2019 Alumni

Dr Rob DeSalle Distinguished Chair

Dr. DeSalle works in molecular systematics, microbial evolution, and genomics. His current research concerns the development of bioinformatic tools to handle large-scale genomics problems using phylogenetic systematic approaches. Dr. DeSalle has worked closely with colleagues from Cold Spring Harbor Labs, New York University, and the New York Botanical Garden on seed plant genomics and development of tools to establish gene family membership on a genome- wide scale. His group also focuses on microbial genomics, taxonomy, and systematics. In particular, they approach tree-of-life questions concerning microbial life using whole genome information. He also dabbles in Drosophila systematics. Dr DeSalle will spend the fellowship working with ANU scientists to develop theory to analyze microbial communities and microbial relationships. He will also be working with Questacon developing exhibition contact related to microbial life on this planet

Michael Hendryx PhD Distinguished Chair

Michael earned his PhD in psychology from Northwestern University in 1986, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Methodology at the University of Chicago.  For much of his career, his research focused on health services delivery issues, but beginning in 2006 Michael developed a strong interest in questions of environmental health for disadvantaged groups.  His research has investigated the health status of people who live near surface coal mining sites in Appalachia, and other environmental exposure topics. Michael will collaborate with researchers at the University of Newcastle on studies of possible health consequences of exposure to coal mining in Australia, and he will pursue additional studies using data from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health.

Professor Renee Newman Knake Distinguished Chair

Renee earned her JD from the University of Chicago Law School in 1999. After practicing in corporate law firms and government, she became a professor at Michigan State University in 2006, where she founded an award-winning law laboratory devoted to entrepreneurship and innovation. In 2016, she became the Doherty Chair in Legal Ethics and Professor of Law at the University of Houston Law Center. Among her scholarly interests, Renee researches innovations in the regulation of legal services.  She is the author of numerous books and articles regularly cited in leading journals and featured in media including the Wall Street Journal, Christian Science Monitor, Forbes and CNN. She served as Reporter for the American Bar Association Commission on the Future of Legal Services and is an elected member of the American Law Institute. While at RMIT University, Renee will research Australian innovations in legal services delivery to expand access to justice.

Professor William Schonberg Distinguished Chair

William is a professor of engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology with over 30 years’ research and teaching experience in the areas of hypervelocity impact and penetration mechanics. The results of his research have been applied to a variety of engineering problems, including development of spacecraft protection systems and analyzing response of munitions to bullet impact. The ultimate objective of William’s work is to enhance the safety of the people of Australia and the U.S. When integrated by the DST Group in its programs, the models developed will aid in experimental planning, facilitate quick comparisons of armour types, allow rapid evaluations of armour vulnerabilities, and act as inputs to vulnerability and lethality evaluation tools. The result will be a more robust set of algorithms that will maintain the preeminence of both the DST Group and the U.S. Army in the area of vehicle survivability and armor development.

Professor Donald S Shepard Distinguished Chair

Don is Professor at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University, and directs its Cost and Value Group.  His research examines methods and applications of cost and cost-benefit analysis in the United States and globally, focusing on incentives and major diseases (e.g., tuberculosis, malaria, dengue, HIV/AIDS, and heart disease).  He co-developed the QALY (Quality-Adjusted Life Year), served on a Scientific Technical Advisory Group for the World Health Organization, and is a Fellow of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.  He holds MPP and PhD degrees in public policy from Harvard University and has published 3 books and 200 peer-reviewed papers. Under his Fulbright award, Don will collaborate with South Australia’s government on an economic evaluation and on financing options for the State’s new sterile insect program, designed to maintain the State’s agricultural economy.  Don will also examine possible lessons for dengue control globally.

Professor Brian Silliman Distinguished Chair

Brian holds both BA and MS degrees from the University of Virginia, and completed his PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Brown University. He was a Visiting Professor with the Royal Netherlands Society of Arts and elected as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2016. Brian has published over 160 papers and co-edited 5 books. His teaching and research are focused on community ecology, conservation and restoration, global change, plant–animal interactions, and evolution and ecological consequences of cooperative behaviour.
For his scholarship, Brian will collaborate with scientists at CSIRO to increase yields and success in restoration of marine ecosystems such as coral reefs by harnessing mutualistic species interactions in planting designs.

Professor Ray Taras Distinguished Chair

Born and educated in Montreal, Ray Taras completed postgraduate studies at European universities. Beginning in the 1980s he authored and edited books on such subjects as the collapse of the USSR; Russia’s identity in international relations; the making of liberal and illiberal nationalisms; internationalization of ethnic conflicts; fear, xenophobia and Islamophobia in Europe; critiques of multiculturalism; the impact of fear on foreign policy; reworked understandings of nationhood in a globalized world; and early in his career, the language debate in Quebec. He held posts in North American and European universities including Harvard, Stanford, Michigan, Vermont, the European University Institute, Aalborg, Malmö, Warsaw, and Sussex. In 2019 he is Fulbright Distinguished Chair at the Australian National University in Canberra where his work focuses on measuring social cohesion – a process in which nativists, indigenous peoples and recent migrants work together to build prosperous, creative and robust societies. Ray’s home is in Salt Lake City and his passions include world literature, skiing, skating, running, and border collies.

Distinguished Professor Jon Adams Senior Scholars

Jon has over 20 years’ experience leading multidisciplinary health research across many countries and communities. Jon is currently Distinguished Professor of Public Health and Director of the Australian Research Centre in Complementary and Integrative Medicine at the University of Technology Sydney – the only national research centre worldwide focusing upon the public health and health services research of complementary and integrative health care.

Jon will use his Fulbright Scholarship to examine the challenges and opportunities around integrative health care provision for the underserved and he looks forward to drawing upon his U.S. experience to help transform care for the benefit of those with chronic illness in vulnerable communities across Australia.

Professor Craig Baillie Senior Scholars

Craig is the Director of the Centre for Agricultural Engineering and the Deputy Executive Director of the Institute for Advanced Engineering and Space Sciences at the University of Southern Queensland (USQ). Craig’s research is focused on farming systems innovation and technology solutions to improve farm productivity and profitability. Specifically this research includes innovative farming systems and practices, energy efficiency, bioresources, irrigation modernisation, precision agriculture and automation. Craig is also involved in major initiatives and collaborative research with Deere and Company in the USA on new and innovative farming technologies.

Craig’s Fulbright Scholarship will establish collaborative research opportunities between USQ, Texas A&M, Deere and Company as well as other research institutions in the United States. The collaboration will align agricultural research and technology developments in areas such as automation, precision agriculture and energy independence, which meet the future needs of both countries as well as broader global demands. This work will establish research initiatives whereby Australian agriculture has first access to emerging agricultural technologies. Craig’s vision is for Australia to be a global incubator for agricultural technologies by working with the United States.

Dr Renee Bartolo Senior Scholars

Renee is a Principal Research Scientist with the Supervising Scientist Branch, Department of the Environment and Energy, and is currently the Team Leader of the Ecosystem Restoration and Landform Group. The Supervising Scientist Branch is responsible for providing independent science advice on the rehabilitation of Ranger Uranium Mine, including the development of environmental standards and monitoring programs. Renee has established a leading practice drone program to undertake these activities.

Renee will use her Fulbright Scholarship to develop guidelines for the effective use of drones in environmental assessment and monitoring in collaboration with the National Unmanned Aerial System Project Office, United States Geological Survey, with a view to establish a long-term exchange of capabilities and knowledge. This project aims to address the gap between research and development in the application of drones and their operational use in measuring and monitoring the environment, particularly in government agencies.

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.

Marianne Boruch Senior Scholars

American poet Marianne Boruch has published nine books of poetry, three essay collections, and a memoir about hitchhiking. Her work appears in The New York Review of Books, Poetry, The New Yorker, and elsewhere. Her honors include a Guggenheim fellowship and two from the National Endowment for the Arts; visiting artist residencies at the Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Center, the American Academy in Rome, and national parks Denali and Isle Royale; Pushcart Prizes and the Kingsley-Tufts Award. Founder/first director of Purdue University’s Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, Boruch taught three decades there, retiring recently as Emeritus Professor. She remains on faculty in the MFA Program at Warren Wilson College. As Fulbright Senior Lecturer at the University of Canberra’s International Poetry Studies Institute, she’ll research the dazzling natural world of Australia to write a neo-mediaeval bestiary under the shadow of climate change, a poetic sequence of real and imagined animals.

Douglas A Boyd PhD Senior Scholars

Douglas A. Boyd, PhD, directs the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History at the University of Kentucky. Boyd designed and implemented OHMS, an open source and free tool that synchronizes text with online audio and video. Boyd co-edited the book Oral History and Digital Humanities: Voice, Access, and Engagement, authored the book Crawfish Bottom: Recovering a Lost Kentucky Community, and has published numerous articles about oral history, archives, and digital technologies. Boyd hosts The Wisdom Project podcast and recently produced two documentaries on Kentucky’s bourbon industry.  Boyd received his PhD in folklore from Indiana University and his B.A. in history from Denison University. Boyd’s research explores ways OHMS can work together with a similar digital system designed by the National Library of Australia, elevating international standards and compatibility for enhancing online access to archived oral histories in Australia, the United States, and around the world.

