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Jess has worked as a paediatric occupational therapist in private practice since graduating from her undergraduate degree. She gained additional training in animal-assisted therapy (canine and equine) in 2015 and became interested in the role animals could play in facilitating client motivation and engagement within therapy sessions. This interest led Jess to complete her PhD exploring the efficacy of canine-assisted occupational therapy with autistic children. Since completing her PhD Jess has continued her research into the impact of human-animal interaction to human and animal health and wellbeing resulting in a number of publications. In line with this research Jess is also the Co-director of The University of Queensland Animal-Assisted intervention Alliance, and the Community Engagement Manager for Animal Therapies Ltd. Jess is also qualified as a personal trainer and has clinical and research experience working to support people with disability engage in physical activity. Jess is a current researcher and coach within the UQ ParaSTART Program.

Professor Geoff Hill MBChB MD BHB FRCPA FRACP geoffH@qimr.edu.au

NHMRC Australia and QLD Health Senior Clinical Research Fellow

Coordinator, Cancer Programme, QIMR Berghofer

Head, Bone Marrow Transplantation Laboratory, QIMR Berghofer

Director of Research, Cancer Care Services, Royal Brisbane & Womens’ Hospital

Bone Marrow Transplant Physician and Haematologist, Royal Brisbane & Womens’ Hospital

Geoff Hill is a medical graduate of the University of Auckland and Haematologist, training in New Zealand, The Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. He is a NHMRC Australia Fellow and his immunology laboratory focuses on the interactions between cytokines, antigen presenting cells and regulatory T cells during transplantation.

Professor Hill was the 2005 Queenslander of the Year and recipient of the Transplantation Society of Australia and New Zealand 2009 Ian McKenzie Award and the 2014 Translational Research Institute National Prize for excellence within basic and clinical research in the transplant field. He was also awarded a Queensland Health Senior Clinical Research Fellowship in 2010 to translate new cytokine and cell based therapies into clinic practice.

Associate Professor Andrew Hill has conducted applied research across a range of industries (including transport, mining, and healthcare), with an emphasis on skills training, measurement/assessment, and the human factors and cognitive aspects of work tasks. A particular research interest has been the measurement and training of hazard perception skill. Andrew was a key member of the UQ team that developed and validated a video-based hazard perception test for Queensland Transport, which was part of the graduated licensing system in Queensland from 2008 to 2021 and was taken by around half a million drivers. Over that time, he continued to collaborate on the development and validation of a range of training methods for increasing drivers’ hazard perception skill. Training that he co-developed has been shown to lead to improvements in hazard perception and reductions in speeding and heavy braking during real-world driving. Since joining MISHC, Andrew has turned his attention to the development of novel methods for assessing and training workers’ hazard recognition skill in mining contexts (e.g., major shutdown operations).

In the healthcare sphere, Andrew contributed to the human factors design of standardised national charts for recording and responding to hospital inpatients’ vital sign observations, and for monitoring and treating diabetes in hospitals. These charts have been shown to yield improved user performance among novice chart-users and experienced clinicians alike. His other healthcare research has included work on the measurement and training of technical skills in laparoscopic surgery and colonoscopy (including contributing to a national curriculum), as well as measurement issues in relation to vital sign data.

Andrew has a PhD in cognitive psychology, as well as honours degrees in psychology and law from The University of Queensland.

Queensland Brain Institute

Dr Massimo A. Hilliard received his PhD in Biological Chemistry and Molecular Biology in 2001 from the University of Naples, Italy. His experimental work, performed at the Institute of Genetics and Biophysics of the CNR (Italian National Council of Research), was aimed at understanding the neuronal and genetic basis of aversive taste behavior (bitter taste) in C. elegans.

During his first postdoc at the University of California, San Diego, using the Ca2+ indicator Cameleon he published the first direct visualisation of chemosensory activity in C. elegans neurons. In his second postdoctoral work at the University of California, San Francisco and at The Rockefeller University, he switched from neuronal function to neuronal development, focusing in particular on how neurons establish and orient their polarity with respect to extracellular cues.

From September 2007, he is at the Queensland Brain Institute where he established an independent laboratory.

I obtained my PhD in Pure Mathematics from the University of Adelaide in the area of Convex Sets with Lattice Point Constraints. Following my PhD, I was a mathematics lecturer at the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. In 2012, I joined UQ as a teaching focused academic in the School of Mathematics and Physics.

