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Currently active research interests include assessing and training hazard perception in driving and risk-taking propensity in drivers.

Dr Joanna Horton is a sociologist with interests in power, participation, and governance. Her qualitative research within government, academia, and the community sector has explored how people navigate, participate in, and challenge structures of power.

Her MA research at the University of Chicago examined how local food activists scale and construct version of 'locality', and how this understanding intersects with processes of gentrification. Following her MA, she worked at CSIRO, helping to develop scenario planning across a range of sectors. Her PhD research, completed as part of the ARC DECRA project 'Fair Food Futures', examined the role of Australian civic food networks in food systems governance. The project explored the strategic challenges and opportunities faced by these organisations in attempting to influence outcomes via (mostly) mainstream processes of multistakeholder governance.

Currently Joanna is a postdoctoral research fellow working on two ARC projects. At the Centre for Policy Futures, she is working on the ARC Discovery Project 'Coastal Horticulture in Northeastern Australia: Global Networks and Regional Development', exploring land, labour and environment in multifunctional regional landscapes. At the Centre for Digital Cultures & Societies, her research on the ARC Future Fellowship 'After the Future of Work' examines the intersections between digital technology, labour relations, and extreme heat.

Dr. Hossain is currently an Associate Professor in the School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering (SoMME) and has a joint appointment in the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN) at The University of Queensland (UQ). He currently leads a medium size research group within the Australian Centre of Materials Nanotectonics where he is the Co-Director. Dr Hossain has extensive expertise in the area of Materials Science and Engineering and one of the world’s leading researchers in the field of applied superconductivity. He has extensive expertise in a research field in which he has 12 years of experience. His research career has strongly supported by a number of awards, including the Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) from ARC, Strategic Research Fellowship from Australian Academy of Sciences, Priming and Bridging grant award from Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering, the Vice-Chancellor’s Emerging Researcher Excellence Award and Vice-Chancellor’s Excellent Industry Partnership Award from University of Wollongong (UOW). His innovative research at the intersection of materials science, magnetism and applied superconductivity has already resulted in the elegant and efficient design of magnetic and superconducting materials for a range of applications including MRI, power cables, fusion magnets and chemical biosensors. He has devised novel strategies based on underlying physics and chemistry to design highly efficient nano-engineered materials and engineering devices which exhibit significantly enhanced superconducting and electromagnetic properties compared to current commercial counterparts.

The existing and new collaboration with leading universities, government organization and industry within Australia and abroad, including UOW, ANSTO, CERN and MIT will strengthen Australia's research profile in the field and the involvement of Dr. Hossain’s long standing industry partner Hyper Tech Reseatch Inc will ensure practical applications in an industry context.

Dr Sepanta Hosseinpour is a Clinical Senior Lecturer and Chief Examiner at the School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland, and a Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy (FHEA). He is a specialist endodontist and an Examiner for the Royal Australasian College of Dental Surgeons (RACDS) Primary Examinations.

Sepanta obtained his Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) and Master of Public Health (MPH) in 2017. He completed his PhD at The University of Queensland in 2023, where his research in regenerative dentistry and tissue regeneration was recognised with the Dean’s Award for Outstanding Higher Degree by Research Thesis. He completed three years of accredited specialist training and was awarded the Doctor of Clinical Dentistry (DClinDent) in Endodontics.

Dr Hosseinpour has authored and edited a book on regenerative dentistry and has published over 60 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters. He is an active researcher and educator with interests spanning endodontics, regenerative dentistry, biomaterials, and dental education, and regularly delivers invited lectures and presentations at national and international meetings.

Dr Jingwei Hou received his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of New South Wales in 2015. He then joined the UNESCO Centre for Membrane Science and Technology (2015-2017) and University of Cambridge (2017-2019, affiliate of the Trinity College) for this post-doctoral research. In 2019, he returned Australia as an ARC DECRA Fellow at the School of Chemical Engineering, University of Queensland. He was named the ARC Future Fellow in 2021 and then NHMRC Emerging Leadership 2 Fellow and ARC Mid-Career Industry Fellow in 2025. He is currently an Associate Professor and the group leader of the Functional Materials Engineering (FME) Lab, leading a team of enthusiastic and talented researchers in pushing the boundaries of science.

Dr Jingwei Hou has attracted over $9m AUD external research funds as the lead CI or sole CI, and contributed over 40 plenary, keynote and invited talks. So far, he has 1 book chapter and 150+ publications in highly-ranked international peer-reviewed journals (including lead author publications in Science, Nature Communications, CHEM, Cell Report Physical Science, JACS, Angew Chem, Advanced Materials, Journal of Membrane Science, ChemComm etc), which attracted over 11k+ citations and an H index of 63. He is the Membrane Separation Theme Leader of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Green Electrochemical Transformation for Carbon Dioxide (2023-2029). His main research focuses on understanding the physical properties of the microporous materials and translating them into useful devices for membrane separation, optics, energy storage and catalysis.

Biography:

Tony Howes graduated from UQ in 1983 with a degree in chemical engineering, and after 6 months working on a novel fluid bed retort system for oil shale went to Cambridge, UK, where he worked with Malcolm Mackley as his first PhD student on what is now the “Oscillating Baffled Reactor”. His dissertation was awarded the 1988 Danckwerts-Maxwell prize for best thesis in that year. A postdoctoral year at Brown University working on patterns in fluid data sets was followed by 3 ½ years in ICI’s Corporate Colloid Science Group, where he worked on theory and application of a novel atomiser.

Since 1993 Tony has been at The University of Queensland teaching, supervising and doing research. His work (largely in collaboration with Bhesh Bhandari in Food Science) on sticky droplet spray drying has been extensively published and cited – at present Bhandari and Howes papers are in the top-10 most cited in Drying Technology, Journal of Food Engineering and International Journal of Food Properties.

