Alumni Profiles

Christopher Barrett Senior Scholars

“In this world of plenty, almost half of the world’s seven billion people live on two US dollars a day or less. Between one third and one half suffer under-nutrition due to insufficient intake of calories, protein or critical micronutrients such as vitamin A, iodine and iron.”

Professor Christopher Barrett, from the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University, has won a 2012 Fulbright Senior Scholarship. Through his Fulbright, Christopher will spend six months at Monash University in Melbourne undertaking research into the effects of global food markets on poverty and food insecurity in the world.

“My research explores why such unnecessary injustice continues to disfigure a rich, technologically advanced world, and what individuals and institutions can do to reduce avoidable human suffering,” Chris said.

Chris’ research program aims to establish how poor households’ dependence on food markets is evolving. His research will include looking at the effects of new contract farming arrangements or humanitarian agency supply chains, and how changing food prices and food price risk and international market integration are co-evolving in their impacts on poor households. He will also examine what policies or financial instruments might be appropriate to help cushion any adverse effects of observed changes.

“Through the research program this Fulbright Scholarship will launch, I hope to shed light on poor households’ complex relations with global food markets so as to improve and inform ongoing policy debates in this arena,” Chris said.

This project will build on existing work he has already undertaken, and will establish research collaborations in Australia that he hopes will continue well beyond his Fulbright Scholarship.

Chris has an A.B., History, Princeton University; an M.Sc., Development Economics, University of Oxford, on a previous Fulbright Scholarship; and a dual PhD in Agricultural Economics and Economics with certificate in African Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is also the Director of the Stimulating Agricultural and Rural Transformation (StART) Initiative , Cornell International Institute for Food, Agriculture and Development. He has also published extensively. His research interests include poverty, food insecurity, economic policy and the structural transformation of low-income societies, issues of individual and market behavior under risk and uncertainty, and the interrelationship between poverty, food security and environmental stress in developing areas.

Cindy L Bethel PhD Senior Scholars

Cindy is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering and the Billie J. Ball Professor in Engineering at Mississippi State University. She earned her B.S. in Computer Science and PhD in Computer Science and Engineering from the University of South Florida. She was awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship and was a NSF Computing Innovation Postdoctoral Fellow at Yale University. Cindy is working with the University of Technology, Sydney and Mary-Anne Williams to extend her research related to social robotics using a therapy robot she and her students developed, Therabot. Cindy plans to explore the helpfulness of the robot when used as support during interview sessions discussing potentially sensitive topics related to stress and anxiety. Her goal is to repeat this same research study in the U.S. and compare the interactions and the effectiveness of Therabot. She expects to develop ongoing collaborations with faculty at UTS.

Professor Timothy Brodribb Senior Scholars

Tim is currently a Professor of Plant Biology at the University of Tasmania, the same institution where he graduated with a BSc in Biology. His doctoral studies examined the evolution and function of conifers in the Southern Hemisphere involving extensive field work in the forests of PNG, New Caledonia, New Zealand and South America. Following this, he worked as a postdoc at Harvard University studying plant physiology in Costa Rican forest trees, before returning to Australia to undertake an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship award. Tim now leads a lab group that focusses on the vulnerabilities of plants during drought. His Fulbright will allow him to travel to northern California to use technology developed by his group to monitor the impact of climate on plant stress levels

Dr George Danko Senior Scholars

George, an engineer and mathematician by training, is an innovator in machine and process control, automation, robotics and computational models for increasing safety and health while saving energy and cost in mining operations. He has been working with leading industrial and academic partners in Australia on information technology applications for mining, funded in the U.S. by the Alpha Foundation for Safety and Health.  

As a Fulbright Scholar in Future of Mines topics in Australia, he will visit and work with academic and industrial participants for cooperative development and tryouts of new safety enhancement systems for preventive intervention of accidents using big data, modeling, control and robotics.   

