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Professor Jason M. Lodge is an educator, psychological scientist, and an internationally recognised authority on learning, educational technology, and artificial intelligence. His work focuses on translating evidence into effective and practical strategy for public and private sector organisations, including, but not limited to, educational institutions and departments of education and training.

He serves as an expert advisor on learning and AI to prominent international bodies, including UNESCO and the OECD. In Australia, he advises the National Ministerial Task Force on Artificial Intelligence in Education and the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA). For TEQSA, he led the development of the Assessment Reform for the Age of Artificial Intelligence resource, a framework that has informed assessment policy and practice globally.

Professor Lodge’s research and leadership are supported by over $5.3 million in competitive funding and numerous accolades, including being named in the top 2% of scientists worldwide. His experience includes academic leadership roles at The University of Queensland, board memberships for higher education institutions, and extensive public speaking and media commentary on the future of education and learning.

Dr Kristiana Ludlow is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Health Services Research, Faculty of Health, Medicine, and Behavioural Sciences, the University of Queensland, and an Honorary Postdoctoral Fellow at the Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University. She completed her Bachelor of Psychology with first class Honours in 2015, her Master of Research in Medicine and Health Sciences in 2017, and her PhD in in Health Innovation in 2020. Dr Ludlow has expertise in co-design, qualitative research and Q methodology. Her research interests include co-designing interventions and digital health tools with end-users, frailty, education, aged care, person-centred care, the role of family caregivers in care, missed care/unfinished care, and care prioritisation. She is passionate about collaborating with consumers, service users and health professionals to improve the delivery of healthcare and mental health services.

Dr Sasha Lynn is a registered clinical psychologist and Honorary Research Fellow at The University of Queensland. She specialises in child and adolescent development, with a particular focus on social and emotional learning (SEL), mental health, and wellbeing in educational settings. Her work spans psychology, education, and neuroscience, with an emphasis on research that is both applied and translational.

Dr Lynn’s research investigates how wellbeing and mental health influence developmental and educational outcomes, particularly in relation to emotion regulation, peer relationships, and classroom engagement. She is committed to embedding SEL meaningfully into the curriculum through developmentally informed, evidence-based strategies. A core feature of her work is the co-design of interventions with educators and students, ensuring student voice and agency are central to program design and implementation.

She has a particular interest in the use of gamification frameworks to increase engagement with SEL and mental health content, and her research spans both digital and face-to-face modes of delivery. Her work also explores how compassion-focused therapeutic approaches can be adapted to educational contexts to enhance both student and teacher wellbeing, classroom climate, and relational safety.

Dr Lynn is affiliated with the UQ Learning Lab and is a member of the Compassionate Mind Research Group. She has been involved in a number of large-scale projects across school and clinical settings, and brings nearly 20 years of direct experience in school-based clinical and mental health roles to her academic work. This practitioner perspective ensures her research remains grounded in the realities of education systems and responsive to the needs of schools.

She has contributed to the development and evaluation of interventions such as KooLKIDS and Mindfields HS, which have demonstrated promising early outcomes and attracted commercial interest. Dr Lynn’s broader goal is to support educators, families, and students by creating practical, evidence-informed approaches that foster resilience, emotional literacy, and a positive foundation for lifelong learning.

Dr Stephanie MacMahon is a Senior Lecturer in the Science of Learning and in Arts Education, teaching in both the ITE and post-graduate programs in the School of Education at The University of Queensland, and is the program coordinator for the newly established Science of Learning Field of Study. She has over 20 years’ experience as a P-12 educator and school leader, and draws on this experience to support her students in understanding how research can be used meaningfully in educational practice. Her constructivist philosophy underpinning her teaching also informs her approach to research, with two key focus areas that involve learning with and from others: human connection and learning, and knowledge mobilisation (translation) of research into practice.

Stephanie is also the Program Director of the UQ Learning Lab: a group of multi-disciplinary researchers, educators, and industry partners who collaborate to transform learning, teaching and training in diverse school and post-school contexts through the science of learning. Her research within the UQ Learning Lab aims to better understand the barriers and enablers to effective knowledge mobilisation in real-world teaching, learning and training contexts. This insight is then used to work with industry partners to develop, implement and evaluate contextually relevant, actionable, scalable and sustainable solutions to industry-identified teaching, learning and training needs.

