Alumni Profiles

Professor Steven Gorelick Distinguished Chair

Steven is the Cyrus F. Tolman Professor in the Department of Earth System Science and Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment at Stanford University. At Stanford since 1988, he runs the Hydro Program and directs the Global Freshwater Initiative, which employs an interdisciplinary approach to analyzing water-supply vulnerability. Steven will apply his experience in analysis of freshwater resources in various countries around the world to better understand water security issues and regional coupled human-natural-engineered freshwater systems in Australia. 

Steven will use his term as a Fulbright Distinguished Chair in Science, Technology and Innovation at CSIRO to study water security and integrated water resources management in underdeveloped regions of northern Australia. 

Dr Brett Summerell Distinguished Chair

Brett is the Director of Science and Conservation at the Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust in Sydney where he has worked for the past 28 years. He has research interests in plant pathology and mycology and is a world authority on the fungal genus Fusarium which causes some of the most important plant diseases globally, produces toxins in food and is a pathogen of humans.

For his Fulbright project, Brett will spend time in the Department of Plant Pathology at Kansas State University expanding his research on Fusarium species in natural ecosystems to the U.S. allowing a comparison of these fungal plant pathogens in Australian and U.S. ecosystems. He will also complete a second edition of the widely-used diagnostic manual, the Fusarium Laboratory Manual, on these important fungi.

Paul Branson Postdoctoral Scholars

Paul is a jointly appointed UWA/CSIRO Research Fellow at UWA’s Wave Energy Research Centre (WERC). Paul’s career spans both the engineering and research sectors with a focus on understanding the physical ocean conditions that impact the natural environment and built infrastructure. 

Transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable energy systems requires collaboration across global multidisciplinary teams. During his Fulbright Scholarship, Paul will collaborate with PMEC researchers to improve methods to assess a sites ocean conditions including the potential extremes. For wave energy converters, devices must interact with ocean waves to harvest energy during typical conditions but also survive extreme conditions during storms. Paul will evaluate data-driven, machine-learning techniques to improve site characterization from data and models. Improved site characterization will allow marine energy device manufactures to establish site specific designs thereby avoiding costly over-engineering or risking damage during extreme conditions. 

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.

William Feeney Postdoctoral Scholars

William Feeney is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland. He completed his PhD at the Australian National University, and held an Endeavour Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Cambridge. His research focuses on the ecology and evolution of competitive interactions between species, and how these interactions affect biological diversity. He will work with Dr Danielle Dixson at the School of Biology, Georgia Institute of Technology, from January 2016 to October 2016.

His research will focus on mutualistic interactions between coral reef fishes. In particular, he will investigate whether interspecies mutualisms predict resilience to a changing environment.

“While competitive interactions are relatively well studied, and tend to generate biological diversity, mutualistic interactions are generally less well studied, but seem to conserve diversity. Coral reefs are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, and this project will investigate whether mutualistic interactions will help the involved species cope with their changing environment.”

Whilst at the Georgia Institute of Technology William will study if mutualistic interactions between species confer resilience or vulnerability in a changing environment, which continues on from his work at the University of Queensland.

Dr. Oliver Cronin Postgraduate Students

Oliver graduated from James Cook University in 2012 with a Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery (Honours). He completed Basic Physician Training at St Vincent’s Hospital before entering the Gastroenterology Advanced Training programme in 2018. He became a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians in 2021. Oliver is currently completing additional subspecialty training in Therapeutic Interventional Endoscopy at Westmead Hospital under the mentorship of Professor Michael Bourke. Oliver has been awarded a postgraduate National Health and Medical Research Council scholarship to undertake a PhD on The Science of Cold Snare Polypectomy through the University of Sydney. He has published extensively, and his manuscripts have been featured in the world’s leading Gastroenterology journals. His other research interests relate to improving the safety, quality and efficacy of endoscopy as well as advanced resection techniques for the treatment of pre-malignant and early gastrointestinal cancers.

With the support of a Fulbright Future Scholarship, Oliver will to continue this research at NYU Langone Health, under the mentorship of Professor Greg Haber.

Travis Blake Franks Postgraduate Students

Travis earned his B.A. (History and English) and M.A. (English) at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas. As an undergraduate, he was a Ronald E. McNair Scholar, served as president of Sigma Tau Delta, and was elected Most Outstanding Graduating Senior in both the History and English Departments. Now pursuing a Ph.D. in literature at Arizona State University, Travis teaches advanced freshman composition and survey courses on American literature and serves as the nonfiction editor of RED INK: An International Journal of Indigenous Literature, Art & Humanities.