I have extensive teaching and administrative experience at the secondary-tertiary interface. Prior to my PhD, I taught senior high school mathematics in Singapore, where, as head of the mathematics department, I oversaw the delivery of the senior high school mathematics curriculum for over 2000 students. In my current role as Director of First Year Mathematics, I have led and implemented course improvements. These include the development of a comprehensive range of graded learning resources for key first year mathematics courses and specific initiatives to address the secondary-tertiary mathematics transition. One such initiative that has been especially rewarding is the Support Learning Tutorial (SLT), an intervention program that I designed and implemented to support at-risk first year students. SLT students have consistently outperformed the general cohort in pass rates and quality of results. Another significant initiative which I led is the MATH1051 (Calculus and Linear Algebra I) UQ2U Blended Learning Project. This project introduced changes to the delivery of MATH1051 in 2019, through the integration of online and high-value on-campus activities. A key innovation is the creation of a complete set of videos for MATH1051 and the implementation of collaborative workshops. The success of the MATH1051 project has led to the subsequent redesign of several large first year mathematics courses.

The impact of my teaching and research has been recognised through eight teaching awards (five UQ and three national awards). I am a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy Fellowship (SFHEA) and 2022 Australian University Teacher of the Year.

Awards and Fellowships

• Australian Awards for University Teaching, Australian University Teacher of the Year, 2022
• Australian Awards for University Teaching, Award for Teaching Excellence, 2022
• UQ Faculty of Science Sustained Teaching Excellence Award, 2021
• UQ Award for Teaching Excellence, 2021
• Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA), 2020
• UQ Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Information Technology Special Teaching Excellence Award, 2018
• Australian Awards for University Teaching Citations for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning, 2017
• UQ Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning, 2016
• UQ Faculty of Science Award for Teaching Excellence, 2014

Coen is an interdisciplinary biologist researching and teaching in anticolonial scientific praxis. Coen has scientific expertise in ecological and evolutionary biology, molecular biology and animal physiology and has published academic works across disciplines. Coen has broad interests in centering Indigenous priorities and Indigenous rights in scientific research, emphasising respectful engagement with Indigenous communities. Coen's work bridges cultural and scientific gaps, fostering a deeper understanding of Indigenous ways of coming into knowledge as a valid scientific endeavour.

Coen is a trawlwoolway pakana related to northeast lutruwita (Hearps, Briggs family) and accountable to the Tasmanian Aboriginal community. Coen grew up as a visitor to many lands in so-called Australia and currently is associated with Yuggera and Turrbal lands around Magandjin.

Valentin was awarded a PhD from the French National Institute of Higher Education in Agricultural Sciences and the University of Montpellier (France) in 2018. His thesis focused on methodological developments for genetic differentiation analysis in the Next Generation Sequencing era in a neutral and adaptive context. Since 2019, he works as a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Queensland in the Program in Complex Trait Genomics group under the supervision of Professor Peter Visscher. His current research focuses on studying the within and between-population genetic variation in human complex traits.

Harnessing the power of AI and mixed reality to transform civil engineering: enhancing design accuracy, streamlining workflows, and fostering innovation.

Dr Johnny Ho joined School of Civil Engineering, The University of Queensland (UQ) in Sep 2013 as a Senior Lecturer. Before joining UQ, Dr Ho has been working in both Hong Kong and Brisbane offices of Arup from 2003 to 2007 on some large-scale infrastructure projects such as The Stonecutters Bridge in Hong Kong and Ipswich Motorway Upgrade (Wacol to Darra) in Queensland, Australia. In Sep 2007, he joined the Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong as an Assistant Professor. Dr Ho’s research interests are on scientific study on dilatancy of High-flowability and -performance concrete due to poly-carboxylate based superplasticizers and its application to concrete-filled steel tubular (CFST) and FRP-confined concrete structures. He has developed discrete element modelling of binary packing of 2D discs and 3D spheres using Python and Swift coding. This model, combined with the rheological model of superplasticized concrete, will contribute a more scientific concrete mix design method for low-carbon-footprint, low cost and high-performance concrete (HPC) based on wet packing modelling of particles in the fresh concrete with incorporation of multi-sized fillers. Dr Ho is also interested in applying the low-carbon-footprint high-performance concrete to single- and double-skinned concrete-filled-steel-tube and FRP-confined columns with external steel confinement and/or internal concrete expansive agent.