A/Professor Graham Edgar Senior Scholars

Associate Professor Graham Edgar, is a marine ecologist at the University of Tasmania. Through his Fulbright, Graham will research the effectiveness of marine protected areas as a tool for biodiversity conservation at the Centre for Applied Biodiversity Science, Conservation International in Arlington, Virginia for four months. His project aims to improve marine conservation planning through the development of models that accurately predict ecological benefits arising from one important tool available to managers, “the declaration of marine reserves. In addition to his academic work, Graham enjoys scuba diving, photography, and visiting wild places, three activities he happily combines when facilitating the community-based Reef Life Survey program.

Dr. Rocco Cavaleri Postdoctoral Scholars

Rocco leads the Brain Stimulation and Rehabilitation (BrainStAR) Lab at Western Sydney University. His research is dedicated towards understanding the mechanisms underpinning musculoskeletal and neurological disorders. Rocco uses non-invasive brain stimulation techniques to explore the ways in which the nervous system responds to processes such as pain.

As a Fulbright Scholar, Rocco will work with researchers at the University of Southern California in establishing new methods to predict whether individuals will develop chronic pain following an acute injury. He will also be investigating emerging techniques to prevent the onset of chronic pain.

Raechel French (Schneider) Postgraduate Students

Raechel has spent the past three years as an educational planner at an architecture firm in Austin, Texas helping plan and design schools across the United States. She earned a B.E.D. in Architecture and a B.S. in Psychology from Texas A&M University and a Master’s in Human-Environment Relations from Cornell University, focusing on Facility Planning and Management with a minor in Organizational Behavior. In addition to her role as Educational Planner, Raechel helps lead her firm’s K-12 research initiatives.

Many schools desire innovation and turn to their facilities as catalysts for change. However, there is often a disconnect between the vision of a facility and its subsequent use. Recent shifts in Australian education policy and economic priorities have resulted in an influx of innovative learning environments that subsequently require new methods of teaching and the gap between design and use is apparent. While in Melbourne, Raechel will be working on the Innovative Learning Environments and Teacher Change (ILE+TC) project to identify relationships between quality teaching and the effective use of these innovative spaces. The goal is to help bridge the gap by developing a mechanism to change teacher mind frames and teaching practices.

During her Fulbright, Raechel will participate in Phase One of the ILE+TC project, working with the research team to collect and analyze data on the design affordances of innovative learning environments. She will also be visiting schools throughout Australia, interviewing educators about their experiences. She will work towards a peer-reviewed paper with members of the research team and present her findings and experiences throughout the United States. Additionally, Raechel will spend time with Hayball Architects to better understand their perspective of the design process. Her ultimate goal is to create an ongoing discussion between the US and Australia regarding school design, utilization, and organizational change.

Following her Fulbright, Raechel plans to help expand the role of school architects and planners. She finds that the design process as it is often only touches the physical structure, not the entire operational and organizational system it supports. This is especially troublesome as more and more schools hope to deviate from the traditional models of teaching and learning and rely upon the building itself to create the shift. Raechel sees a new paradigm in which there is a strategic organizational alignment process integrated within design work to help school clients holistically realize their vision.

Raechel will be joined in Australia by her husband Michael. You can follow her Fulbright experience at www.schoolsandtravel.com

Rameen Hayat Malik Postgraduate Students

Rameen graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (First Class Honours) and a Bachelor of Laws. She is currently a policy officer at the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources working on the energy transition and electricity market reform in Australia. Rameen is also deeply passionate about creating spaces for diverse communities in STEM, the arts and sports by working closely with community organisations such as the Bankstown Poetry Slam and Swim Sisters.

As a Fulbright Anne Wexler Scholar, Rameen will study a Master of Public Policy, with a specialisation in energy. Rameen aims to cast a multidisciplinary lens on the transition to a low-emissions electricity sector with a focus on energy justice, emerging energy technologies and data driven policy development. Rameen hopes to apply this learning to help shape the future of Australian energy policy and drive equitable and sustainable outcomes. Rameen will also use her time in the US to learn from minority run organisations working to increase diverse representation in STEM and the arts.

David Ian Rawson Postgraduate Students

David graduated from the University of Queensland in 2012 with dual degrees in Arts and Secondary Education, majoring in English and French. His Honours study in the field of Communication and Cultural Studies saw him named valedictorian and a recipient of a University Medal.