Stephanie collaborates widely with multi-disciplinary researchers on science of learning projects using a range of methodologies.

Key research areas: Inquiry-based teaching practices in mathematics education; statistical reasoning and informal inference; data science education in schools

Dr Katie Makar is a Professor in Mathematics and Statistics Education at The University of Queensland and President of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia (MERGA). Her award-winning research focuses on mathematics teachers’ learning of pedagogies that support complex problem solving and children’s statistical reasoning in an era of data science. Funded by over $1.6 million in grants and consultancies, Katie’s classroom-based research collaborates with practicing teachers to seek pragmatic solutions to improving teaching and learning.

Her most recent ARC Discovery Project (2017-2020, $370 000) Developing classroom norms of inquiry based learning in mathematics collaborated with Associate Professor Jill Fielding to investigate how primary teachers initiate, build and sustain a productive classroom culture and mathematical practices conducive to addressing complex problems that rely on mathematical evidence. Her four previous ARC projects studied teachers’ adoption of inquiry-based practices (ARC Linkage Projects 2007-2009, 2009-2012), development of positive learning environments and data-based argumentation (ARC Discovery Projects 2012-2014, 2014-2017).

The quality and impact of Katie’s highly-cited research is evidenced by both university and national awards. A Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia (MERGA) Research Award (2017) recently acknowledged the international impact of her work on children’s statistical reasoning, particularly her development of informal statistical inference. Katie had previously won MERGA’s Early Career (2007) and Practical Implications (2011) Awards, providing national recognition of the quality and impact of her research on teachers’ adoption of mathematical inquiry. Social and Behavioural Science Faculty Award for Research Impact and Innovation (2010) and UQ Promoting Women Fellowship (2010) further showcased her research within the university.

Katie is the former deputy and acting Head of the School of Education (2016-2018) and has been consultant to the Queensland Department of Education, Queensland College of Teachers, Wireless Generation (New York), Cognition Education (New Zealand) and the Australian Centre for Educational Research. She led a project team for the Australian Academy of Science’s reSolve: Mathematics by Inquiry initiative to design innovative mathematics curriculum units for teachers that utilised mathematical inquiry.

Katie's leadership is further evident in her engagement with the profession. As President of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia (MERGA), she leads capacity-building, research quality and outreach initiatives to shape the direction of the field. Her other leadership roles include co-director (with Prof Dani Ben-Zvi, University of Haifa) of the International Collaboration for Research in Statistical Reasoning, Thinking and Literacy (2013-present); Executive Boards for the International Association for Statistical Education (2017-2019) and Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia (2009-2012; 2023-2024); current or past editorial board member for three peer-reviewed journals (Mathematics Education Research Journal, Statistics Education Research Journal and Technology Innovations in Statistics Education) and guest editor of three special issues (Mathematical Thinking and Learning and Educational Studies in Mathematics).

A highly-cited author, Katie has published seven authored and edited books, twenty-five peer-reviewed journal articles and sixteen book chapters as well as presenting her research on six continents. Her edited volumes of research include the Handbook of Research in Statistics Education (Springer, 2018), Research in Mathematics Education in Australasia 2012-2015 (Springer, 2016) and The Teaching and Learning of Statistics: International Perspectives (Springer, 2015).

A former classroom teacher for 15 years in USA, Malaysia and Nepal, Katie holds a PhD in Mathematics Education (University of Texas), Master of Arts in Mathematics (Pure Mathematical Logic, University of California, Berkeley) and Bachelor of Arts (with honours) in Mathematics. She is a qualified secondary mathematics teacher (Queensland, California).

Dr Catherine Manathunga is Associate Professor in the School of Education Policy and Implementation at the Victoria University, Wellington. Her research interests include postgraduate supervision, interdisciplinary research education, the history of teaching and learning in universities, and the professional development of supervisors and researchers.