Dr Mary Burrows Senior Scholars

Mary is currently a Professor and Extension Plant Pathologist in Montana. She directs the statewide Integrated Pest Management Program, two diagnostic laboratories, and serves as a liaison between farmers, stakeholder groups, and the university. The Fulbright Senior Scholar award is an opportunity for Mary to learn about spore trapping networks for plant disease prediction. Spore traps are relatively old technology to collect fungal spores from the air on tape or liquid media. High throughput molecular techniques can be used to detect multiple pathogens in a single trap very rapidly. Information on changes in pathogen populations, including fungicide resistance, can help farmers make management decisions in near real-time. Mary will analyse existing data and correlate spore trap results with weather variables for enhanced disease prediction, test spore trapping technology including mobile (car-mounted) spore traps, and work with SARDI staff to enhance coordinated diagnostics and communication with farmers.

Professor Kate Dolan PhD Senior Scholars

Kate is the Head of the Program of International Research and Training at the University of New South Wales. During her Fulbright Scholarship, she will spend six months in Kansas, establishing a formal partnership between her research centre and Kansas State University (K-State). This partnership, as well as the existing partnership with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, will address many of the health issues facing prisoners in the U.S, Australia and in the developing world. Kate will use her time at K-State to build professional networks in the prison health care and research fields, to enhance her knowledge and to commence collaborative projects between the two institutions.

Professor Scott Donne Senior Scholars

Scott earned his BSc (Hons) (1991) and PhD in Chemistry (1996) from the University of Newcastle. Following a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of California, Santa Barbara (1996-1997), and employment with Eveready Battery Company (1998-2001) he returned to his alma mater as the Delta EMD Lecturer in Applied Chemistry (2001). His research interests lie in the materials science and electrochemistry of energy storage and conversion materials and his Fulbright Scholarship will be spent collaborating with two noted US scientists and engineers in this field. He will be hosted initially by Dr Chris Johnson at Argonne National Laboratory to collaborate on the development of advanced materials used to power electric vehicles, and then by Professor Bruce Dunn at UCLA to collaborate on the mechanistic understanding of energy storage in electrochemical capacitors. This opportunity will allow Scott to make significant advances in the field, as well as develop ongoing collaborations.

Professor Philip Dwyer Senior Scholars

Philip Dwyer is Professor of History and the founding Director of the Centre for the History of Violence at the University of Newcastle. His Fulbright will allow him to develop his ideas around one of the most pressing issues in the modern world, violence and gun violence in particular, by comparing and contrasting two very similar cultures and societies, Australia and the U.S. The Fulbright will thus enable him to research changing attitudes to violence in the U.S. over time, and the conditions that can lead to outbreaks of violence.

Based at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the Fulbright Scholarship will allow Philip to continue collaborating with Professor Mark Micale, to share and exchange knowledge and skills with other scholars at Urbana-Champaign and, importantly, to facilitate the establishment of collaborative opportunities for continuing research into the origins and causes of violence in the U.S. and Australia.

Dr Michael Fahey Senior Scholars

Michael is an Associate Professor at Monash University and Head of Paediatric Neurology at Monash Children’s Hospital.  Thanks to the genomic revolution, Michael is harnessing genetic technologies to better understand complex neurological diseases—aiming to cure rather than treat those diseases.

Cerebral palsy (CP) is the most common disability in childhood affecting more than 800,000 Americans and Australians. Current knowledge suggests the origins of CP are multifactorial, with a substantial body of evidence indicating that around 30% of people with CP have an underlying genetic disorder.

As a child neurologist and clinical geneticist, Michael has spent more than a decade working to diagnose and treat people with neurogenetic conditions. The Fulbright scholarship enables Michael to work at the University of Arizona where he will combine world-leading neuroimaging data from the CSIRO with contemporary genomic techniques to better characterise the genetic changes that lead to CP. In the emerging era of precision medicine, where therapies are increasingly tailored to an individual genomic variation, understanding this data will lead to personalised treatment.

Kevin Robert Gurney Senior Scholars

Kevin earned his BA in Physics from the University of California, Berkeley in 1986, an MS in Atmospheric Science from the Massachusetts of Technology in 1990, an MPP from the University of California, Berkeley in 1996, and a PhD in Ecology from Colorado State University in 2004. He has conducted research in carbon cycle science, climate science, and climate science policy. Recently, he has focused on a project called “Hestia” which calculates detailed maps of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, the most potent greenhouse gas causing climate change, for four US cities. Kevin hopes to collaborate with researchers at the University of Melbourne in creating a Hestia treatment for the city of Melbourne and thereby take a first step towards a global network of Hestia cities. Through collaboration with the city, the research will not only contribute to improved scientific understanding of urban CO₂ sources but enable practical emission reduction policy.

Associate Professor Eric Knight Senior Scholars

Eric is Associate Professor in Innovation and Strategic Management, and Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research – Enterprise & Engagement), at the University of Sydney. His work focuses on how organizations formulate and implement strategies, with a specific focus on the challenges associated with enabling strategic change and fostering new forms of regional innovation. His studies have covered firm performance in diverse settings including biotechnology, clean energy finance, fin-tech, and advanced manufacturing.

During his Fulbright tenure, Eric will collect data for a multi-case study examining the role of university research environments in fostering different types of industrial and economic development. The outcomes will inform scholarship on patterns of competition and cooperation in the fields of strategic management and regional innovation. He will also foster deeper knowledge exchange between universities in Australia and the United States, especially in the areas of large-scale Research & Development partnerships with industry, IP commercialization, and entrepreneurship education.

Professor Lois R Lupica Senior Scholars

Professor Lois R. Lupica’s recent research has focused on access to justice, consumer credit, and bankruptcy law. She is an affiliated faculty member of the Harvard Law School Access to Justice Lab and Co-Principal Investigator of the Financial Distress Research Study. Professor Lupica is also the Principal Investigator of the Apps for Justice Project, where she has developed an array of technology-based legal self-help tools.  She is a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy and her work has appeared in leading law reviews. Professor Lupica will use her Fulbright award to critically examine the Australian legal services’ structure, priorities, and methods of service delivery for underserved populations. She will study the effectiveness of recently implemented programmatic innovations designed to address the access to civil justice crisis in Australia with the future goal of working with U.S. institutions to scale and replicate best practices.

Dr Julie McIntyre Senior Scholars

Julie studies the emergence of the growing, making, selling and drinking of wine in Australia and how these pursuits have shaped regional communities, and a national industry and ethos, in global contexts. She is a Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Newcastle where she leads an international multidisciplinary network of wine studies researchers linked to the Centre for 21^st Century Humanities.

As a Fulbright Scholar Julie will be based for three months at the Shields Library, University of California, Davis. This library’s archive contains the world’s largest collection of faculty, professional and private papers on wine science, industry and culture. Julie will explore collections that contain evidence of exchange in science for industry between America and Australia since the 1950s. She will highlight how these binational transfers of skills and expertise were formative for the modern wine industry and use this material to create new teaching resources.

Jane Melville Senior Scholars

Jane is the Senior Curator of Terrestrial Vertebrates at Museums Victoria in Melbourne, where she oversees herpetology (reptiles and amphibians) research. She has more than 25 years of experience in research on evolution, genetics, conservation and taxonomy of reptiles and amphibians. Her research focusses on advancing integrative approaches to understand biological diversity and how we can better conserve our unique fauna into the future.

Jane will use her Fulbright scholarship to conduct collaborative research at the Living Earth Collaborative at Washington University in St Louis. She will undertake a case study to develop an integrative approach to improving understanding of species diversity and complete an assessment of the potential contribution of improved biodiversity knowledge, through taxonomy, on conservation outcomes for Australian lizards. The project will provide significant advances in the conservation management of Australian biodiversity into the future, from methodological development to practical implementation.

Dr Wayne D Pennington Senior Scholars

Wayne Pennington is a Dean and Professor Emeritus and a Research Professor of Geophysical Engineering at Michigan Technological University.  His area of expertise is geophysics, particularly seismology as related to hazards and to oil and gas exploration and development.  His career has spanned academics, industry, and (for one year as a Jefferson Science Fellow) government service.  He has also served professional societies as the President of the American Geoscience Institute and as Vice President for the Society of Exploration Geophysicists. He retired from his position as Dean of Engineering in the summer of 2018, to spend time in research and international collaboration. Wayne will spend four months at Curtin refining geophysical methods of observing and quantifying the depletion of oil and gas fields and the filling of CO2-sequestration reservoirs, combining observations from existing sites with theoretical predictions and laboratory measurements.