Dr Ho has published over 100 SCI journal papers and 40 conference papers. Two of his journal papers have been awarded the Transactions Prizes in respectively 2004 and 2005 presented by The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers. In 2011, Dr Ho was awarded the Best Presenter in the 11th International Conference on Concrete Engineering and Technology in Malaysia. In 2010, one of his students was awarded The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers Outstanding Paper Award for Young Engineers/Researchers. Dr Ho has also been very successful in obtaining research and teaching grants, including a HK$1.2m General Research Fund (GRF) grant in Hong Kong in 2010, an A$286K ARC Discovery Project (DP) grant in 2015, two National Science Foundation (NSF) Grant in 2020 and 2022 of grants CNY$600K and $5m in PRC. Dr Ho has also been very successful in supervision of undergraduate student in performing their final year projects/thesis. In 2012 and 2013, two of his Final Year Project students were given the Merit Awards of the ICE (Institution of Civil Engineers) Hong Kong Graduates and Students Papers Competition for the outstanding project work. In 2017, his thesis project student were awarded The HKIE Outstanding Paper Award for Young Engineers/Researchers by the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers and was awarded HKD$5,000 cash prize and a return ticket to and accommodation in Hong Kong for presenting his awarded paper.

Dr Ho is a passionate teacher and one of the most popular lecturers amongst the students. He is responsible for teaching a broad range of structural engineering courses, which consist of Reinforced concrete design as per EC2, AS3600 and Hong Kong Code, Prestressed concrete design as per EC2 and AS3600, Structural analysis, Finite element method, Design of steel structures as per AS4100, Structural fire engineering. Dr Ho obtained very high teaching (92%) and course (85%) evaluation scores in every semester since 2013 and was awarded the "Most Effective Teacher by Dean’s Commendation Students" in the Faculty of EAIT, UQ, in 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021 and 2022.

Lately, Dr Ho's research focus has been on applying technologies on the structural analysis, experimental simulation and AI-enhanced parallel computing modelling of particle packing in concrete. A preliminary version of iStruct2D has been developed, which is a drag and drop version of structural analysis software developed mainly for undergraduate students' learning. A mixed reality virtual experimental platform for structural engineering education and research is undergoing through the use of Apple Vision Pro.

Keywords: AI parallel computing; Concrete technology; Composite structures; Mixed-reality learning; Structural analysis iOS app; Particle packing

Khoa Hoang is a senior lecturer in Finance at UQ Business School. He holds a Ph.D. and Bachelor of Commerce with First-Class Honours from the University of Queensland.

With a focus on financial economics, Khoa's research expertise includes cost of capital estimation, earnings and returns predictability, corporate valuation, and trading anomalies. Khoa’s research has been presented in major national and international conferences and published in Accounting and Finance, Australian Journal of Management, Journal of Financial Markets, and Pacific-Basin Finance Journal.

Khoa is an active consultant and has been involved in various industry projects including:

- Development of a liquidity model to quantify investable value for emerging equity markets.

- Construction of asset pricing factors to estimate cost of capital for Australian regulated entities.

- Testing Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) with ex-ante expectations.

Linh Hoang is an Advance Queensland Industry Research Fellow (Mid - career) in the School of Agriculture & Food Sustainability. She was the holder of Australian Development Scholarship (AusAID) and Endeavour Postgraduate Award for her Master and PhD studies. Linh was awarded Best Paper Award for Early Career Scientist in 2015 by the Australian Society of Plant Scientists for her research paper published in Functional Plant Biology Journal. She has been researching abiotic/biotic stress tolerance, nutritional enrichment, value-adding to Agricultural waste, and enhanced carbon capture/climate change resilience on several crops including rice, chickpea, mungbean, grasspea and pigeonpea.

Her current research focuses on enhancing carbon capture in pigeonpea for improvement of soil health, productivity, and carbon sequestration in mining rehabilitation sites. Linh received an Advance Queensland Research Fellowship (Early - career) for her research on enhanced insect resistance in pigeonpea (2017-2021). She is/was the associate/principal supervisor of five PhD and two Master (by research) students.

Organic Chemistry

PhD

My research examines human impacts on the evolution of coral reef fishes. The ultimate goal is to characterise and mitigate threats to marine biodiversity and fisheries resources.