Outside of the classroom, Travis has worked extensively as a writing and reading tutor, and has presented at several national conferences, including the National Conference for Peer Tutoring in Writing and the American Literature Association Conference. Recently, his article on Cormac McCarthy and William Faulkner, titled “Talkin about Lester; Community, Culpability, and Narrative Suppression in Child of God,” was published in Mississippi Quarterly. He is currently at work on his dissertation, tentatively titled “Settler Nativism: The Colonial Origins of Anti-Immigrant Nationalism”, which is a comparative analysis of how creative texts from the U.S. and Australia shape ideas of belonging around race and property. Travis’s work often involves novels, films, and music set in his home state of Texas, particularly in how they depict relationships between Indigenous, settler, and immigrant/migrant populations. He is also a third-generation musician who plays guitar, sings, and writes music. He is a founding member of the rotating ensemble band New Heroes of the Old War.

Travis is thrilled to be undertaking his unique project in Queensland, which will see him interning as a digital archivist for the AustLit database and serving as a research assistant for a historian at the Texas Heritage Centre in Texas, Queensland. He looks forward to the many relationships he will build in academic and non-academic communities and is grateful that he will have an opportunity to share his music at the Texas Country Music Roundup, held every September in Texas, QLD. He wishes to acknowledge the Indigenous communities whose land he will visit and to pay his respect to elders, past and present.

Shruti Gujaran Postgraduate Students

Shruti received a B.S. in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology from the University of Maryland, Baltimore Country in 2016, graduating Summa Cum Laude. During her time as an undergraduate, she participated in research opportunities at several institutions, such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the University of Maryland, School of Medicine (UMDSOM). While at the NIH, Shruti assisted on studies aimed at uncovering inhibitors for topoisomerase I and II as novel anti-cancer targets. At UMDSOM, she worked as a research affiliate studying the dopamine reward system in animal models.

In addition to her research, Shruti took part in local and international volunteer opportunities in areas concerning health care disparities, degenerative disease, and civic engagement. She also completed part of her degree abroad at the University of Barcelona in Spain, igniting a passion for travel and world culture that constantly keeps her on her feet. In Barcelona, Shruti learned much about international cuisine, and is now an avid experimenter in the kitchen. Her experience abroad also resulted in her pursuit of international opportunities.

Before her senior year in college, Shruti volunteered at a Mumbai hospital, a pivotal moment in her career. There, she was exposed to hospital medicine and inspired to study antibiotic resistance in patients, and chose to further pursue immunological research and infectious diseases as her main focus in medicine. Shruti will also apply to medical schools in the United States with hopes to gain entry into a program with a strong focus on both local and global medicine. Her goal is to practice both in the United States and internationally, with a focus on enabling access to quality health care and education worldwide.

Drug resistance has created an excess of one billion dollars in health care costs in the United States alone, with the number growing even larger with the discovery of more resistant bacterial species worldwide. With her background in research and interest in drug resistance motivating her, Shruti will use her time in Australia to contribute to the growing database of knowledge surrounding antibiotic resistance by studying the effect of secreted capsule polysaccharides on acquired resistance in bacterial cells walls at the University of Melbourne. She hopes that this research will be used within the Doherty Institute to learn about novel mechanisms to avoid or reduce developed resistance in patients. Additionally, she hopes that her time in Melbourne will be spent experiencing the vibrant culture that the city has to offer.

Rebekah Mohn Postgraduate Students

Rebekah is currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Minnesota in Saint Paul studying chromosome evolution in a group of insect-eating plants commonly known as sundews (the
genus Drosera).

During Rebekah’s Fulbright Future Scholarship, she will be working with Dr Adam Cross at Curtin University to collect genetic and chromosome count data from 150 species of Drosera throughout Australia. All organisms package DNA into chromosomes to ensure the accurate inheritance of DNA during cell division. Unsuccessful inheritance of chromosomes due to breakage or unequal separation can result in diseases such as cancer.However, in some plants and animals including in species of Drosera, a modification of a structure in cell division enables the successful inheritance even after chromosome breakage. Rebekah will be using the data she collects to further our understanding of chromosome breakage and Drosera in specific by exploring the impact chromosome variation has on species diversification.

Roxanne Moore Postgraduate Students

“I aspire to become a human rights advocate; to use the power of the law to protect the rights of vulnerable people and to demand justice where human rights have been abused.”

Ms Roxanne Moore, lawyer, will have the opportunity to spend a year at New York University through winning one of two Fulbright Western Australia Scholarships sponsored by the Western Australian Government and universities. She will undertake a LLM (International Legal Studies), specialising in public international law and human rights law. Roxanne will learn about comparative human rights systems and gain expertise in specific topics, with a view to contributing to Australian human rights law reform and becoming an advocate.

“This experience will provide me with an excellent foundation to return to Australia to advocate for human rights within the current legal framework – either via pro-bono work as a commercial lawyer or barrister, or by working for a non-government organisation – and to significantly contribute to reforming Australia’s legal structures for human rights protection,” Roxanne said.

