CREATE Team

Dr Joanne Dargusch

School of Education and the Arts

Acting CREATE Director, Senior Lecturer

Dr Joanne Dargusch is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Education and the Arts at CQUniversity. Jo researches and teaches in the area of assessment and pedagogy in both school-based and higher education contexts. Much of this research work has included a focus on equity, particularly in relation to how students from equity groups experience assessment in first year undergraduate courses. In addition to two multi-year Higher Education and Participation Program-funded projects, Jo has worked most recently on research into the experiences of students with disabilities completing exams and other timed assessments in higher education, and the experiences of post-graduate initial teacher education and graduates of post-graduate ITE courses as they transition to the classroom. Jo’s research has been disseminated through publications, conference presentations, professional development workshops and has informed curriculum development in the CQUniversity Graduate Certificate in Tertiary and Adult Education.

Professor Bobby Harreveld

School of Education and the Arts

Inaugural CREATE Director (2019-2021)

For over thirty years, Professor Bobby Harreveld has undertaken education-related research. She is especially interested in education pathways at the education-training-work interface. Her research is in the areas of people’s learning transitions through socio-cultural understandings of education, its politics and practices in diverse contexts. As a researcher and teacher, she is also interested in research education and ethics, professional and vocational education, employment transition pathways; open and distance teaching and learning. Major collaborators are community groups, training organisations, and education providers.

Kristie-Lee Alfrey

School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences

Research Worker

Kristie-Lee Alfrey began her CQUniversity Bachelor of Psychological Science in 2016 and soon after joined the Motivation of Health Behaviours Lab. Kristie-Lee has since been involved in numerous research projects focusing on mental health, wellbeing, motivation, and behaviour. Kristie-Lee has co-authored publications and reports, presented at conferences, and been awarded for research excellence and leadership. In 2020, after graduating with First Class Honours, Kristie-Lee (et al.) founded the Online Conference for Undergraduate Research in Australia with the aim of showcasing undergraduate research work. In July 2020, Kristie-Lee began her PhD on the role of identity in human behaviour change and maintenance.

Dr Angelina Ambrosetti

School of Education and the Arts

Associate Dean Growth and Operations

Dr Angelina Ambrosetti trained as a primary teacher and began her career in education in 1990. Before moving into the university sector, Angelina taught for 16 year in Queensland State Schools, including Caboolture SS, Healy SS (Mt Isa) and Pacific Paradise SS. Angelina has also spent time teaching English to secondary school students in Shanghai whilst on a teaching exchange.

As a lecturer in the School of Education and the Arts, Angelina's main role involves coordinating and teaching pre-service teachers during their professional experience placements. Angelina is currently the Head of Program for the Bachelor of Education (Primary). As an Early Career Researcher, Angelina's key research interests focus on the professional experience in initial teacher education, mentoring and the relationships formed between pre-service teachers and mentor teachers, workplace learning and teacher professional development. Angelina's doctoral research investigated the use of alternative mentoring models for pre-service teacher education placements. Angelina's research has been published both nationally and internationally, and she regularly presents at education conferences.

Professor Kate Ames

Learning Design and Innovation Directorate

Director, Learning Design and Innovation

Professor Kate Ames is a cultural socialist who has a research and scholarship profile in communication studies and online education. She is the Director of Learning Design and Innovation at CQUniversity and actively engaged in conversations, research, and scholarship about leadership, pedagogy, assessment, and academic experience in tertiary education. Her qualifications include a PhD in communication, a Master of Letters (Cultural Studies), a Graduate Certificate in Tertiary Education, a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment, and she is currently enrolled in a Master of Educational Neuroscience. She is the author/co-author of three books: Will to Live (2014), Time Management for Academic Impact (2019), and Managing your Academic Research Project (2020). Kate is also a Lieutenant Colonel in the Australian Army (Reserve), working in a training and public affairs role.