Catherine is an historian and draws together expertise in historical, sociological and cultural studies research to bring an innovative, interdisciplinary perspective to higher education research, particularly focusing on doctoral education and the history of university teaching and learning. She currently researches in the following areas:

• Postgraduate Supervision : power, identity and culture in postgraduate supervision; power and desire in team supervision pedagogy
• Supervisor Educational Development : post-colonial interpretations of supervisor educational development;
• Research and Innovation Leader Development : research graduates attributes and outcomes in universities and industry; ongoing professional development for researchers in public and private sector research organisations; interdisciplinary research;
• History of Australian Teaching and Learning : a genealogy of the development of teaching and learning in Australian universities.

She currently supervises RHD students in the areas of effective teaching and learning in higher education, supporting international students' learning, evaluating effective teaching and learning and in development aid policy.

Professor Kelly Matthews is an expert on the student experience in higher education—recently ranked amongst the top 5% of cited scholars globally in higher education, teaching and curriculum, and student partnership—and is an award-winning university teacher.

Her research, spanning over 150 publications and 100 invited talks, is about impact---shaping how students actively participate in their learning, directly improving experiences for students and informing the practices of teaching staff globally. Awarded an Australian Teaching Fellowship and a Higher Education Academy Principal Fellowship, Kelly has

• established influential international writing groups that mentor and motivate emerging scholars to publish about their educational practices,
• co-founded the International Journal for Students as Partners to enable students and staff from across the world to shape what counts as knowledge,
• created and sustained the Students as Partners Network to both celebrate and inspire educational practices across universities worldwide, and
• led collaborative, multi-institutional projects that recognise and promote educational leadership and change through applied research.

In 2025, Kelly is leading a multi-institutional project with Deakin, Monash, and UTS to shape AI policy and practice through student voice.

Kelly is the Academic Lead for Student Experience and Strategic Initiatives in the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) Portfolio in the Institute of Teaching and Learning Innovation.

Treasure McGuire graduated with a Bachelor of Pharmacy and a Bachelor of Science (Pharmacology) from the University of Queensland UQ). She also completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Clinical Pharmacy and Graduate Certificate in Higher Education at UQ. In 2005, she completed her PhD in the School of Population Health, UQ, entitled Consumer medicines call centres: a medication liaison model of pharmaceutical care.

She has held a sennior conjoint appointment between the School of Pharmacy, UQ and Mater Pharmacy, Mater Health, Brisbane since 1996, and was appointed as a Senior Lecturer in 2006. In her Mater role, she has been Assistant Director of Pharmacy (Practice and Development) over this same time period. At UQ, she coordinates a graduate clinical pharmacy course within the Master of Clinical Pharmacy program. In 2016, this program received a UQ Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences Team Award for Programs that Enhance Learning and in 2017 a citation in the University of Queensland Award for Excellence in Teaching and Learning.

Treasure’s research is translational, focussing on patient centred-care and quality use of medicines in the domains of medicines information, evidence-based practice, medication safety, reproductive health, complementary medicines, communicable diseases and interprofessional education. She is a Fellow of the Australian College of Pharmacy and a Fellow of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia.In recognition of her services to medicines information, she received the Lilly International Fellowship in Hospital Pharmacy and the Bowl of Hygeia of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia. In 2015, she was the recipient of the Sr Eileen Pollard Medal (Mater Research-UQ) for excellence in incorporating research into clinical care provision.

My work focuses on Indigenous sovereignty, digital infrastructure, and education reform, with a particular emphasis on how Māori assert self-determination in systems traditionally shaped by settler-colonial and neoliberal logics. I collaborate closely with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to reimagine education, data, and governance on Indigenous terms.

I currently lead or co-lead projects that explore:

• How Indigenous communities conceive of and enact success in schools

• The development of digital infrastructures that uphold Indigenous Knowledge and data sovereignty

• Participatory and community-led approaches to prototyping ethical systems design

My research draws on mixed-methods, critical policy analysis, Indigenous research methodologies, and affect theory. I’m especially interested in how Indigenous governance, kinship systems, and epistemologies can reshape public institutions and challenge inherited colonial frameworks. I welcome HDR students committed to Indigenous-led research, critical infrastructure studies, education justice, and digital design for sovereignty.