Madelyn Shaw Senior Scholars

Madelyn Shaw is currently the Curator of Textiles at the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, in Washington, DC.  Her project focuses on the online exhibition component of a larger study, in collaboration with Griffith Film School’s Professor Trish FitzSimons, titled Fabric of War: The Global Wool Trade From Crimea to Korea. The project traces how the development of wool exports in Australia and New Zealand contributed to and benefited from the industrialization of wool textile production in Europe and the U.S., and how both shaped global military needs and new fibre technologies. When complete, it will combine film, material culture, and digital media, providing a new model for international exhibitions. Madelyn brings to this collaboration 30 years of experience as a museum curator and author, specialising in the exploration of American history and culture through textiles and dress. She is grateful for this opportunity to use new technologies to engage a contemporary audience in understanding the global effects of local stories.

Professor James A. Smith Senior Scholars

James is a Father Frank Flynn Fellow at Menzies School of Health Research, and holds honorary academic appointments at the University of Sydney, Curtin University, Charles Darwin University and the University of Saskatchewan. His applied research interests have spanned alcohol harm minimisation, Indigenous health/education, health literacy, and men’s health. James is a Fellow of the Australian Health Promotion Association, current Editor-in-Chief of the Health Promotion Journal of Australia, and an Editorial Advisory Board member of the International Journal of Men’s Social and Community Health.

James’ Fulbright project will focus on synthesising global evidence to improve health promotion strategies aimed at reducing health inequities among young black men. This will involve learning from recent achievements in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander male health in Australia, and comparing these with strategies adopted in African-American and Native American men’s health contexts in the U.S. This work will enhance international men’s health policy discourses.

Michael J Socolow Senior Scholars

Michael Socolow is a media historian and author of Six Minutes in Berlin: Broadcast Spectacle and Rowing Gold at the Nazi Olympics.  He was awarded the 2018 Broadcast Historian Award, given by the Library of American Broadcasting Foundation and the Broadcast Education Association, for Six Minutes in Berlin.  Michael, who earned his BA at Columbia University and Ph.D. at Georgetown University, is a former broadcast journalist who worked as an Assignment Editor for the Cable News Network and as an information manager for the host broadcast organizations at the Barcelona, Atlanta, and Sydney Olympic Games. His scholarship has appeared in such journals as Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, The Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, and Technology & Culture, and he’s written on media history for such journalistic outlets as the New York Times, Washington Post, and Slate. Michael will be hosted in the News and Media Research Centre at the University of Canberra, where he will be researching a project exploring the nexus of sport broadcasting, global radio and national identity in Australian history.

Professor John Triantafilis Senior Scholars

John is an Associate Professor at UNSW Sydney. He leads a small group of PhD and Masters students at #UNSWSoilScienceCentral2018. His research aims to demonstrate how proximal (near soil) and remote sensing data can be used to develop digital soil maps in cotton areas of central (e.g. Trangie and Bourke) and northern (e.g. Wee Waa and Moree) New South Wales as well as in sugarcane fields of far north Queensland (e.g. Mossman, Ingham, Burdekin and Proserpine).

His most recent research has been in the use of proximal sensing electromagnetic (EM) induction instruments and application of inversion software to make two- and three-dimensional images of the soil. This innovative approach has been used to monitor soil moisture beneath irrigation systems in Cordoba (Spain) and California (USA) and map salinity and clay content in developing countries such as India (Karnal, Haryana) and Thailand (Khon Kaen), respectively.

In 2020, and as part of his Fulbright Futures Scholarship (funded by the Kinghorn Foundation), John will continue his research while at the University of Arizona (Prof Ty Ferre), Texas A & M (Prof Mark Everett and Prof Cristine Morgan) and University of Wisconisn-Madison (Prof Alfred Hartemink and Assistant Prof Jingyi Huang) with particular emphasis on studying problems of water use efficiency in irrigated systems and the impact of rising water tables and sea levels to monitor soil salinity.

He envisages that working with these scientists and their PhD students, various comparative studies can be undertaken with results leading to the publication of scientific papers in high impact geophysics, hydrological and soil science journals. In practical terms, application of the methods will provide farmers information to improve water use efficiency and soil use and management.

Professor Mark Trotter Senior Scholars

Mark grew up on a dairy farm on the mid-north coast of NSW where he developed a passion for agriculture and life-long goal of helping farmers become more productive, efficient and sustainable. He is an Associate Professor in Precision Livestock at CQUniversity Australia and focuses his research on sensor technologies for animals and pastures.

Mark’s Fulbright project will explore how data from GPS tracking and behavioural sensors on livestock can be integrated with satellite imagery of the pastures or rangelands being grazed. The project will be undertaken in two very different environments: the first in Ohio where soils are fertile and rainfall plentiful; and the second in New Mexico, where desert rangelands dominate. The outcomes will provide farmers with a deeper understanding of the way in their cattle or sheep are using the pasture and landscape, enabling them to make better decisions to increase production efficiency and reduce environmental impacts such as overgrazing.

Dan Ventura Senior Scholars

Dan Ventura is a Professor and Director of the Machine Intelligence and Discovery (MIND) Lab in the Computer Science Department at Brigham Young University.  He and his students aspire to build artificial intelligence (AI) systems that perform tasks or solve problems in ways that would be considered creative by an unbiased observer.  In visiting the School of Art and Design at UNSW, Dan hopes to explore how such systems can positively impact society.  In particular, he looks forward to exploring the possibility of building AI systems that, for example, produce new ideas; or act as a kind of “objective” lens through which culture can be understood; or help resolve ethical questions.  Dan also hopes to incorporate a significant level of social engagement, providing the opportunity for public education and facilitating the public’s understanding of AI and its beneficial potential.

Dr Joyce Wu Senior Scholars

Joyce is a Research Fellow at the Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University. She is dedicated to women’s rights and gender equality, and has worked in domestic violence services in Australia, as well as managing the South and South East Asian regions of the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women. Her PhD was on the role of men and boys in promoting equality and ending gender-based violence in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Timor Leste. Joyce has also worked on gender equity and water resource management in South Asia, through the 12-year program, Sustainable Development Investment Portfolio, which is funded by the Australian Government.

For her Fulbright Senior Scholarship (funded by Kansas State University), Joyce will be based at the Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies Department, researching on how the University’s gender mainstreaming and diversity efforts can be replicated within the Australian universities’ context.

Dr Andrew Carr Professional Scholars

Andrew is a Senior Lecturer in the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at the Australian National University. His research focuses on strategy, middle powers and Australian defence policy. His work has been published in the Journal of Strategic Studies, Asia Policy, and Australian Journal of International Affairs, along with books with Oxford University Press and Georgetown University Press. Dr Carr is the editor of the Centre of Gravity policy paper series.

For his Fulbright, Andrew will be based in Washington D.C, to visit archives and speak to policymakers. Andrew will explore how the United States thought about and contributed to Australia’s defence of its territory in the 1940s and 1980s. In today’s environment of increasing strategic tension, this project will assist the development of Australian defence policy and the management of expectations and responsibilities in the Australia-United States alliance.

Adam Davids Professional Scholars

Adam is a proud Aboriginal Australian and descendant of the Wiradjuri people in western New South Wales. As the Director, Learning at CareerTrackers he is supporting thousands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to obtain a university degree, pursue professional employment, become leaders of industry and role models for future generations.

Adam will use his Fulbright Scholarship to analyse the pathway to generate sustainable jobs for under-represented minorities by studying leading NGO’s and historic institutions in the U.S. His host organisation, INROADS, was founded in 1970 to address the under-representation of minorities in the boardrooms of Corporate America and has more than 28,000 graduates that have gone on to executive positions with over 1,000 major corporations.

As a Fulbright Scholar, Adam will build a Global Alliance between INROADS, CareerTrackers and other NGO’s across the U.S. to create a professional jobs consortium for under-represented minorities and unlock ongoing collaboration with a vision to elevate the social and economic impact of organisations and their beneficiaries.

Beth Eggleston Professional Scholars

Beth is a co-founding director at Humanitarian Advisory Group, a social enterprise delivering leading-edge research and advice to enable the humanitarian sector to perform at its best. Previously, Beth has held a number of key coordination roles in a range of peace operations and humanitarian response contexts, including three years in Afghanistan where she developed and implemented guidance on how aid agencies and military forces can best coordinate.

Beth will use her Fulbright Scholarship to spend three months at the US Naval War College’s Civil-Military Humanitarian Response Program. There she will explore how to improve international response to humanitarian crises, both in how aid is delivered and how civilians are protected, with a focus on civil-military interaction. This opportunity will enable Beth to further bridge the divide between these two very different worlds, so that civilians who are caught up in war and disaster can receive assistance and protection more effectively.

Vinita Godinho Professional Scholars

Vinita is the General Manager of Advisory Services at Good Shepherd Microfinance, Australia’s largest microfinance provider which aims to enable economic well-being for people on low incomes, especially women and girls. She will use her Fulbright Professional Coral Sea Scholarship to spend three months at the Center for Financial Inclusion in Washington DC, working with their researchers and partners to explore behaviourally-informed financial solutions for those on low incomes, in particular how to motivate families to save more and borrow less.

