Find an expert

Dr Forbes has an extensive background in applying optimisation methods to industrial problems. He spent over 20 years working in industry before returning to academia in 2010. Dr Forbes now focuses on building Mixed Integer Programming models for industrial applications and specialised techniques for solving difficult Mixed Integer Programming models.

Dr Forbes has experience in many application areas including

• vehicle routing;
• supply chain optimisation;
• mine planning;
• public transport vehicle and crew scheduling and rostering (buses, trains and planes);
• hospital staff scheduling and rostering, including operation scheduling and room allocation;
• power generation and planning;
• network design (communications, electricity, gas, water);
• maintenance scheduling.

Gordon holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Cape Town, South Africa, which focused on the application of machine vision, image processing and machine learning algorithms for modelling grade in froth flotation systems.

Gordon spent ten years working for the Victorian Government developing technical computing and modelling solutions. These included the development of the Environmental Systems Modelling Platform, a tool that aims to bring multiple environmental models and datasets into a single easy to use software package, and the development of the Native Vegetation Regulations Tool, to calculate the interactions between proposed clearings and models of rare and threatened species, and thereby determine the required offset credits. More recently, Gordon worked as a data scientist at the Victorian Centre for Data Insights, where he worked with a team focused on delivering innovative data driven solutions across the government sector.

Gordon now applies his data analytics, modelling and technical computing skills at the JKMRC where he works with the Advanced Process Prediction and Control group developing tools for improved time series analysis and visualisation of industrial data and comminution process models.

Dr Liza Forbes specialises in mineral flotation, with specific focus on flotation reagent chemistry, mineral surface chemistry and base-metal sulphide electrochemistry. Her main interest lies in integrating fundamental and applied aspects of flotation research, to develop new and improved processing technologies.

Education and Work

Liza graduated with a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Cape Town in 2007. Since then, she has worked at the N.B.Keevil Mining Institute, University of British Columbia; the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Melbourne; and CSIRO Mineral Resources.

Industry

Liza has previously worked at a metallurgist at the Bafokeng Rasimone Platinum Mine, Anglo Platinum in South Africa. She has since been involved with a number of industry research projects with companies such as Kennecott Copper Co, Zijin Mining, Newmont, Newcrest, Sytec Technology Solutions and Anglo Coal.

Roma Forbes is the Deputy Associate Dean (Academic) for Student Experience and Success in the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Behavioual Sciences. A highly experienced APA-titled Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist and teaching-focused Associate Professor in Physiotherapy, she brings extensive clinical and academic expertise to her role.

Roma is a Director of the Australian Physiotherapy Council and serves as the National Chair of the Accreditation Committee, overseeing the quality and standards of physiotherapy education and practice. She also represents Australia on the World Physiotherapy Education Committee, contributing to global advancements in physiotherapy and interprofessional education. She serves a number of editorial roles including as an Associate Editor for The Clinical Teacher and Editor for Education for the Archives of Physiotherapy.

With a strong commitment to student success and workforce readiness, Roma leads programs of research exploring work-integrated learning, student transition, and the capabilities needed for a contemporary health workforce. Her work informs both curriculum innovation and policy, focusing on how learning environments, assessment, and educator development can enhance graduate outcomes.

Roma is passionate about fostering a supported, inclusive, and high-performing community of health professional students, educators, and researchers at UQ and beyond. She remains deeply committed to transforming health professional education through evidence-informed leadership, policy, and partnerships that support students from university entry through to graduation and into the workforce.

Roma also maintains a long-standing commitment to community service through her advocacy and volunteer work with the Australian Government’s Aged Care Volunteer Visitor Scheme (ACVVS). This commitment to community wellbeing informs her leadership and reflects her broader values of connection and equitable access to care.

Awards and Fellowships

• Advance Higher Education Global Impact Award (2023)
• The University of Queensland Award for Teaching Excellence (2023)
• Association for the Study of Medical Education - Medical Education Developing Scholarship Award (2023)
• Higher Education Academy Senior Fellow (2023)
• Health and Behavioural Sciences Faculty Award for Programs that Enhance Learning (2023)
• Australian Award for University Teaching Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning (2021)
• Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia (HERDSA) Fellow (2021)
• The University of Queensland Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning (2020)
• Flinders University - ANZAHPE Award for Excellence in Health Professional Education (2020)
• Higher Eduction Academy Fellow (2019)
• Health and Behavioural Sciences Faculty Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning (2019)
• School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning (2018)
• Australian and New Zealand Association for Health Professional Educators (ANZAHPE) Associate Fellow (2018)

Dr. Jerad A Ford has spent nearly two decades creating innovation-driven strategies in a variety of sectors, from renewable energy to fast moving consumer goods. During that time Jerad has set research strategy for large organisations, created and managed technology platforms, built and supervised large R&D project portfolios, designed strategic capability plans (people and infrastructure), created innovation management systems, led major proposal efforts, managed complex client projects, patented and commercialised technology, led international business development efforts and managed executive-level relationships. In his current role is Manager, Innovation Services at CSIRO Futures, the Strategic Advisory Arm of Australia's National Science Agency he helps industry and government clients identify strategic opportunities and capture them by harnessing science, technology and innovation.