Now in his fourth year of teaching at St Ursula’s College, Toowoomba, a Catholic girls’ school in the Ursuline tradition, David’s passion for education has seen him make a significant impact in the learning and lives of his students. He coaches debating, works to promote the status of language learning and cultures within the school and mentors the student leadership council. He has marked the Queensland Core Skills (QCS) Test for tertiary admission and moderates Senior French Work Programs and assessment on his district’s review panel. He furthered his language study in the south of France as part of an Endeavour Language Teacher Fellowship, awarded by the Commonwealth Government (2014).

David’s research into adolescent brain development and Middle Schooling Philosophy was instrumental in providing a theoretical underpinning for his school’s Year 7 Program ahead of Queensland’s shift to Year 7 into secondary in 2015. For these endeavours, he was awarded the Dr Roger Hunter Excellence in Beginning to Teach Award (2014). David was selected to have his pedagogy showcased as part of the Queensland College of Teachers’ ClassMovies Project. His finished documentary serves as a fine model for other early-career practitioners with clear strategies identified for addressing The Australian Professional Standards for Teachers.

David is the Chairperson of his College’s Assessment Review Steering Committee, which enables him to explore his special interest area of, and deep passion for, assessment. He leads a team of six teachers to review current practice and to develop a College-wide blueprint that will present more effective ways of assessing students’ learning.

David’s research in the United States of America aims to better understand how re-conceptualising assessment might bring about broader school improvement. In particular, he wishes to develop more engrained and sustainable mechanisms for fostering effective teacher collaboration in Queensland schools. In this way, David hopes to develop a strategy for supporting teachers to engage more routinely with peer-reviewed research and integrate it into their praxis. He sees it as important to address the disjunct between educational theory and practice, which has emerged alongside the growing demands on teachers and their time.

David is looking forward to engaging in cross-cultural conversations with other engaged and dynamic teachers, developing a deeper knowledge of curriculum and educational leadership.

Thibault De Villenoisy Postgraduate Students

Thibault is a PhD candidate researching the different applications of Metal-Organic Framework (MOF)- derived materials at the University of New South Wales. In 2017, he received the New Colombo Plan Scholarship to research at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. There, he worked on colour changing windows and nanofibers for uranium extraction from seawater. He has since worked on applying MOF-derived materials towards numerous new applications including renewable hydrogen generation and improving battery capacities.

Thibault will use his Fulbright Scholarship to develop MOF-derived materials tailored specifically for microbial fuel cells. The novel application seeks to transform waste management from an expense to a future energy source.

Betty Xiong Postgraduate Students

Betty is a biomedical engineer with a focus on patient-generated data in medical devices, for more effective ways of diagnosing and treating conditions. She has conducted research at institutions such as the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, The University of Tokyo, ETH Zurich and the University of Singapore. She has worked on wearable medical sensors at the start-up company WearOptimo, and has a keen interest in working at the interface of academia and industry to bring new data science technologies to the clinical setting.

As a Fulbright Scholar, Betty will study a Master of Science in Biomedical Informatics at Stanford University. She will develop professional connections within biomedical data science, and her goal is to be a leader in the medical innovation landscape in Australia.

Yasmin Zaman Postgraduate Students

Yasmin currently works in the Office of the Chief Technology Officer at the Australian Space Agency. She supports the development of technical roadmaps that will help shape the future of the Australian space industry. She graduated from the University of New South Wales with a dual degree in Aerospace Engineering and Science, majoring in Neuroscience. In 2020, Yasmin won the Western Sydney Young Woman of the Year award. Driven by her passion to break boundaries, she aims to create greater spaces for diversity in STEM and advance human space exploration. As a Fulbright Scholar, Yasmin will be researching wearable neurotechnology to inform and improve the wellbeing of humans in space. She hopes for her work to contribute to and further Australia’s space life sciences capabilities. Yasmin ultimately aspires to become an astronaut, deploy her work in space and travel to Mars.