Vinita also plans to share her learnings about the unique challenges of financial services provision in remote Australia, particularly amongst Indigenous communities, and foster ongoing partnerships with both academics and practitioners. Her Fulbright Scholarship will therefore facilitate the ongoing sharing of best-practice approaches to financial inclusion and capability-building, between the United States and the Asia-Pacific region.

Dr Paul Harpur Professional Scholars

Dr Harpur is currently a senior lecturer with the TC Beirne School of Law at the University of Queensland.  He became blind following a train accident at the age of 14 and found himself disabled by society.  The question of why barriers to ability exist and how they can be removed has evolved into an impressive academic and advocacy career for Paul.

Harpur will use his Fulbright Future Scholarship to spend 3 months between the Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University and Harvard University to collect data and build relationships between Australian and US advocates and researchers involved with the development and promotion of design that is accessible to everyone in society, whether they be able or disabled.  Harpur’s research project aims to combat ableism’s influence on human life, so that in the future different ability is not associated with disablement, but instead is accepted as a part of human diversity.

Captain Zach Lambert Professional Scholars

Captain Lambert is an active duty Army officer who recently served on the divisional staff and is now instructing at the Australian Defence Force Academy. He has significant regimental and operational experience, primarily within the Pacific region, and holds several degrees from the University of New South Wales in Canberra.

Captain Lambert will use his Fulbright professional scholarship in United States – Australian Alliance Studies to conduct research with a variety of governmental and industry partners. This research will explore the challenges and impacts of competition versus cooperation within the allied context on an Australian mobilisation effort. It will enable better use of Australian defence industry investment and strengthen the longstanding alliance ties between the United States and Australia.

Louise Robinson Professional Scholars

Louise is Executive Director of Vocational Education and Deputy Chair of Academic Board at RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia. In these roles, she blends her strong commercial skills gained in over 20 years of professional services leadership from global advisory firms with knowledge of multisector skills education.

Louise is responsible for maintaining the relationships between RMIT University and key local, national and international, regulatory and employment stakeholders.  Her portfolio includes the management of government contracts, leading vocational education strategy, sustaining industry partnerships, fostering innovation projects for digital developments, growth targets and workforce capabilities, as well as overseeing the compliance and quality assurance of the delivery of Vocational Education programs.

Louise was an integral part of the team who devised the “2020 Ready for Life and Work” RMIT strategic plan.  In 2017 she completed her International Specialised Skills Institute Fellowship where she undertook international research at RMIT Europe on how RMIT can better provide disadvantaged cohorts and build pathways into employment, education or enterprise.

Olivia Shen Professional Scholars

Olivia holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Sydney and a Master of Public Policy from the Australian National University, where she graduated top of her class. In 2013, Olivia was a Congressional Research Fellow at the United States Senate. In 2015, Olivia was the Thawley Scholar at the Lowy Institute and the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
With a decade of experience in the public service, Olivia is currently the Director of Domestic Counter-Terrorism Policy in the Department of Home Affairs.

Olivia is interested in the nexus between technology and national security and will use her time in the U.S. to meet with think tanks, academics and industry experts to explore the ethical and policy challenges of artificial intelligence. She hopes her research will inform an Australian national strategy on AI and forge new AI partnerships between Australia and the United States.

Dr Jeremy Baldwin Postdoctoral Scholars

Jeremy is a post-doctoral researcher in the field of tissue engineering and cancer research at the Centre in Regenerative Medicine in Brisbane. In 2015 Jeremy received an ANZ Board of Trustees scholarship to complete a PhD at the Queensland University of Technology focusing on bone tissue engineering. In addition to his doctoral studies he also completed a master of research management and commercialisation. In 2018 he received both an Endeavour Research Fellowship and a Sir Winston Churchill Fellowship to complete post-doctoral training in the field of immunology. Jeremy hopes to combine his background in both tissue engineering and immunology to help translate the next generation of cancer immunotherapies from the lab to the clinic.

During his Fulbright Future Scholarship, Jeremy will work at the National Institute of Health focusing on metabolically reprogramming T-cells for applications in cancer immunotherapies. The metabolic activity of a cell is controlled by tiny organelles, called mitochondria, which act like batteries providing the cells with energy to function. Improving mitochondrial content and activity has been shown to increase the long-term survival and anti-tumour activity of T-cells.

Dr Tim Connell Postdoctoral Scholars

Tim is a postdoctoral research fellow based at the Polaritonics Laboratory at RMIT University in Melbourne. After completing his PhD at the University of Melbourne in 2015, Tim held a postdoctoral fellowship at the Commonwealth Science and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), where he maintains active collaborations.

Tim will use his Fulbright Future Scholarship to undertake research in the laboratory of Professor Stefan Bernhard at Carnegie Mellon University, with the aim of developing a sustainable system for the solar generation of hydrogen. Worldwide efforts to power modern society sustainably have afforded great advances in renewable electricity (e.g. solar, hydro, wind), but we remain reliant on chemical fuels including oil and natural gas. Hydrogen is an emerging alternative fuel source. Tim will employ a novel ‘big data’ approach in his research, using automated robotics and artificial intelligence to dramatically increase the discovery rate of novel materials for efficient, sustainable hydrogen production.

Dr Simon Cook Postdoctoral Scholars

Simon is an Early Career Research Fellow at Swinburne University of Technology. With a background in in microbiology and bacterial pathogenesis, Simon was awarded his PhD in 2014 from the University of Wollongong. Thereafter, Simon took a rather interesting career turn after a ‘Grand Challenges’ call from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for a ‘Next Generation Condom that significantly preserves or enhances pleasure, in order to improve uptake and regular use’. Simon is now lead investigator at Swinburne on ‘Project Geldom’ which aims to replace latex with better feeling novel tough hydrogel materials. Central to the development of this hydrogel condom is a user driven design process which has been established to understand the core barriers to regular condom usage and user preference.

Simon will work at the Kinsey Institute with leading experts in sexual health and reproduction research to continue development of the next-generation hydrogel condom. He will undertake user acceptance profiling in the US and generate data to support regulatory clearance to accelerate uptake and use of the hydrogel condom to battle the rising rates of STIs, HIV and unplanned pregnancy, globally.

Michael Donovan Postdoctoral Scholars

Michael is a member of the Gumbaynggirr Nation and has been involved in Aboriginal education since 1992, working in schools through to University. He has worked in higher education since 1996 at the Wollotuka institute at the University of Newcastle and Walanga Muru at Macquarie University. A primary focus of his teaching and research is on supporting teachers to better engage with Aboriginal students and the benefits of implementing content about Aboriginal society for all students. Michael is a Life Member of the NSW AECG and a member of the ARC College of Experts.

Michael’s Fulbright Scholarship will involve working in partnership with the Nā Lei Na’auao Alliance charter schools through the Kanu o ka Aina Learning Ohana (KALO) and investigating educational settings that are built on empowerment of Indigenous students through the engagement of Hawaiian cultural values to inform educational success, with a focus on if these pedagogical understandings can be transferred to an Australian context for the benefit of all Australian students.

Dr Mark Fabian Postdoctoral Scholars

Mark recently completed his PhD in economics at the Crawford School of Public Policy, ANU. His research explores the theory and measurement of wellbeing for applications in public policy. His approach is interdisciplinary, drawing on scholarship from psychology, philosophy, anthropology, economics and political theory.

Mark will use his Fulbright Postdoctoral Scholarship to spend 10 months at the Brookings Institution in Washington DC. There he will work with Professor Carol Graham to develop new instruments for measuring subjective well-being in the context of public policy. This context comes with unique challenges. Well-being metrics must be cheap and quick so that they can be included in large-sample social surveys, but they must also be rich enough to encompass the full complexity of well-being and thereby allow researchers to effectively undertake a causal analysis. Mark will pilot new metrics that navigate these challenges.

Dr Taryn Foster Postdoctoral Scholars

Taryn is a postdoctoral fellow at the Australian Institute of Marine Science. Her research focuses on the impacts of climate change on coral biology and ecology. For the past 10 years, Taryn has worked on Western Australian coral reefs, researching coral bleaching, reproduction, growth rates, 3D modelling of coral skeletons, and more recently deep water coral bleaching.

For her Fulbright Postdoctoral Scholarship, Taryn will be working with Dr Rebecca Albright at the California Academy of Sciences on an idea to upscale coral restoration. Coral reefs are suffering from more frequent and extreme coral bleaching events due to climate change. In addition to cutting emissions, restoration is being explored as a means to boost recovery from coral bleaching. However, a major problem in restoration is upscaling to the reef scale. Taryn aims to tackle upscaling by automating current restoration techniques using 3D printing and robotics technology.

Dr Georgina Gurney Postdoctoral Scholars

Georgina is an Environment Social Science Research Fellow at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University. Her research focuses on understanding the sociocultural and institutional conditions that influence opportunities for collaborative environmental governance, and the multiple outcomes of such initiatives. Georgina has undertaken much of her research in the context of coral reef governance in the Asia-Pacific region.