Career counselling: theory and processes; Career development theory; Career programs; Qualitative career assessment; Supervision

Dr McMahon teaches in the areas of career development theory, career guidance and counselling, and supervision. She is particularly interested in the career development of children and adolescents and how young people may be supported by career programs. In the area of career counselling, she is interested in the application of constructivist approaches especially the use of qualitative career assessment. Within the area of supervision, she is interested in assisting guidance officers and school counsellors develop their supervision practices. Her recent focus within this area is on the use of technology to support rural and remote personnel.

Dr Erika MELER, DVM, IPSAV, CEAV, MSc, MVSc, Dipl ACVIM (SAIM), Dipl ECVIM-CA

Senior Lecturer in Small Animal Internal Medicine - Registered Veterinary Specialist

Erika graduated from the National Veterinary School of Lyon (France) in 2003 and continued her clinical training with a rotating internship at the University of Montreal in small animal medicine and surgery (Canada). She pursued her clinical training with a Certificate in advanced studies in internal medicine at the National Veterinary School of Nantes (France) which is equivalent to an Australian Membership. Then interested in laboratory research work, she completed a Master in Oncogenetics at the Medical School of Marseille (France) and worked on the side as veterinary general practitioner.

Erika who enjoys both clinical research and internal medicine practice, decided to take the experience to the next step further. In order to broaden her knowledge and competences in both fields she entered a combined Master in Veterinary Sciences and residency program in small animal internal medicine at the Purdue University Veterinary Teaching Hospital (United States). She was awarded both her Master by the University of Purdue and her Certification in Small Animal Internal Medicine by the American College of Veterinary Medicine in 2010. During her Residency, Erika won the Osborne case report competition organized by the Phi Zeta Society which rewards the best case presentation of the year.

After her residency, Erika worked for about 3 years in one of the biggest emergency and referral private practices in Canada where she founded the internal medicine service. Erika has trained in her career many students, interns, veterinary nurses and mentored younger colleagues. She has given continuing education conferences and written numerous articles summaries for general practitioners. Having worked in both private and academic environments, she can prepare her students for both careers and understands the challenges of both types of practice.

Erika's academic activities encompass clinical teaching and management of referral cases in the department of small animal internal medicine at the University of Queensland Veterinary Medical Centre, classroom teaching for veterinary students in their 3d, 4th and 5th years and veterinary technology students in their 3d year of training, as well as research work bridging human as well as laboratory science and IT technology to clinical practice (so called collaborative and translational medicine). She has also an interest in developing business management field in veterinary medicine as well as innovative teaching methods for veterinary students and professionals.

Erika’s clinical areas of interest are the use of new technologies in veterinary medicine such minimally-invasive techniques (including laser and stenting) in dogs.

Erika's research areas of interest are infectious diseases such as MRSA, MRSP, protozoal, viral and fungal diseases in pet companions.

Erika's teaching areas of interest are the development of new teaching methods in the veterinary clinical setting and the exploration of a new balance between economic needs of teaching hospitals and their educational goals.

Erika is definitively a team player and has an excellent track record in student supervision and graduation. Although veterinary oriented, these themes are also deeply translational so any colleague from a medical or educational background who would like to collaborate is very much welcome to make contact. Erika looks forward to work with any colleagues and students interested any of the themes listed above.

My academic training is in language teaching and linguistics. I hold a BA/MA equivalent in Teaching Foreign Languages from Ryazan State Pedagogical University, Russia, MA in English with concentration in Linguistics and TESOL from East Carolina University, USA, and PhD in Linguistics from University of South Carolina. Before coming to UQ, I taught at tertiary level for 13 in three universities in Russia and USA. I have supervised teaching practicums and research projects at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels and have taught a range of Russian, English, Linguistics and Language Teaching courses.

My research interests lie at the intersection of Bilingualism, Second Language Acquisition, Sociolinguistics and Language Teaching. I am interested in cognitive, social and pedagogical implications of bilingualism in its broad sense and specifically in the similarities and differences between language development in foreign/second language learners and heritage speakers. I am interested in finding which linguistic phenomena are more difficult to acquire and why. I study factors that can potentially affect the success of bilingual language acquisition. The broad goal of my research is to gain a better understanding of how language works in the case of bilingual acquisition and, as a result, to inform classroom language pedagogy and policy.