Rachel Barber

School of Access Education

Associate Lecturer

Rachel Barber is an Associate Lecturer in the School of Access Education (CQU), teaching in the STEPS enabling program and the Academic Learning Centre, to provide academic language and learning support to students in a range of disciplines. Rachel has over 16 years’ higher education experience spanning English language teaching, widening participation, learning advising and enabling education.

Rachel holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours), RSA Cambridge Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA) and a Master of Education (General Studies); and is a member of the Association of Academic Language and Learning (AALL) and the Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia (HERDSA).

Rachel was Principal Investigator in an AALL Commissioned Research Project (2017) investigating the impact of changing practice on the role of learning advisors and is a current Research by Higher Degree student at CQU, investigating interdisciplinary collaborative approaches to embedding academic literacies curricula into discipline learning and teaching to enhance student learning.

Rachel is committed to equity in education and is passionate about supporting students from diverse backgrounds through intentional curriculum design and transition pedagogies, aligning with CREATE’s Learning & Innovation for Equity in Education (LI4EE) and Transforming Practices & Professions research priorities.

Professor Craig Batty

School Of Education and the Arts

Adjunct Professor

Professor Craig Batty is an award-winning educator, researcher and supervisor in the areas of screenwriting, creative writing and screen production. He is also an expert in creative practice research methodologies. He has published over 70 books, book chapters, journal articles and creative practice research works, as well as many industry articles, book reviews and interviews. He has also guest edited 10 journal special issues. Craig has also worked on a variety of screen projects as a writer and script editor. Craig is currently Head of Discipline, Creative Writing, in the School of Communication, where he oversees teaching and learning, research and engagement. Craig is currently Chair of the Australian Screen Production Education and Research Association (ASPERA) Research Sub-Committee, and leads the research portfolio for the Australasian Association of Writing Programs (AAWP). He is co-editor of the Journal of Screenwriting, and is on the editorial boards of Media Practice and Education, the International Journal for Creative Media Research, and the Journal of Writing in Creative Practice.

Dr Corey Bloomfield

School of Education and the Arts

Head of Course - Bachelor of Education (Secondary)

Dr Corey Bloomfield is the Head of Course for the Bachelor of Education (Secondary) within the School of Education and the Arts. He currently specialises in teaching diversity and inclusion in education across both undergraduate and postgraduate initial teacher education courses. This focus on inclusive education practices flows into his research work along with his engagement projects with community. His recent PhD research project investigated innovations in the field of flexible and alternative learning. He has been engaged with Education Queensland's FlexiSpace program since its inception in 2018, consulting as an expert in the field. Corey’s research focuses on issues of social justice and equity for marginalised group in societies and the impacts on life transitions for these groups.

Associate Professor Gillian Busch

School of Education and the Arts

Head of Course - BEd (ECE)

Associate Professor Gillian Busch is the Head of Program, Early Childhood and a course coordinator of a number of courses in the Bachelor of Education. Gillian’s PhD (The Social Orders of Family Mealtime) was awarded the Early Childhood Australia Doctoral Thesis Award (2012). Gillian is currently involved in several research projects including young children and celebrations and how families use SKYPE or Facetime to support family interaction.

Gillian is a registered early childhood teacher and has experience teaching early years in Queensland schools and preschools.

Dr Jan Cattoni

School of Education and the Arts

Lecturer

Dr Jan Cattoni's skills are in the fields of documentary, screenwriting, editing and mentoring emerging filmmakers. Within the filmmaking industry she has broadcast credits are as a writer director of short drama, documentary and factual series for ABC, SBS and RTE (Ireland). She has based her career on ethical filmmaking, often working with vulnerable individuals and marginalised communities. Her research strengths are in documentary and arts health research and relate to Arts and Creative Industries and Humanities and Critical Social Inquiry.

Dr Ritesh Chugh

School of Engineering and Technology

Senior Lecturer

Dr Ritesh Chugh is a Senior Lecturer in the Information Systems and Analysis discipline in the College of Engineering and Technology. He has extensive experience in teaching, unit development and administration in the areas of Information Systems (IS) Management, Process Analysis, Design and Management and IS Project Management at both undergraduate and graduate levels. As an educationalist and researcher with many years of rich experience, he has contributed to varied pedagogical and research outcomes.