Georgina’s Fulbright Scholarship involves collaborating with researchers and practitioners in the fields of sustainability and environmental governance at the University of Michigan, Harvard University and the Wildlife Conservation Society. The project aims to understand the conditions that give rise to co-benefits and trade-offs among the social and ecological outcomes of environmental governance and to foster the incorporation of this knowledge into on-ground practice. Through understanding what environmental governance interventions work where to achieve sustainability, Georgina hopes her research will contribute to meeting the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Dr James Hamilton Postdoctoral Scholars

James received his B.Eng and PhD degrees from Monash University, Australia (2004) and the University of Tasmania, Australia (2017). He has worked extensively across the renewable energy sector, and is currently a senior research fellow with the Centre for Renewable Energy and Power Systems within the University of Tasmania.

Tasmania is host to some of the world’s most advanced island power systems, with James’ research focus exploring diesel-based enabling technologies for improved renewable utilisation. His work addresses the key barrier for islanded power systems to adopt clean energy technologies, offering improved renewable diesel pairing. His contributions can be seen across Asia Pacific, within many remote and isolated power systems, as they position in preparation for battery storage integration. James is also a director of Renewable Ready, and holds considerable industry experience within the sector.

Through support of the Fulbright Commission and the Kinghorn Foundation James is advancing diesel-based application within North America, with an immediate focus of Hawaii and Alaskan communities.

Dr David Klyne Postdoctoral Scholars

David is a Research Fellow at the Centre of Clinical Research Excellence in Spinal Pain, Injury and Health, at the University of Queensland. His internationally-acclaimed work focuses on understanding the mechanisms that underlie chronic pain, which can be addressed advantageously with clinical intervention. He holds a PhD, Master of Molecular Biology, Doctor of Physiotherapy, and a Bachelor of Applied Science.

For his Fulbright Scholarship, David will work with world leaders in pain medicine at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine (Temple University) to tease out the role of sleep in chronic pain. A particular focus of the research will be to determine whether poor sleep is an important contributor to the development and maintenance of pain, and the biological mechanisms involved. His findings will drive the development of new treatments that aim to prevent and reduce pain with better health outcomes, lower health care costs and increased work productivity.

Dr David Mizrahi Postdoctoral Scholars

David is a researcher and Accredited Exercise Physiologist at UNSW Sydney and the Behavioural Sciences Unit, Sydney Children’s Hospital. For his Fulbright Postdoctoral Scholarship, David will work with Dr Kirsten Ness in the Department of Epidemiology and Cancer Control at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Developing chronic diseases is common among childhood cancer survivors, hence the need to develop models to identify and support those at increased risk of developing chronic disease earlier. David will learn about using large longitudinal datasets that follow childhood cancer survivors to create algorithms that identify survivors at-risk for cardiovascular disease. He will also investigate the role that exercise plays in improving physical and psychological health after a cancer diagnosis. His fellowship aims to build the partnership between Australian and U.S. researchers and strengthen the evidence-base regarding using exercise to prevent chronic disease in this vulnerable population.

Mr Tui Hiraka Nolan Postdoctoral Scholars

Tui Nolan is a Gudjal man, who grew up in Sydney. He has completed a Master of Science and is currently completing a PhD in Statistics at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS).  He has also won numerous awards for academic excellence throughout his studies. His research in Physics, Statistics and Mathematics has been applied in determining the major factors preventing Indigenous Australians from entering the driver licensing system through The George Institute for Global Health, which was the basis for the New South Wales Driver Licensing Access Program. During his time interning for the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) he used his mathematical and statistical knowledge to replace antiquated methods for determining interest rates and loan cycles. Following from the success with his internship, the RBA set up an Indigenous internship program with CareerTrackers. Tui has mentored Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students as they transition to university through the Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research, the Aboriginal Summer School for Excellence in Technology and Science, Aurora Education Outreach and the Galuwa Science Experience at UTS.

Tui’s Fulbright Future Scholarship will enable him to take up a postdoctoral position at Cornell University. Here he will learn from some of the world’s leading statisticians, constructing new statistical methodologies for the analysis of large and complex data sets that are otherwise difficult or impossible to assess computationally. In particular, his work will involve rigorous mathematics and statistics and strong scientific communication skills. His primary focus will be on the development of novel statistical machine learning algorithms with applications that range from public policy to astronomy.

Dr Prasanga Samarasinghe Postdoctoral Scholars

Prasanga is a Future Engineering Research Leadership Fellow (FERL) in the Audio and Acoustic Signal Processing group at the Research School of Engineering, Australian National University. Much of Prasanga’s research work focuses on spatial audio, room acoustics, microphone and loudspeaker arrays, and noise cancellation.

During her Fulbright Scholarship, Prasanga will focus on room acoustic modelling, which is essential knowledge for a range of audio applications including virtual and augmented reality technologies, surround sound entertainment, and listening aids for the hearing impaired. Together with the PIRL Laboratory at University of Maryland, College Park, she will work towards developing a data-driven approach to model the room response between directional transducers or simply any acoustic environment of interest.  The project anticipates to result in commercial outcomes taking a step forward in enhancing the way we consume audio.

Dr Benedict Scambary Postdoctoral Scholars

Ben is an anthropologist with nearly 30 years’ experience working with Aboriginal people in Australia’s Northern Territory. He has an extensive background in land claims, native title claims, cultural heritage protection, dispute mediation and agreement making, particularly in the context of mining and resource development in Australia’s remote north. Ben is currently the Chief Executive Officer of the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority, and is responsible for the protection of sacred sites in the Northern Territory.

Ben will use his Fulbright scholarship to continue his research on livelihoods, aspirations, identity, and modes of alternate economic engagement in the context of treaties between American First Nations and the state with a focus on natural resource development projects.  He will be based in the Anthropology Department at Columbia University in New York. He intends to forge research and collaboration opportunities as the Northern Territory embarks on the negotiation of a Treaty.

Dr Ben Sparkes Postdoctoral Scholars

Ben is an ARC DECRA Fellow at the University of Adelaide’s Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing. For his Fulbright Future Scholarship, Ben will work in the lab of Professor Alexander Gaeta at Columbia University, bringing together Australia’s pioneering work in atom-light interactions with Columbia’s world-leading expertise in mixing multi-coloured light fields towards tackling the global challenge of cybersecurity. Ben’s project aims to develop a technology which will increase the range of quantum-secured fibre information networks. This work has the potential to provide a quantum-leap forwards in data security for both countries’ government, defence, business and broader communities.

Ben is also a passionate STEM advocate and will use his Scholarship to engage with a wide range of American students through his Laser Radio outreach activity, teaching valuable practical skills while communicating the joy and wonder of science.

Dr Vi Khanh Truong Postdoctoral Scholars

Khanh completed his PhD at Swinburne University of Technology in 2012. Following his PhD, he commenced a postdoctoral position working with the Cooperative Research Centre for Polymers, where his focus was on the development of novel biopolymers to assist with sustainable agricultural in Australia. His current fellowship (ARC Research Hub for Australian Steel Manufacturing) develops antifungal materials used for steel. His knowledge extends from the design of smart and functional materials to the understanding of cellular interactions with nanomaterials.

Microbial infections are a threat to human health. Microbes can rapidly develop resistance to common market-ready drugs, hence novel approaches are required to complement these drugs. This Fulbright Scholarship allows Khanh to work with Professor Michael Dickey at North Carolina State University, developing novel non-drug-based approaches using liquid metals. These materials are known to produce shape-transformable, microbiocidal properties.

Dr Sajeda Tuli Postdoctoral Scholars

Sajeda is an urban planning scholar, currently working at the Institute of Governance and Policy Analysis in the University of Canberra. She has worked on the economic development, migration, spatial analysis, benchmarking and index development, environmental issues and urban planning policies of Australian cities and regions. Sajeda completed her PhD recently on Migration and the knowledge city: a case study of Melbourne, Australia. In 2017, she jointly won a Planning Institute of Australia Award for her research, which created a knowledge cities index for 25 Australian cities.

Sajeda, as a Fulbright Postdoctoral Scholar, will spend most of her time at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, investigating the interactions between knowledge capital and social vulnerability through a comparative study on the U.S. and Australian cities. Findings will inform policymakers and planning stakeholders on how the cities in the developed world should be prepared for the dual challenges of technological shifts and social vulnerability.

Hyab Mehari Abraha Postgraduate Students

Hyab is undertaking a PhD at the Moving Morphology and Functional Mechanics Laboratory, led by Dr Olga Panagiotopoulou at Monash University’s Biomedicine Discovery Institute. Hyab’s project examines the effects of lower jaw fracture repair techniques on the mechanics of chewing. Lower jaw (mandibular) fractures account for a significant proportion of overall facial injuries, both in Australia and worldwide. To successfully optimize mandibular fixations, and to minimize postoperative complications, surgeons require a clear understanding of how these interventions affect the biomechanics of the jaw. To date, this area remains under-researched, and it represents a considerable opportunity for developing data-driven, scientifically validated techniques that lead to more positive patient outcomes.