Dr Jodie Miller is an Associate Professor in mathematics education, in the School of Education at The University of Queensland. Her research focuses on improving the educational outcomes of students most at risk of marginalisation in school, particularly in the fields of Mathematics and Indigenous education.

Jodie is internationally recognised for her research in early algebraic thinking and evidenced based strategies to support engagement in mathematics in primary school settings. She leads research projects with a focus on classroom and mathematical practices, teacher professional development, culturally responsive teaching, and examining student understanding. This research has been conducted in countries including Australia, New Zealand, and Germany.

In addition to this, Jodie’s recent research collaborations focus on examining excellence in Indigenous education. This work is led by Associate Professor Marnee Shay, where the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are brought to the forefront to re-imagine the notion of excellence in Indigenous education.

Professor Martin Mills's research interests include the sociology of education, social justice in education, alternative schooling, gender and education, school reform and new pedagogies. Martin’s work in these areas has been significant in contributing to international and national debates on these topics. His recent co-authored books include Re-engaging young people in education: learning from alternative schools and Boys and schooling: Beyond Structural Reform.

He is a Fellow of Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia (ASSA), the immediate Past President of the Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE), holds a Visiting Professorship at Kings College London and is a Life Member of Clare Hall Cambridge University. Martin has also been on a number of government advisory committees, for example, the Equity Advisory Group to the Queensland Studies Authority. Substantial policy advice has also been provided through the numerous government reports that he has co-authored, the most recent of which are a report to the Australian Capital Territory government on the alternative provision of schooling in that Territory and a report to the Queensland Department of Education, Training and Employment on disengagement in Queensland Schools.

Dr Carmen Mills is an Associate Professor in Teaching, Learning and Classroom Pedagogy in the School of Education at The University of Queensland, where she is the Director of Teaching and Learning. Her research interests are informed broadly by the sociology of education. She has an international reputation for significant research contributions in the areas of social justice in education, schooling in disadvantaged communities and teacher education for the development of socially just dispositions. As a socially critical researcher, informed by the work of Pierre Bourdieu and others, she is concerned to explore questions related to whose interests are served by the social arrangements evident in educational contexts and how these arrangements might be structured more equitably. She is experienced in undertaking empirical research with others from a range of disciplinary backgrounds, bringing her particular experience in interviewing and observation, her empirical interest in equity and social justice, as well as her understanding of Bourdieuian theoretical concepts, to these research teams.

Kiara is a social psychology researcher at the Poche Centre for Indigenous Health at The University of Queensland as a research fellow. She is currently focused on strengths based approaches to sexual health and relationships and sexuality education for young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. She received her doctorate from the University of Queensland in July 2021 for her PhD research project, The role of idealising jealousy in inhibiting the identification of and response to non-physical intimate partner violence: a schema theory approach. She has since completed a post-doctoral research fellowship on sexual consent in Australia.

Kiara has a passion for applying quality research techniques to identify practical strategies for real improvements across a range of social issues. Kiara is experienced in quantitative and qualitative research methods, and holds a strong commitment to research transparency, methodological rigour, and collaborative research as the foundation of positive social change. She is also dedicated to research communication and has previously written and edited a blog page for social change research.

Literacy, teacher education, literacy and intellectual disability, teaching and learning in higher education

Associate Professor Karen Moni has had extensive experience teaching and researching in the field of English and literacy education. Her research interests include adolescent literacy and literature, literacy and young adults with intellectual disabilities, teacher education and teaching and learning in higher education. Dr Moni is also the Exectiuve Director of Latch-On a research and teaching program focusing on literacy and young adults with intellectual disabilities and continues to research in the area of intellectual disability

Aisling Mulvihill is a postdoctoral researcher in the Thorpe Lab at The Queensland Brain Institute. Her research activities span the topics of social cognition and self-regulation from early childhood to adolescence.

As a speech pathologist, Aisling has extensive clinical expertise in supporting children with learning and social-emotional challenges relating to Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and Developmental Language Disorder (DLD). In 2013, she co-authored the Ant Patrol Children’s Stories, a series of six educational children’s stories that aim to support children’s social and emotional learning. The series has been well-received by educators, allied health professionals and parents.

Aisling’s current research investigates the relationship between language and theory of mind, and the use of self-talk to regulate thinking and behavior in young children.