Dr Amy Cosby

School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences

Research Fellow – Agri-tech Education and Extension

Dr Amy Cosby has a Bachelor of Agriculture/Bachelor of Laws (Hons) and a PhD in Precision Agriculture. Amy lives and works from South Gippsland, Victoria and with her husband own and operate a 200-cow dairy farm. Amy is a leading practitioner and researcher in the field of agricultural education and has extensive experience in leading large projects with a wide range of industry partners. She works with educators, researchers and industry professionals to develop innovative programs to increase the skills and knowledge of teachers, students, famers and agricultural professionals in agri-tech and using data to make evide. Her objective is to use the knowledge derived from this research to design programs which showcase and attract the next generation agricultural workforce to the industry from diverse backgrounds. She has developed and implemented a range curriculum aligned agri-tech learning modules for university, VET and high school students. These modules aim to showcase the scientific and digital skills required in the agricultural industry to attract and build the capacity of the next generation workforce. This research aims to demonstrate that by exposing young people to agri-tech from an early age this will increase the adoption on technology across the agricultural supply chain as when these young people enter the workforce as they will be confident and skilled in the use of agri-tech.

Associate Professor Michael Cowling

School of Engineering and Technology

Associate Professor – Information & Communication Technology

Associate Professor Michael Cowling is an educational technology expert and champion, with a keen interest in STEM education and the use of technology in society. He is currently an Associate Professor in Information & Communication Technology (ICT) in the School of Engineering & Technology. His interdisciplinary work with innovative technologies such as virtual reality, robotics and 3d printing spans areas including paramedics, computer science and education, and he is currently working on a grant with Dr Robert Vanderburg and industry partner CK-12 on the use of a digital math portal to teach numeracy. He also supervises Research Higher Degree (RHD) students in areas such as the use of virtual reality to teach information systems concepts, and the use of technology to support non-native English speakers to learn programming concepts.

Dr Andrew Couzens

School of Education and the Arts

Lecturer in Digital Media, Teaching scholar

Dr Andrew Couzens is a creative practitioner, educator and researcher in film and screen media production. He is driven by a desire to support early career screen practitioners, in 2018 and 2019 founding and delivering the Queensland Emerging Screen Talent conference for local filmmakers in partnership with Brisbane International Film Festival, Screen Queensland, and Griffith Film School. His research interests are broad, covering film studies, cultural studies, and new media. His current work focuses on career pathways in the screen industries, especially for disadvantaged communities. He seeks solutions utilizing screen production pedagogy and industry partnerships that will make the industry more accessible and diverse, challenging the structural barriers that exist in the creative industries.

Dr Michael Danaher

School of Education and the Arts

Senior Lecturer/HOC Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Arts (Hons), and Diploma of Art

Dr Mike Danaher has been Head of the Bachelor of Arts and its cognate suite of courses since 2016. Mike recently led changes to the BA as part of CQURenew. Mike is also a senior lecturer in History.

As part of the Innovations in Teacher Education Research Cluster Group in the School of Education and the Arts, Mike and his colleagues successfully applied for a SoLT grant in 2019 looking at how CQU’s student mobility tours enhance intercultural competence and provide opportunities for innovative teaching and learning.

Mike’s research specialises in Japanese Studies and Educational Research. He has over 34 publications, including 5 books, 11 authored book chapters, 16 journal articles, over 15 conference presentations and 1 design product. Mike has been invited to undertake several live interviews on Singapore and Sydney radio stations to offer commentary on topical political issues in Japan.