During her Fulbright Fellowship, Hyab will be working at the Ross Lab, in the Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy at the University of Chicago. Using Professor Ross’ world-renowned expertise and his lab’s excellent facilities, Hyab will analyse the 3D motion and strain dynamics of the mandible during chewing. The data she collects will be used to create validated, subject-specific computer models that can then be used to analyse the effects of surgical interventions on jaw biomechanics. Her findings will be a key milestone in refining our understanding of surgical treatment for jaw fracture and may lead to significant improvements in terms of both treatment cost-effectiveness and patient outcomes.

Graham Akhurst Postgraduate Students

Graham is an Aboriginal writer and academic hailing from the Kokomini of Northern Queensland. He has been published in Mascara Literary Review and Westerly for creative non-fiction, and the Australian Book Review, Cordite, VerityLa, Off the Coast (Maine America), Red Ink (Arizona State University Press) Australian Poetry Journal, and Artlines for poetry. He contributed to the Brisbane Poetry Map (2015) and was the poet of the week for the Australian Book Review in early April 2016. Graham has been a featured reader at the Queensland Poetry Festival, Clancestry, Woodford Folk Festival, UQ Art Museum, Queensland Art Gallery, Ruckus Slam, and Dark Mofo. Graham’s poetry was exhibited alongside contemporary Indigenous photography and published in the catalogue for UQ Art Museum’s Over the Fence. exhibition. He was also the first featured seasonal artist for QAGOMA’s Australian Collection. Graham received an Australia Council Grant for the creation of new work to complete his debut novel Borderland, which will be published with Hachette in 2019. He is also a participant in Australia Council for the Arts Future Leaders Program for 2018. Graham was a participant on the Aurora study tour in 2015. He was valedictorian of his graduating year (2014) and completed his writing honours with a first class result at The University of Queensland (2015). He is currently enrolled in an MPhil of Creative Writing at UQ with an APA scholarship. Graham also teaches Indigenous Studies at the University of Queensland.

Graham will use his time in America to write his second novel through a Master of Fine Arts Program. He hopes to engage in a cultural exchange with first nations people in America while also exposing and establishing a foreign readership for Indigenous Australian works of literature

Victoria Austin Postgraduate Students

Victoria is a PhD candidate researching the structure and function of female superb lyrebird vocalisations at the Lab of Animal Ecology at the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University. For her Fulbright Scholarship, Victoria will learn cutting edge song analysis techniques with Professor Mike Webster at Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Female song is widespread in song birds, but there is limited understanding of its function both independently and in relation to males. Hypotheses proposed in recent research have yet to be empirically tested and field-based studies are urgently needed. Using a comprehensive field-based study of female superb lyrebirds accompanied with detailed acoustic analysis, Victoria aims to identify sex-specific ecological and social drivers of elaborate female vocalisations, and account for variation in song within and between females. Her research will contribute to the understanding of both the evolution of bird song and the behavioural ecology of this iconic Australian species.

Edmund Ruo Fan Bao Postgraduate Students

Edmund is a solicitor at King & Wood Mallesons, where he specialises in complex corporate governance and regulatory matters including multinational anti-corruption and bribery, cross-border fraud and money-laundering investigations, as well as civil litigation and international arbitration matters. He has written and published articles, commentaries, book chapters and delivered conference presentations on international anti-corruption conventions, jurisprudence, corruption in international investment arbitration, the use of international arbitration in derivative instruments and emergency arbitration procedures. Edmund was also previously awarded the World Bank Integrity Vice Presidency Fellowship, the Permanent Court of Arbitration Fellowship and the ANU Frohlich Scholarship.

Edmund hopes to use his Fulbright Scholarship to undertake a comparative study of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and Australia’s anti-corruption regime, and their intersection with sociological jurisprudence. He aims to explore the trans-nationalisation of global anti-corruption frameworks and their effect on regional investment initiatives such as China’s Belt and Road Project.

Timothy Blomfield Postgraduate Students

Studying economics at the University of Sydney, Tim became fascinated with the complexity of our global economic system and the two things that make it so exciting – humans and technology. Tim set out to understand our economy better as a macroeconomic forecaster at the Australian Treasury, before his curiosity for human psychology and neuroscience led him to a role with the Behavioural Economics Team of the Australian Government (BETA) at the Department of Prime Minister & Cabinet.

Tim published BETA’s work with energy consumers in the Behavioral Economics Guide 2018 and his research nudging consumers to make smarter energy decisions has sparked a passion for combining behavioural science and technology to solve some of the biggest challenges facing our global society. As a Fulbright Future Scholar, Tim will study a combined Masters of Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and Masters of Business Administration at MIT Sloan. Tim’s focus will be on how companies and governments can work together to leverage new tech and a solid understanding of human behaviour to deal with some of the biggest risks to Australia’s future, like how we adapt to climate change and future-proof our workforce in the age of artificial intelligence.

Liam Brownlie Postgraduate Students

Liam recently moved to continue his PhD at the AIBN from Flinders University where he graduated with 1st Class Honours and received a University medal. He is currently applying himself as a visiting researcher at Japan’s National Institute of Materials Science where he develops simple and effective materials and methods for solar cell development.

Liam will use his Fulbright Future Scholarship to continue this work and develop novel, easily processable materials and devices for solar energy production. Current commercial solar cells are rigid and expensive, Liam’s work aims to overcome these issues through the development of flexible solar cells made with inexpensive materials through simple processes to maximise their usefulness and applicability both in industry and society. Liam believes science to be society’s strongest tool for development into the future and places his faith in simple methods that can easily be moved from research to real life.

Dr Khoa Cao Postgraduate Students

Khoa holds an MBBS(Hons)/BMedSc(Hons) from Monash University and is currently a Master of Public Health candidate from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He is an Austin Health doctor and the CEO of HorusAI, a medical AI company previously recognised by the Victorian Government in malaria diagnosis. Khoa has published medical AI research with Professor John Fox at the University of Oxford and formerly interned with IBM Watson Health and the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland under Universal Eye Health Architect Dr Ivo Kocur.

As a Fulbright Future Scholar, Khoa will undertake further postgraduate studies in Biomedical Engineering to develop a deeper understanding of medical technology and strengthen the connections between the Australian and American med-tech ecosystems. In the future, Khoa hopes to harness the power of advanced medical technology to improve health equity for disadvantaged Australians.

Joshua Dunne Postgraduate Students

Joshua graduated from the University of Western Australia in 2018 with a Bachelor of Philosophy (Honours), having written his Honours dissertation on the subject of competing French and Chinese political influence within the North African state of Algeria. Joshua will utilise his Fulbright Scholarship to pursue a Masters’ Degree in International Security, consolidating his understanding of the modern threats and challenges facing states throughout the developing world, while retaining his personal focus on the ever-changing yet always relevant region of the Middle East and North Africa. Joshua hopes to apply his understanding of regional security challenges in a professional setting through a role within the Australian diplomatic corps, drawing upon his passion for interstate relationships and cross-cultural cooperation to help surmount the obstacles and challenges facing the developing world in the 21st century.

Azariah Felton Postgraduate Students

Azariah is a composer and sound artist who specialises in creating music for contemporary dance. He has a Bachelor of Music (Honours) from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts in Perth, where he focused his Honours research on the interaction between post-minimalist music and contemporary dance. Azariah’s compositions for dance have been performed at the Montpellier Dance Festival, Venice Bienalle Danza, and around Australia. His practice involves immersion in the rehearsal and choreographic process of a work, using the tasks and prompts given to the dancers to influence strategies for creation of the score.

Azariah will be continuing his studies in the US, exploring the composition of music for dance in which sonic texture is the primary means of expression rather than more traditionally expressive features of music such as melody and harmony.

Alice Gardoll Postgraduate Students

Alice is a lawyer who is passionate about fighting for vulnerable individuals in Australia’s justice system. She has a particular focus on refugees and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, two of the most marginalised groups in Australian society. Alice has volunteered as a refugee lawyer in Australia and abroad, working with the Refugee Advice & Casework Service (RACS) and in a refugee camp on the island of Samos, Greece. She currently works as a criminal defence lawyer for the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA), and has previously held roles as a commercial litigator at Herbert Smith Freehills and a Tipstaff to the Honourable Justice Margaret Beazley AO, President of the NSW Court of Appeal.

As a Fulbright Scholar, Alice hopes to study a Master of Laws specialising in international law, human rights and refugee law. Her goal is to continue her on the ground legal work and to be a leader in law and policy reform in Australia.

Hugh Johnson Postgraduate Students

Hugh completed a Bachelor of Science and a Bachelor of Engineering (Research and Development) with Honours at the Australian National University in 2018, specialising in electronic engineering, physics and mathematics. He has a strong interest in applying electrical engineering to the biomedical engineering industry, having worked for Cochlear, one of Australia’s leading medical device manufacturers. Hugh aims to enhance his technical and entrepreneurial abilities by completing a Masters of Science in Electrical Engineering at UC Berkleley.