Pauline Ford is Deputy Provost at The University of Queensland. She was previously Head, School of Dentistry, becoming the first woman to lead a School of Dentistry in the Australia New Zealand region. Pauline graduated from The University of Queensland in 1989 with BDSc (Hons) (University Medal). After nine years in general dental practice, she returned to UQ and undertook a PhD before joining the academic staff in 2005. She has since completed a Graduate Certificate in Higher Education and a Masters in Public Health.

Brian Forde is a fellow in microbial bioinformatics and Advance Queensland Industry Research Fellow at the University of Queensland (UQ) Centre for Clinical Research (CCR). Brian was awarded a PhD from University College Cork, Ireland, in 2013 and developed his interest in bacterial genomics as a postdoctoral fellow at the UQ School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences (SCMB). Currently, his work is primarily focused on clinical microbial genomics, including: the evolution of antibiotic resistance, genomic epidemiology, genomic surveillance of Infectious Diseases and translating genomic research into clinical practice. Since 2017 he has been part of a multidisciplinary team, including researchers, infectious diseases clinicians and infection control professionals, leading the introduction of WGS to investigate hospital-acquired infection in Queensland (https://www.queenslandgenomics.org). In 2020, Brian was awarded Advance Queensland Industry Research Fellowship to explore the application of Artificial Intelligence to genomic surveillance and transmission dynamics.

Craig Forrest is a Professor of Law and Director of the Marine and Shipping Law Unit, Professor Forrest teaches and undertakes research in maritime law, private international law and cultural heritage law. He has published widely in these areas and contributed directly to national and international public policy developments and directly to the drafting of national legislation and international law. Most recently, Professor Forrest has completed a World Bank financed project on the future of the Marshall Islands Ship Registry with a research team drawn from Columbia University, University College London and the University of the South Pacific.

Professor Forrest has a long association with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). Between 1998 and 2000, he was a member of the South African delegation to UNESCO and has undertaken a number of activities and consultancies for UNESCO, including: acting as an independent advisor to UNESCO regional cultural meetings in Solomon Islands, Cambodia, St.Kitts and Nevis, Indonesia and Antigua and Barbuda; together with the UNESCO secretariate, drafting a Model Law for the implementation of the UNESCO UCH convention for the Caribbean States; completing a UNESCO consultancy with Dr Bill Jeffery (University of Guam) on the protection of underwater cultural heritage in the States of Micronesia and, together with Major Projects Foundation, undertaking a national Interest Analysis and Gap study on the protection of underwater cultural heritage in Solomon Islands (2012), Marshall Islands (2022) and Fiji (2023). Professor Forrest is an Australian representative on the International Law Association's Committee on Safeguarding Cultural Heritage in Armed Conflict and a member of the International Council of Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) International Committee on Underwater Cultural Heritage. Professor Forrest is also a Federal Attorney-General appointed Australian correspondent to the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (Rome).

Professor Forrest is the general editor of the Australian and New Zealand Maritime Law Journal, and on the editorial boards of the World Maritime University Journal of Maritime Affairs, Journal of Ocean Law and Governance in Africa and the International Maritime and Commercial Law Yearbook.

Professor Forrest has held visiting research and teaching positions at Cambridge University, National University of South Korea, City University of Hong Kong, Dalhousie University and University of Nottingham (the latter as a Universitas 21 Fellow). Before turning to the law, Professor Forrest served as a naval officer in the South African Navy.

I am a Queensland-trained medical practitioner who currently works as Lecturer in Clinical Science and Clinical Practice at The University of Queensland.

I build curricula in clinical history-taking, physical examination, procedural skills and communication that scaffolds the professional and clinical development of students across the MD Program.

Over the past four years, I have successfully run nine large-cohort courses in Clinical Practice and Integrated Clinical Studies, and mentored over 50 clinical tutors. More recently, I have taken on the role of Academic Lead for Clinical and Professional Learning in Year 1 of the MD Program and a Year 1 Educational Adviser.