Her further study aims to achieve four objectives: to expand and develop her knowledge about international law and international systems; to learn about comparative human rights law systems, particularly in the Asia Pacific region; to increase her knowledge about specific human rights topics; and to gain practical experience in human rights advocacy and research.

“Studying a LLM in the U.S. will provide many opportunities not otherwise available in Australia; to learn from the most respected academics and leaders in their field at the highest ranked universities in the world and to gain hands-on experience in human rights advocacy through participation in the university clinics.”

Roxanne has an LLB (Dist.)/BA (Indonesian Language) from the University of Western Australia and was admitted as a lawyer in 2012. Roxanne previously represented UWA in the international rounds of the Philip C Jessup International Law Mooting Competition, and after graduating became the Principal Associate to the Hon Chief Justice Martin AC of the Supreme Court of WA. She has volunteered with many organisations, but most extensively with Amnesty International Australia, for whom she founded the national ARTillery arts festival, culminating in her recognition as a finalist for the 2010 WA Young Person of the Year Award. Her interests include learning languages,live music and the Arts.

Melanie Poole Postgraduate Students

“If Australia was to act with a compassion and sense of global responsibility that matched the enormous resources available to us, we could make a much more powerful contribution to alleviating poverty, promoting human rights and building a world where more people really do have a ‘fair go’.”

Ms Melanie Poole, Parliamentary Advocacy Co-ordinator, with CARE Australia will spend two years in the United States to undertake a Masters in Public Policy. Melanie’s work is in the area of humanitarian advocacy and global development, with a strong focus on promoting the rights of women and girls.

“Australia is one of the most prosperous, peaceful, democratic nations in the world. We are a good global citizen that makes many contributions through our aid and diplomacy programs, which we can be proud of, but there is more that we can do,” Melanie said.

By studying public policy in the U.S., Melanie will learn how to engage a broader range of sectors in the promotion of human rights and global citizenship. Her aim is to be able to help to make Australia’s aid program stronger and more gender focused through steering and shaping the national agenda for international aid and diplomacy.

“Completing this Masters will give me the opportunity to develop a deep understanding of how government operates, including the impact of market forces, society, culture and the media in shaping policies. It is a program explicitly focused on producing strong leaders, with core required courses including strategic and financial management, politics and advocacy, ethics, leadership and quantitative analysis. I will specialise in global development and on learning to design and advocate for polices that promote human rights and gender equality.”

Melanie will also intensively study the political, social and economic dynamics that shape aid and humanitarian policy decisions, and how social attitudes are constructed and transformed.

Melanie has a BA (Political Science) and LLB (Honours) from the Australian National University; a training certificate in Humanitarian advocacy from Fordham University (New York); and a Certificate in Health and Human Rights from the United Nations University for Peace. She has volunteered with the Kenyan Voluntary Development Association, been a Fieldwork Team Leader, Aga Khan Education Services, Gilgit, Pakistan and Australian Youth Ambassador to the United Nations. Her interests include political theory and processes, community organising, the role of education in shaping national values and issues of gender and sexuality. She is especially passionate about reproductive and LGBTIQ rights.

In 2009, the Australian Government announced the establishment of a prestigious annual scholarship program to recognise the many contributions by Mrs Anne Wexler for her role in fostering Australian-American relations. She was made an Honorary Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) by the Australian Government for her work on the Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement and the Australian-American Leadership Dialogue.

The Anne Wexler Scholarships are part of the Australian Government’s Australia Awards Program and are funded through the Department of Industry Innovation Science, Research and Tertiary Education and administered by the Australian-American Fulbright Commission. The Scholarships are awarded for up to two years and are valued at up to A$140,000 each. Two Wexler Scholarships are awarded annually, one for an Australian citizen to go to the U.S. and one for an American (US) citizen to come to Australia.

Constantine Tsounis Postgraduate Students

Constantine is a chemical engineer developing catalysts that can generate sustainable fuels such as hydrogen, supporting our global clean energy transition. He is currently pursuing a PhD in the Particles and Catalysis Research Group, UNSW, and has spent time researching at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), and ETH Zürich. Constantine is a co-founder of switcH2 engineering, a VC-backed start-up developing technologies which can convert industrial wastewater into hydrogen fuel. He is also an elected member of the UNSW Council, with a particular interest in university governance, research impact, and the interface between government, industry, and university.

As a Fulbright Scholar, Constantine will spend time researching a new class of materials known as MXenes, at their birthplace, the A.J. Drexel Nanomaterials Institute. The tailorable chemical properties of MXenes have the potential to revolutionise our energy systems. They can act as catalysts for key reactions that produce sustainable chemicals and fuels, accelerating our global net zero ambitions.