Studying in the United States, with its vast biomedical engineering sector, unparalleled start-up scene and world-class research facilities, will prepare Hugh comprehensively in his goal of expanding the biomedical engineering industry in Australia, as well as bridging the gap between academia and industry.

Angela Leech Postgraduate Students

Angela is a creative projects coordinator and multi-media artist, who works in remote communities and prisons. Recently she has been working with Australian Indigenous Artists, creating Pitjantjatjara Resources and Western Desert bilingual compilation albums. Her interests include developing educational through-care structures for people exiting prison and building better rehabilitative opportunities.

Angela’s art includes animation, sculpture, music, and sound production, receiving several accolades and scholarships this work has lead her across the globe including Rwanda, East Timor and the U.S.

As a Fulbright Scholar, Angela will carry out a Master’s focusing on the role the arts can play in advocating for social justice, developing new bilateral approaches to find bilateral solutions to address the high incarceration rates amongst Indigenous and marginalised populations in both the U.S. and Australia. She is particularly excited to share and learn from her U.S. peers, by developing projects support both countries most vulnerable populations.

Paige Lerman Postgraduate Students

Paige recently graduated from Barnard College with a B.A. in Science, Technology, and Society. Her experience working in the emergency psychiatric unit at Bellevue Hospital in New York City informed her research interest in recovery-oriented mental health care – care that values individuals’ lived experiences, that centers around honouring their rights and legitimizing their needs rather than emphasizing a “cure”. For the past two years, she has examined the various ways in which “recovery” is understood and operationalized across different recovery-oriented frameworks of care. Paige will continue her research into recovery-oriented practices while at Monash University, focusing on the implementation of Advance Directives in psychiatric care. Psychiatric Advance Directives (PADs) enable users of mental health services (“consumers”) to outline their preferences for treatment in the event of a psychiatric crisis that hinders their decision-making capacity. Paige will examine current interventions aimed at increasing consumers’ utilization of PADs, with the goal of better understanding the circumstances surrounding PADs’ low clinical uptake and strengthening their currency in clinical practice. She looks forward to learning about alternative approaches to holistic mental health care and incorporating these lessons into her future career as a physician.

Athina Manakas Postgraduate Students

Athina is a PhD candidate at the University of Sydney. Her research involves antibody engineering to develop novel reagents to recruit a patient’s own immune system to specifically target and kill cancer cells.

A Fulbright Future Scholarship will allow Athina to work with Associate Professor Christoph Rader at the Scripps Research Institute to develop these novel engineered antibody derivatives against Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL). Athina’s project will involve the design and development of antibody derivatives to target CLL cells, and to test their ability to specifically kill cancerous cells. Through her Fulbright Scholarship, Athina will establish a collaboration between The Scripps Research Institute and The University of Sydney for the development of novel immunotherapeutics for cancer therapy. Athina will bring this expertise in antibody engineering and development back to her laboratory in Sydney.

Callum McDiarmid Postgraduate Students

Callum earned a Bachelor of Science (Advanced) with 1st Class honours from the University of Sydney in 2016. He subsequently worked on bird and reptile research projects in Australia and North America, and is now a postgraduate student at Macquarie University in Sydney. His current research uses the two subspecies of a small Australian finch as a model to study speciation, a central component of evolutionary biology.

During his Fulbright program at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Callum will build on his work studying the behaviour and reproduction of these finches by learning and employing powerful next-generation sequencing techniques to address the genomic basis of divergence and hybridisation in this system. On his return to Australia, Callum hopes to share these new skills and perspectives with fellow scientists to advance evolutionary biology research in the genomics era.

Nish Perera Postgraduate Students

Nish earned a Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Laws with 1^st Class honours from the Australian National University, where she was a National Merit Scholar. Subsequently, she volunteered at Asylum Access providing legal representation to asylum seekers through UNHCR, worked as an Associate to the Hon Penfold J at the ACT Supreme court, and is currently a Legal Officer in the Office of International Law in the Attorney-General’s Department. She also volunteers her time with Canberra Community Law and the Australian Red Cross.

With research interests in migration and refugee law and policy, Nish hopes to use her Fulbright scholarship to pursue a Masters of Laws, specialising in international law, refugee law and institutional theory. She hopes that her study and research can be used to contribute to institutional responses to the refugee and migration flows of the future.

James F Peyla Postgraduate Students

James is an aspiring zoologist with interests in ecology, evolution, systematics, behavior, and physiology. His research has focused on the distribution, skin structure, and behavior of cephalopod mollusks. Having interned at a variety of institutions in the United States, including the Marine Biological Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Smithsonian Institution, and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, he is excited to conduct cephalopod research abroad. Under Dr. Zoë Doubleday, he will study the effects of ocean acidification on the giant Australian cuttlefish (Sepia apama) by analyzing a time series of museum specimens spanning decades from collections across Australia. He hopes also to determine the effects of elevated seawater acidity on the development of cuttlefish embryos. The results of his investigations will inform our understanding of the resistance and resilience of marine organisms in the face of global climatic changes.

Holly Ransom Postgraduate Students

Holly Ransom is an expert interrogator of organisational strategy. Elevated by an ability to synthesise complex issues and unpack problems for public discourse, Holly is determined to ensure that accelerated technological capability is deployed for the good of humanity. With undergraduate degrees in Law and a Bachelor of Arts (Economics Major) from the University of Western Australia, Holly’s career has spanned leadership roles across the corporate, non-profit and policy sectors, focusing on organisational change, stakeholder engagement, and leadership development. Holly runs consulting firm Emergent, a company she founded with a specialisation in disruptive strategy and digital innovation, with clients such as P&G, Microsoft, Virgin, Cisco and the AIS. An accomplished company director, Holly was appointed by the Australian Prime Minister to Co-Chair the G20 Youth Summit in 2014, to Co-Chair the United Nations Coalition of Young Women Entrepreneurs in 2016, and was the youngest Director appointed to an Australian Football Club joining Port Adelaide in 2016. Named one of Australia’s 100 Most Influential Women by the Australian Financial Review, Holly was Sir Richard Branson’s nominee for Wired magazine’s ‘Smart List’ of Future Game Changers to watch in 2017.

For her Fulbright Scholarship, Holly will pursue a Masters of Public Policy, with a focus on emerging technology ethics and governance. She is eager to develop strategic policy frameworks to evaluate and balance the economic and commercial technology interests with the social and ethical ramifications, and to evolve institutions to create a more agile and organised technology governance approach.

Dr Sebastian Rositano Postgraduate Students

Sebastian is a junior doctor in Adelaide with qualifications and commendations in psychology (B.PsychSci, University of South Australia) and public health (MPH, University of Sydney). He has published in his clinical interests of biological psychiatry and forensics. Additionally, he has contributed to the Australian Medical Students’ Association, the University of Adelaide, the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, the Cochrane Collaboration and the World Health Organisation.

As a Fulbright Scholar, Sebastian will continue his interdisciplinary work understanding the complex interactions between population-wide policies and individual beliefs and behaviours. In particular, he is interested in employing psychological insights to reform governance, inform policy, and explore deeper questions across social attitudes, voting activity, ethics and political philosophy.

Through this effort, Sebastian hopes to better understand how to ethically solve burgeoning challenges across health, justice, education and other social spheres.

Nikita Roy Postgraduate Students

Nikita is a graduate student at the University of Connecticut pursuing her Master’s degree in Public Health. She plans to attend medical school in the United States after returning from Australia. She will use her Fulbright Scholarship to study the association between a genetic polymorphism and cognitive function in humans, at the Translational Research Health Institute at Western Sydney University. This work explores potential neural bases of dementia and other forms of cognitive decline. Her hope is that this work will advance clinical research surrounding early detection and prevention of neurodegenerative disease. Nikita also looks forward to gaining insight on the Australian healthcare system and practices, and to bringing what she has learned back to the United States to aid in her future practice of medicine. She believes that a brighter future for American healthcare can be shaped by cross-cultural collaboration with other developed nations.

To stay up to date on Nikita’s Fulbright experience, visit www.nikiology.co

Kaleigh Rusgrove Postgraduate Students

Kaleigh earned her BFA from Endicott College in 2014 and her MFA from the University of Connecticut in 2018. As a photographer Kaleigh is interested in creating narrative images which exist between fact and fiction. She often combines the witnessed with the imagined, both moments of importance as well as artefacts of questionable authenticity. Kaleigh’s current work focuses on climate change, and her Fulbright project will further explore environmental issues as inspiration for storytelling. In addition to her time at Western Sydney University, Kaleigh will also be working within the Australian PlantBank of the Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust, documenting the facilities’ seed bank and research. All of the images made throughout the duration of her Fulbright project will ultimately become one cohesive body, reflecting the importance of assessing current environmental practices and personal ethics for the future. You can follow her visual Fulbright journey at www.imaginedfuturesblog.com

Jared Russell Postgraduate Students

Jared earned his bachelor’s degree from Colorado College in 2018, majoring in both Political Science and Philosophy and minoring in Music. As a visiting student at the University of Oxford, he researched the complexities of the European Union and the effects that Brexit will have on Europe. Jared also studied the current status of international human rights and social justice efforts in Europe while representing the United States as a Humanity in Action Fellow in Denmark.