I am very interested in innovative approaches to clinical skills teaching in medical education, as well as team functioning, junior doctor and medical student health, safety and wellbeing, and transition to clinical practice

Marina Fortes has a degree in Veterinary Medicine (2004) and a Master of Science in Animal Reproduction (2007) from the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil. She completed her PhD in genetics, in 2012 at The University of Queensland (UQ). For her PhD Marina had international scholarships from UQ and the Beef CRC. Her PhD received the Dean's commendation award. After that, Marina worked as a post-doc at the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI). In August 2014, Marina joined the School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences (SCMB) as an academic and established the Livestock Genomics Group. As a researcher, Marina is interested in genetics and genomics, sustainable livestock production, and reproductive biology. Ongoing collaborations link her group to a rich research environment, both domestic and international, which contributes to sustainable livestock industries. Meat and Livestock Australia has provided ongoing support to the projects led by her group. For her work on the genomics of cow fertility, Marina received an Advanced Queensland Fellowship (2018-2021). Marina teaches undergraduate and postgraduate courses, including the Livestock Biotechnology course (BIOT7038) within the Master of Biotechnology program. The Women in Science podcast - https://soundcloud.com/womeninscience - was produced by Marina Fortes, Marloes Dekker, and Kirsty Short.

Dr Kathryn Fortnum is an Early Career Researcher working as a Post-doctoral Research Fellow in the Health and Wellbeing Centre for Research Innovation (School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences), a collaboration between The University of Queensland and Health and Wellbeing Queensland; and affiliate researcher in the Queensland Centre for Olympic and Paralympic Studies (UQ). As an ESSA Accredited Exercise Physiologist, Dr Fortnum has extensive experience working with children and young people living with mental illness, neurological conditions, and neurodevelopmental disorders across inpatient and community settings.

Her research focuses on enhancing physical health, mental wellbeing, and participation outcomes for children and young people, with a commitment to improving equitable access to the tools and opportunities that foster lifelong health and resilience.

Dr Fortnum’s areas of expertise include:

• Physical activity and physical literacy
• Clinical and applied research
• Qualitative methodologies
• Systematic reviews and evidence synthesis
• Co-design and participatory approaches including engaging consumers with lived experience
• Program design and evaluation
• Rapid translation of research into evidence-based practice through partnerships with community and clinical services
• Implementation science, centred on scaling effective interventions into real-world contexts (emerging)

Her work aims to bridge the gap between evidence and practice, producing research that is both scientifically robust and directly meaningful for the individuals, families, clinicians, and organisations she collaborates with.

I completed my PhD, supervised by Dr. Jan Engelstaedter, investigating host shift dynamics of parasites within a host clade. In this project I am was interested in understanding the long-term dynamics and consequences of host-shift dynamics, while taking into account the evolutionary relationships between host species. I was interested in identifying predictable patterns in the distribution of pathogens using statistical and mathematical modeling.

Currently, I am a postdoctoral researcher working at the University of Queensland under Dr. Christine Beveridge. I will be creating computational models of plant hormone signalling in order to make predictions on the phenotypic outcomes of plant species.

Dr. Forutan is an internationally recognized Researcher. Her research area includes understanding the bovine genome and epigenome, discovering causative mutation underlying economic important traits such as fertility, understanding the way genes turn on and off, investigating different methodologies to improve the accuracy of genomic prediction, and optimizing methods for predicting genetic diversity and inbreeding. Her future research career vision is to make a significant contribution to creating new knowledge in the field of quantitative genetics that can help to improve efficiency and resilience in Livestock.

Fellow of the Academy of Social Science in Australia, Life member of Clare Hall College, Cambridge, Past President of the International J.A. Schumpeter Society. Current research interests include: the diffusion of innovations with special reference to the emergence of low carbon emission power generation technologies; modelling evolutionary economic growth with special reference to the role of energy; modelling the impact of climate change on the economy with a specific focus on the power generation sector; modelling the macro-economy as a complex adaptive system; applying self-organisation theory to statistical and economic modelling in the presence of structural change; the re-design of national power grids to accommodate renewable energy generation. He currently serves on the following editorial boards: Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Review of Political Economy, Journal of Bio-economics, Journal of Institutional Economics and, previously, the Scottish Journal of Political Economy and Economic Analysis and Policy. He is Director of the Energy Economics and Management Group at UQ and Focal Leader, Renewable Energy at the Global Change Institute. Previously, he was: Head of the School of Economics at UQ (1999-2008); Deputy Director of the ARC Centre for Complex Systems (2006-2008); Member of the Social, Behavioural and Economic Panel, ARC College of Experts (2005-2007); Member of the Expert Panel appointed by the Federal Minister for Industry and Innovation, Senator Kim Carr, to review the National Innovation System (2008).