Associate Professor Susan Davis

School of Education and the Arts

Adjunct Associate Professor

Susan Davis is Adjunct Associate Professor and former Deputy Dean Research for the School of Education and the Arts at CQUniversity. She is passionate about the transformational power of the arts and creativity for enhanced learning across formal and community learning contexts. Her career spans extensive experience as a secondary drama teacher, Performing Head of Department, Senior Policy Officer and more recently as a lecturer in primary and early childhood teacher education programs. She also has been actively involved in various state and national curriculum development projects, Queensland Drama State Panel and Arts Advisory committee and in Drama Queensland/Drama Australia for over 25 years. Her research has focused on drama, engagement, digital technologies, sustainability and scriptwriting as research. She maintains active creative practice through developing performances and workshops with schools, for arts-based community projects and events including the international Water-Reckoning Rolling Role project (featured at the Heathcote Reconsidered international conference with the model further investigated since). Other key projects included the development of two iterations of the drama and arts-based professional learning program The Open Storybox, first trialled with Sydney Theatre Company in 2014 and with Patch Theatre Company 2015-16 and the series of 'Wild/flower Women' exhibitions and projects. Sue was one of the authors of the drama book ‘Dramatexts’, lead editor for the book “Dramatic interactions in education: Vygotskian and sociocultural approaches to drama, education and research” and author of “Learning that matters: Revitalising Heathcote’s Rolling Role for the digital age”. She is a regular presenter and national and international conferences and has published over 45 peer reviewed articles and book chapters. She won the Vice Chancellor’s Award for Research (Early Career) in 2014 and in 2016 won a VC Publications Recognition award. She is currently on the boards of Drama Australia and the Creative Arts Alliance and a past Co-Convenor of the Arts, Education and Practice SIG for AARE (Australia Association for Research in Education).

Associate Professor Liz Ellison

School of Education and the Arts

Deputy Dean (Research)

Associate Professor Elizabeth Ellison is Deputy Dean (Research) of the School of Education and the Arts and CQUniversity. Her research currently focuses on two streams: regional arts and postgraduate education. Liz is the Manager of the Central Queensland Regional Arts Services Network (CQ RASN), funded by Arts Queensland. She has worked on a number of regional arts projects with industry partners, such as Sunshine Coast Council, Bundaberg Regional Council, and Artslink Queensland. Liz is also part of the leadership team of CARTA, the Creative Arts Research Training Academy. She was an investigator on an Office of Learning and Teaching grant (2014) and continues to publish on student experience and supervision of postgraduate research degrees.

Associate Professor Rickie Fisher

School of Education and the Arts

Head of College - Education

Associate Professor Rickie Fisher is the Head of College, Education in the School of Education and the Arts at CQUniversity Australia, based at the Rockhampton North Campus.

Associate Professor Fisher is the Head of Course for the Master of Teaching (Secondary) and coordinates units in professional experience (practicum) and curriculum and pedagogy.

Associate Professor Fisher is Chair of the CQUniversity Education Course Committee and previous Deputy Chair of Education Committee of Academic Board.

With extensive expertise in accreditation of initial teacher education Associate Professor Fisher has chaired a number of external accreditation panels for the Queensland College of Teachers (QCT) assessing higher education institutions initial teacher education courses against the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) National Standards for Initial Teacher Education.

Associate Professor Fisher has been engaged by AITSL as a consultant to develop a national accreditation exemplar and training package for the preparation of panelists assessing higher education institutions against the National Standards for Initial Teacher Education.

Associate Professor Fisher has been engaged by the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) as an external expert to assess a registered higher education provider (without self-accrediting authority) to renew their accreditation of a suite of higher education courses of study.

Associate Professor Fisher’s research is in career change into secondary school teaching, exploring the notions of teacher identity, communities of practice in teacher education, and delivery mechanisms for pedagogic engagement in pre-service teacher education utilising grounded theory methodologies. The ‘Theory of Becoming’ (Fisher, 2013) explains the reasons a person who has had a previous non-teaching career would ‘become’ a secondary school teacher by completing a postgraduate pre-service teacher education degree and engaging in pedagogies and approaches to learning and teaching that enhance learner’s capabilities to realise their ambitions in becoming secondary school teachers.