Jared is passionate about immigration reform, and he will engage with that topic while at the University of Melbourne. While there, he will research the relationship between the United Nations’ definition of refugee status and how it must adapt and conform to account for individuals displaced by climate change. Ultimately, he hopes that this research will inform future policy created by the United Nations as they seek to protect climate change refugees.

Miranda Samuels Postgraduate Students

Miranda Samuels earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours) in 2014 from UNSW Art and Design. Whilst at university she co-founded the Girl Genius award and founded the Brightside alternative education program. She is currently Public Engagement and Events Officer at UNSW Galleries and the Co-editor of the Countess Report for whom she publishes data on gender representation in the Australian contemporary art world and regularly speaks in public forums about gender inequity in the arts. She has established a number of responsive art education programs for young people without access to mainstream art education, and has built education programs for organisations within the public, private and community spheres including Youth Off The Streets and Hermes Australia. Until recently she worked at the Art Gallery of New South Wales in the Learning and Participation department working on community, access and school programs.

Miranda will use her Fulbright Scholarship to pursue interdisciplinary studies in the philosophy and politics of art education, feminist pedagogy, cultural policy and contemporary art practice to understand how the interplay of such disciplines work to uphold or challenge the status quo. Through the application of this research she hopes to improve access to and access within art education through inventive cultural policy making and radical education programming that actively addresses social inequities and is more responsive to social, political and environmental complexities within Australian society.

Stanley Gibson Schwartz Postgraduate Students

Stanley is a graduate of Cedarville University, having earned a BA with majors in History and Economics and conducted research into American labor, political, and intellectual history. He will use his Fulbright Scholarship to explore the Australian Labor Party in the early 20^th century, generating transnational historical research that touches on direct connections between Australia and the United States, as well as comparative projects regarding each nation’s history. This investigation will broaden understanding of the American labor movement, with additional insights yielded towards Australian and American federalism, diplomacy, political culture, and radical movements. Stanley will also develop lasting professional contacts along scholarly engagement at the National Library of Australia and with faculty at Australian National University through opportunities including the Canberra Labour History Society Emerging Scholars Seminar. The outcome will be sustained engagement between Australian and American scholarly communities toward thorough perception of social and political conditions in both nations.

Daniel Sherrell Postgraduate Students

Dan Sherrell earned his BA in Environmental Studies from Brown University. He has spent the past six years organizing campus, municipal, and statewide campaigns to combat climate change, transition to clean energy, and secure adaptation resources for vulnerable communities. Most recently he coordinated a coalition of labor unions, environmental organizations, and community groups campaigning to pass equitable carbon pricing legislation in the state of New York. His writing has appeared in the Colorado Review, Wag’s Revue, and The Best American Sports Writing.

For his Fulbright Postgraduate Scholarship, he will finish work on a book of ‘auto-theory’, combining personal memoir, cultural criticism, and literary prose to explore what it means to come of age under climate change, at the boundary between biographical and geological time. He will be working under the mentorship of Dr. Stephen Muecke, Jury Chair of English Language and Literature at the University of Adelaide. His project will draw on Australia’s rich tradition of environmental art and humanities to carve an affective foothold in a monolithic problem that eludes conventional narrative.

Andrew Strano Postgraduate Students

Andrew Strano is Australia’s most awarded young Musical Theatre writer. Holding his M.A. in Writing for Performance from the Victorian College of the Arts, his debut full length show Nailed It!, written with the associate musical director of Wicked, Loclan Mackenzie-Spencer, has toured worldwide to 5 star reviews, was selected for the Adelaide Cabaret Festival (the largest curated cabaret festival in the world), and was awarded a Greenroom award for ‘Best Original Songs’. As the inaugural Jeanne Pratt Artists in Residence, Andrew and composer Lucy O’Brien received Australia’s largest financial commission for new musical theatre work, bringing his and was given the unique opportunity to teach musical theatre writing at Monash University. In addition to his writing, Andrew is an accomplished dramaturge, performer and director. He is a graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts’ Musical Theatre Performance program, and of the iO Theatre in Chicago where he studied theatrical improvisation. He currently teaches for the National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA) and works freelance as a creative of all types.

2019 will see Andrew join the prestigious New York University Tisch School of the Arts’ Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program. The only course of its kind in the world, the program is uniquely tied to Broadway and the living masters of the art form, immersing Andrew in the practical art of writing and developing new musicals from the ground up. Throughout the course and after it’s completion, Andrew will act as a cultural bridge, linking Australian musical theatre writers with the world class development process used by Broadway musicals, providing focus and technique to the processes of our energetic musical theatre writing community, seeing us take our place as a premiere producer of new musical theatre alongside New York and London.

Lance Truong Postgraduate Students

Lance is currently Consul at the Australian Consulate-General in Chengdu. Responsible for Australia’s relations with southwest China (Sichuan, Chongqing, Yunnan and Guizhou), his work includes political, economic and social analysis; trade and economic diplomacy; and cultural affairs. Lance graduated with First Class Honours in Japanese Studies from Monash University, where he also majored in Journalism and Japanese language, and minored in Mandarin. He is fluent in Mandarin and Japanese.

In the U.S., Lance will study public policy and its application to international relations. His interdisciplinary program will focus on the Indo-Pacific, and analyse the implications for Australia’s foreign policy interests arising from the political, economic and strategic changes currently underway in the region. In particular, he will deepen his knowledge of the region’s major powers, including the U.S., China and Japan.

Heydon Wardell-Burrus Postgraduate Students

Heydon is currently a Tax Associate and Pro Bono Coordinator for the Sydney office at law firm Allens Linklaters. He completed a combined Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Laws degree at the University of Sydney, receiving honours in both philosophy and law. Heydon will complete an Australian Masters of Law specialising in taxation at the University of Sydney in 2019 before undertaking further graduate study in the United States, specialising in international taxation.

Heydon’s research interests include international taxation policy reform and the development of interstate arbitration as a mechanism of resolving taxation disputes between states. During his Fulbright Scholarship year, Heydon intends to explore these interests whilst also developing a deeper understanding of the recent United States tax reforms.

Blayne Welsh Postgraduate Students

Blayne Welsh is a First Nations man, descending from the Wailwan people of western New South Wales. He has completed his Bachelor of Arts with Honours in theatre and drama, specifically examining the nature of contemporary Indigenous theatre making and its connection with historical pre-colonial practices. Through this work he has begun publishing on the Indigenous rehearsal space in partnership with Ilbijerri, Australia’s oldest Indigenous company and continues to work towards decolonising these practices.

Blayne intends to use his Fulbright scholarship to gain his Masters at NYU in Performance Studies or Educational Theatre. In addition, He is pursuing his PhD examining contemporary First Nations performance practice, ceremony and ritual reconstruction. As such, he also seeks to understand the performance practices in comparable groups whose ancestry contains similar cultural disconnection including African and Native Americans.

Dr William Yan Postgraduate Students

William is a surgical registrar and postgraduate researcher with an interest in ophthalmology, digital health and blindness prevention. After completing his Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery at Monash University, he studied ophthalmic epidemiology at the Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA) exploring the impact of socioeconomic factors on the quality and distribution of eye care services worldwide. William is an advocate for technology-driven approaches to increase healthcare access and sustainability and has collaborated with companies such as Google to develop disease-screening tools for patients and clinicians.

As a Fulbright Future Scholar, William will complete a Fellowship in Ophthalmic Innovation at the Stanford Byers Eye Institute to advance his understanding in translational research and technology development. In addition, he will pursue studies in clinical bioinformatics with a view to supporting the application, efficiency and impact of health data analytics to complement informed clinical decision-making in Australia.

Helen Xiao He Zhang Postgraduate Students

Helen is a Legal Officer in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). She served as Second Secretary (Political/Economic) and Vice-Consul at the Australian Embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel, from 2015-2018. During her diplomatic posting, Helen reported on international security issues such as the Syrian war, ISIS, foreign fighters, and the Iran nuclear deal. Helen also spearheaded the innovative ‘Ozraeli’ campaign to promote Australia in Israel through digital diplomacy. Helen completed her undergraduate studies at the Australian National University, and practiced commercial law in China before joining DFAT.

Helen will undertake a Mid-Career Master’s degree in Public Administration at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government (HKS) in 2019 as a Fulbright Anne Wexler Scholar. At HKS, she will build on her expertise in international security and deepen her understanding of challenges facing democracies and the liberal international order. Helen plans to use her HKS experience to help shape Australia’s foreign policy.