This research covers a range of scales from global studies on macroecology, phylogeography and biogeography through to long-term monitoring of population changes and studies of life history traits, behaviour, sensory systems and stress responses of individuals. To conduct this research requires a combination of fieldwork, aquarium experiments, and laboratory analyses. Although this research spans a range of organisms, the main study group is anemonefishes (clownfishes).

Marc Hockings is an Emeritus Professor School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Queensland. He maintains an active research program on the management of protected areas with a particular focus on monitoring and evaluation in conservation management. He is a long-term member of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) through its World Commission on Protected Areas where he leads the Specialist Group on the Green List and Management Effectiveness. He initiated and is leading the IUCN WCPA work on the Green List of Protected and Conserved Areas. He is also a member of the IUCN Species Survival and Ecosystem Management Commissions. Marc was the principal author of the IUCN’s best practice guidelines on evaluation of management effectiveness in protected areas. He is an honorary Fellow at the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre in Cambridge, UK. In 2008 he received the Kenton R. Miller Award for Innovation in Protected Area Sustainability for his work on management effectiveness.

Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg FAA; ARC Centre for Excellence in Coral Reef Studies; Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and School of Biological Sciences.

Research Publications (>440 publications, see list and impact Google Scholar). For full Curriculum vitae, click here.

BIOGRAPHY

Ove Hoegh-Guldberg is Professor of Marine Studies at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia Over the past 10 years he was Founding Director of the Global Change Institute (details here) and is Deputy Director of the Centre for Excellence in Coral Reef Studies (www.coralcoe.org.au, since 2006) and Affiliated Professor in Tropical Marine Biology at the University of Copenhagen (2016-present). Ove’s research focuses on the impacts of global change on marine ecosystems and is one of the most cited authors on climate change. In addition to pursuing scientific discovery, Ove has had a 20-year history in leading research organisations such as the Centre for Marine Studies (including 3 major research stations over 2000-2009) and the Global Change Institute, both at the University of Queensland. These roles have seen him raise more than $150 million for research and infrastructure. He has also been a dedicated communicator of the threat posed by ocean warming and acidification to marine ecosystems, being one of the first scientists to identify the serious threat posed by climate change for coral reefs in a landmark paper published in 1999 (Mar.Freshwater Res 50:839-866), which predicted the loss of coral reefs by 2050. Since that time, Ove led global discussions and action on the science and solutions to rapid climate change via high profile international roles such as the Coordinating Lead Author for the ‘Oceans’ chapter for the Fifth Assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the Coordinating Lead Author on the Impacts chapter of the IPCC Special report on 1.5oC. In addition to this work, Ove conceived and led the scientific XL-Catlin Seaview Survey (details here) which has surveyed over 1000 km of coral reefs across 25 countries (details here) and which captured and analysed over 1 million survey images of coral reefs. These images and data are available to the scientific community and others via an online database: (details here).

Developing these resources is part of Ove’s current push to understand and support solutions to global change with partners such as WWF International: (details here). As scientific lead, Ove has been steering a global response to the identification of 50 sites globally that are less exposed to climate change (Beyer et al 2018, Hoegh-Guldberg et al. 2018), working with WWF International to assemble a global partnership across seven countries (Indonesia, Philippines, Solomon Islands, Cuba, East Africa, Madagascar and Fiji; Coral Reef Rescue Initiative). Scientific papers published by Ove cover significant contributions to the physiology, ecology, environmental politics, and climate change. Some of Ove’s most significant scientific contributions have been recognised by leading journals such as Science and Nature (Hoegh-Guldberg and Bruno 2010; Hoegh-Guldberg et al. 2007; Hoegh-Guldberg et al. 2019a,b), scores of invited talks and plenaries over the past 20 years, plus his appointment as significant international roles e.g. Coordinating Lead Author of Chapter 30 (“The Oceans”) for the 5th Assessment Report, as well as Coordinating Lead Author for Chapter 3 (Impacts) on the special report on the implications of 1.5oC (for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC).

Listen to a recent interview of Ove by Jonica Newby for the ABC Science Show.

Sebastian is an Advance Queensland Industry Research Fellow at The University of Queensland's Centre for Natural Gas. Sebastian has a Bachelors, Masters and Doctorate in Environmental Engineering through the University of Stuttgart. His research interests include geostatistics, stochastic modelling, and copula-based non-linear geostatistics.