Associate Professor Julie Fleming

School of Education and the Arts

Associate Dean - Scholarship and Technology

Associate Professor Julie Fleming is an experienced senior academic of 25 years. She plays a significant role in the provision of strategic leadership to CQUniversity educational activities, with a focus on teaching staff and the student experience. For example, she has driven many continuous improvement activities, implemented successful teaching technologies, advocated for women in leadership, all successfully through my networks and engagement with staff across our multi-campus, dual-sector university and beyond. She has a background in multimedia, online technologies, curriculum design and development with a focus on distance education. Her thesis unpacked the need for academic professional development specifically relating to transition from face-to-face teaching into online learning and teaching. With most universities extensively using the online environment for their learning and teaching, Julie is passionate about the area of online learning. Julie works with, coaches and mentors many staff from across diverse disciplines with the main aim to improve learning and teaching that enhances student learning outcomes for CQUniversity.

Dr Lois Harris

School of Education and the Arts

Senior Lecturer

Dr Lois Harris is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Education and the Arts, CQUniversity Australia. Her research examines primary, secondary, and tertiary educational contexts, with a focus on classroom assessment, feedback, self-assessment, student engagement, and equity. She is co-author of the book Using self-assessment to improve student learning and co-editor of the Handbook of Human and Social Conditions in Assessment. Currently, she is working on the HEPPP funded Smoothing Assessment Transitions for VET students (SATVS) project. She is also on a team of researchers from CQUniversity and Deakin University that recently obtained funding from the National Center for Student Equity in Higher Education for a grant entitled: Re-imagining exams: how do assessment adjustments impact on inclusion?

Mr Wes Heberlein

Student Engagement

Coordinator Schools Outreach

Mr Wes Heberlein is an equity practitioner and educator whose specific interests lie in youth transitions, Indigenous education, educational technology, and STEM. He has completed qualifications in the online education field through Master of Education (Research) investigating Twitter chats and collaborate partnerships and Graduate Certificate in e-Learning. Wes has fostered collaborative school-university partnerships across regional and rural Queensland through the Queensland Widening Participation Consortium.

Ms Trixie James

School of Access Education

Lecturer

Trixie James is a lecturer within the STEPS program at CQUniversity on the Bundaberg Campus.Trixie’s research interests centre on the support and engagement of under-represented adults in the tertiary sector, with special interest in student engagement, quality teaching practices and positive psychology. Her research has culminated in the design and creation of a new teaching framework, Higher Expectation Framework which has also been developed into a critical reflection journal and a website to house all of her initiatives. She completed a Masters of Learning Management in Executive Leadership with a minor thesis that investigated enabling students’ successful transition into undergraduate studies. Trixie has taken the lead role in a number of research projects culminating in quality research publications. She has also successfully led a number of successful grant rounds. She is currently undertaking a Doctor of Education through the University of Tasmania investigating the student experience whilst enrolled in an enabling program. Her approach to teaching has been recognised through the successful recognition of a Tier 1 and Tier 2 VC Award for Learning and Teaching and a National Citation for Excellence in Teaching.

Dr Meena Jha

School of Engineering and Technology

Course Coordinator - ICT

Dr Meena Jha is a researcher and educator in the field of computer science and IT in the School of Engineering and Technology (SET), at Central Queensland University (CQUniversity) in Sydney, Australia. My research interests include, in particular, Big Data and Artificial Intelligence, Expert Systems, Business Intelligence, Real Time Analytics, Legacy System Modernization and Internet of Things (IoT). I have many research publications in Architecture for Complex Event Processing using Open Source Technologies; Challenges and Opportunities of Social Media in Higher Education; Combining Big Data Analytics with Business Process using Re-engineering to name few. I have developed courses on Information Systems Analysis and Business Intelligence using Big Data and Data science. I am also working in learning analytics, which is an emerging field and uses sophisticated analytic tools to improve learning and education. It draws from, and is closely tied to, a series of other fields of study including business intelligence, web analytics, academic analytics, educational data mining, and action analytics. The field of learning analytics has great potential to inform and enhance teaching and learning practices in higher education. I am passionate women in STEM and working on how to improve and enhance women power in STEM field. I am also leading a group on STEM+C at Sydney campus.