Tony has also worked on a variety of other particle problems, including solid state fermentation, regimes in rotating drums and prilling. Following work on sticky mud particles he was heavily involved in local water quality issues, and sat on the Scientific Expert Panel of the Healthy Waterways Partnership in South East Queensland.

At UQ he co-ordinated an innovative programme where students are placed in industry for a research project, and actively reflect on their learning and interact with UQ staff while in industry. In 2008 he was nominated for a University Teaching Excellence Award for his efforts on this programme.

Research:

My research focus is on spray drying, especially of sticky or potentially sticky foods. With key collaborators (Prof. Bhesh Bhandari, UQ, A.Prof Benu Adhikari University of Ballarat) we have developed rules and understanding of the role of sugars, proteins and other additives on the drying of sugar rich foods, including fruit juices, honey and milk products.

My general interests are in the modelling and physical aspects of these systems.

Teaching and Learning:

Teaching: Engineering Thermodynamics (1st year)

Education Research: The role of Work Integrated Learning in the BE and ME programmes.

Projects:

1. Spray drying at elevated temperatures
2. API crystallisation modelling
3. Role of proteins and additives in food spray drying
4. Morphology development in spray drying

I am a Senior Lecturer in Astrophysics in the School of Mathematics and Physics at the University of Queensland, and recipient of the 2026 Pawsey Medal from the Australian Academy of Science. My research focuses on mapping the positions and motions of millions of galaxies to understand how our Universe has evolved since the Big Bang — and to shed light on the mysterious dark matter and dark energy that make up 95% of everything in it.

I work on some of the largest galaxy surveys ever undertaken including

• DESI (the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument) — a project mapping tens of millions of galaxies across the Universe.
• 4HS (the 4MOST Hemisphere Survey) — a new southern-sky survey that began observations in 2026, in which I lead the cosmology team

To analyse the enormous datasets these surveys produce, my team develops cutting-edge computing and statistical tools — techniques for making sense of extraordinarily large and complex data that are increasingly finding uses beyond astronomy.

Academic Background

• Undergraduate: MPhys 1st Class Honours - University of Sussex, 2008-2012
• Postgraduate: PhD - University of Portmouth, 2012-2016
• Research Associate - University of Western Australia, 2015-2019
• Research Fellow in Cosmology - University of Queensland, 2019-

Dr Rachel Howley is a Lecturer in Instrumental Pedagogy in the School of Music. Her work centres on instrumental music education, instrumental and ensemble pedagogy, conductor training, and music teacher development, with a focus on supporting high-quality teaching, learning and leadership in music education. She is also an active conductor with expertise across orchestral and wind band settings.

Rachel teaches across undergraduate and postgraduate music education programs, specialising in instrumental pedagogy, instrumental conducting, ensemble leadership, teaching practice, and professional preparation for instrumental music teachers and conductors. Her teaching and scholarly activities explore how effective pedagogical approaches, positive program cultures, and meaningful musical participation support student learning, engagement, wellbeing, and artistic development. Her professional conducting experience informs her teaching and scholarship, creating strong links between contemporary practice and music education.

Her areas of expertise include:

• Instrumental music education
• Instrumental pedagogy
• Instrumental conducting
• Music teacher education
• Graduate preparedness and professional learning
• Ensemble pedagogy and program culture
• Music teacher wellbeing
• Diversity and representation in music

Her previous research has examined composer diversity, representation in music, repertoire selection, and the role of conductors as cultural leaders. She continues to explore how educational and artistic leadership shape inclusive, engaging, and sustainable music learning environments across school, community, and tertiary contexts.

Melanie Hoyle is a Lecturer in Occupational Therapy at The University of Queensland. She completed her PhD is 2022 and Masters in Occupational Therapy Studies in 2004. These degrees were on the back of previously completed studies in science, psychology, health management and health promotion. Melanie has practiced in a broad range of clinical areas, with diverse population groups. She is passionate about partnering with people to support participation in occupations and improve life satisfaction regardless of health condition. Presently her research interests are concentrated on factors that impact on people’s participation in the community and her PhD focused on exploring these influences with people who have experience stroke. She also has research interests in the impact of the NDIS on consumer and clincians experiences in service provision, assistive technology and home-modifications and their influence on participation outcomes, and facilitating leisure opportunities for people with disabilities.

Teresa Hsieh joined the University of Queensland in 2018. Prior to joining UQ, Dr Hsieh was involved teaching, curriculum development and management within the Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP) and the Skills for Education and Employment (SEE) program. These are federally funded vocational English language training programs for adult (forced) migrants in Australia.

Within her research, Dr Hsieh has developed the conceptual notion of ‘Capital as vocational currency’. This provides a theoretical and practical framework to strengthen English language training programs and employment opportunities for migrants, and potentially international students. This research is underpinned by Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of social practice.

Dr Hsieh is now working as an academic within the School of Languages and Cultures. Her research interests include additional language acquisition, and the integration of English language support for international students directly into their degree courses.

Research interests

• Additional language acquisition of international students and forced migrants
• Academic English language support for international students
• Social equity in higher education
• Host language learning as practice (underpinned by notions of Pierre Bourdieu)
• Social identity theory in second language acquisition.

Grace teaches in the areas of financial accounting and auditing. Her main research interests include corporate disclosure, accounting policy choice and capital market research. She is particularly interested in voluntary disclosure practices and their capital market impact under the Australian continuous disclosure regime. She is currently working on projects examining issues related to continuous disclosure, management and analysts’ earnings forecasts, company disclosure related to the Australian Equivalent of International Financial Reporting Standards (A-IFRS), financial reporting quality, and fund disclosures in the Australian superannuation industry.