Asia-Pacific, including Japan, Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand. 

Shelley has extensive experience as an elected committee member, having served two terms on RMIT University's Academic Board, and seven years as Chair of the Australia/New Zealand Branch of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music (IASPM-ANZ).

Her creative musical practice is extensive, with formal training in cello and choral singing, and years of performing as a guitarist, keyboardist and/or singer in bands. She studied Javanese gamelan under dhalang (shadow puppet master) Ki Joko Susilo, and performed with his ensemble 'Puspawarna Gamelan' in New Zealand from 2008–2012. She has been a member of the 'parents and kids' group of Gamelan DanAnda since 2023.