Dr Amy Johnson

School of Education and the Arts

Lecturer

Dr Amy Johnson is a lecturer in journalism and public relations at CQUniversity. Amy completed her Graduate Certificate in Tertiary Education in 2020 and was awarded Fellowship status with the Higher Education Academy the same year. Amy is currently leading a research project investigating hyperflexible learning approaches in undergraduate courses, funded by a Learning and Teaching Research Development Grant. Outside of scholarship of learning and teaching, Amy’s research interests include the Australian Defence Force, military families and social media. She was awarded her PhD in 2018 for her thesis titled ‘Inside and Outside: An investigation into Australian Defence Force families and social media’. She currently serves as an advisor on the Australian Government’s Council for Women and Families United by Defence Service.

Dr Ben Jones

School of Education and the Arts

Lecturer in History

Dr Benjamin Jones is a Lecturer in History at CQUniversity. Prior to his current position, he was an Australian Research Council DECRA Fellow at the Australian National University. He has taught and researched at the University of Sydney, University of New South Wales, and Western Sydney University. He is primarily an Australianist with expertise in Australian political and social history, public memory, and pedagogical theory. His publication record includes three academic monographs, three edited collections, nine peer-reviewed journal articles, eight book chapters, and dozens of articles in the mainstream press.

Dr Helen Keen-Dyer

School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences

Development Lead (Emergency Services), Senior Lecturer & Academic Lead, Learning and Teaching

Dr Helen Keen-Dyer is a Senior Lecturer, Emergency Service and Disaster Management and the Academic Lead Learning and Teaching in the School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences. Helen's research interests span a range of areas related to the Scholarship of Learning and Teaching, with a particular focus on Higher Education in the Emergency Services and Disaster Management context. Helen is also keenly interested in curriculum development and instructional design and the role social learning systems play in enhancing higher education. Helen is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Professor Bruce Knight

Tertiary Education Division

Emeritus Professor

Professor Bruce Knight graduated from the Townsville Teachers College with a Diploma of Teaching in 1974. He taught in a number of schools in North Queensland teaching all of the primary grades one through seven. During this time he completed studies in a Bachelor of Education and Master of Education (Special Education). In 1982 he began work in the special education sector of Education Queensland working with students with learning difficulties in regular schools, gifted and talented students, the hearing impaired and with students with moderate and severe intellectual disabilities in segregated special schools. During this period he began studies for a Doctor of Philosophy degree.

After 15 years as a practitioner in primary and special education settings, Bruce was appointed as a lecturer in special education at the University of New England in 1989. In 1992 he was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy degree and in 1994 promoted to Senior Lecturer. Also during this time Bruce was invited to the University of Alberta (twice) to teach summer schools to graduate students on the psychology and needs of students with special needs.

In July 1998, Bruce was appointed to the Faculty of Education and Creative Arts of Central Queensland University, Mackay Campus as a Senior Lecturer in education. In 2001 he was promoted to Associate Professor and in 2007 appointed Professor. At CQU, his roles have included teaching undergraduate and postgraduate students, administration, research and community work. He was appointed the Associate Dean (Research) of the Faculty of Education & Creative Arts from 2003 to 2008, and from 2009-2010 the Deputy Associate Dean (Research & Innovation) of the Faculty of Arts, Business, Informatics & Education containing Schools of Arts, Business, Law, Creative and Performing Arts, ICT, and Education. Bruce is currently the Professor of Education in the School of Education and at present teaches nine part-time doctoral candidates. He is also an active member of the Learning and Teaching Education Research Centre (LTERC), a designated strategic education research flagship of the university, participating in research activities and mentoring junior academics.

Ms Ana Larsen

School of Access Education

Associate Lecturer

Ana Larsen has a multidisciplinary background with majors in Sociology and Psychological Studies which she brings to the field of Education. Her previous role at Federation University saw her teaching enabling students over five years and designing and delivering academic skills workshops to first year students from all discipline areas. Ana now teaches enabling students in the STEPS program and provides support to staff and students in the Academic Learning Centre. She is currently completing a PhD which examines self-efficacy among disadvantaged students in enabling programs. Her research interests include transition studies, enabling and pathways to higher education, social equity in higher education and the intersection of disadvantage in higher education.

Dr Linda Lorenza

School of Education and the Arts

Senior Lecturer/Head of Course - Theatre

Dr Linda Lorenza is qualitative researcher whose interests are in the arts, arts education, and applied arts in health and rehabilitation contexts.

Linda joined CQU in 2019. She is Head of Course for the Bachelor of Theatre degree in which she lectures in acting and theatre studies.

Linda completed her PhD in arts education and curriculum policy at the University of Sydney in 2018. She is recognised for her education work in the Australian arts industry at Bell Shakespeare and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. While at Bell Shakespeare she was involved in the Theatrespace longitudinal research study into the influences on young people's attendance at theatre. Her more recent research interests include teachers' responses to curriculum change in the arts, the impact of COVID-19 on performing arts tuition in the tertiary sector and undergraduate students' responses to overseas collaborative performance experiences.

Dr Sasha Mackay

School of Education and the Arts

Research Fellow

Dr Sasha Mackay's professional background spans public service media and socially engaged arts in regional Queensland, and her research explores the practices and social impacts of co-created life storytelling and participatory arts projects for underserved cohorts and communities. In addition to her role at Central Queensland University, she is currently the Research Project Manager of the Australian Research Council Linkage Project ‘The Role of the Creative Arts in Regional Australia: A Social Impact Model’ (LP180100477) led by Queensland University of Technology.

Dr Gemma Mann

School of Access Education

Lecturer

Dr Gemma Mann has worked in Higher Education for 12 years, initially employed in 2008 as the Coordinator, First Year Experience in the Student Support Centre. Gemma's present role is as a lecturer within CQUniversity's Skills for Tertiary Education Preparatory Studies Course (STEPS) and academic advisor with the Academic Learning Centre (ALC), both in the areas of mathematics and physical sciences.

Dr Karena Menzie-Ballantyne

School of Education and the Arts

Lecturer

Dr Karena Menzie-Ballantyne has extensive experience teaching and researching in the fields of global competence and global and active citizenship, at both school and tertiary levels and in the not-for-profit sector. Karena currently works as a lecturer in pre-service teacher education particularly in the Humanities and Social Sciences. Her doctoral studies compared the reports of adolescents engaged in a two-year active citizenship project to the knowledge, skills, values, attitudes, and actions identified as necessary for global citizenship. Karena is currently working with her research partner Dr Miriam Ham examining classroom teachers’ interpretations of global competence and with the Queensland Department of Education International on their Global Competence Pilot Program.

Professor Steven Moore

School of Engineering and Technology

Deputy Dean - Research Professor

Dr Steven Moore is a Professor and Deputy Dean for Research at the School of Engineering and Technology. Steven is a biomedical engineer with expertise in a wide variety of disciplines. He spent 20 years as director of the Human Aerospace Laboratory at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, receiving over $10 million in federal funding from NASA to conduct a series of experiments aboard the space shuttle, and the Mir and International space stations, on the effects of prolonged weightlessness on the nervous system. Steven also received funding from the National Institutes of Health and the Michael J Fox Foundation to lead the US component of an international study of cloud-based monitoring of the motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease in community dwelling patients. Since returning to Australia in 2016 he has worked on a range of interdisciplinary projects such as drone applications in agriculture, rail and resource management, and most recently has been working with colleagues at the University of Sydney on the application of virtual reality to remote STEM learning at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels. Steven is currently supervising 4 RHD students in areas as diverse as deep learning to identify endangered species from field audio recordings, new mathematical techniques to describe animal communications, cybersecurity and aerospace human factors.

Associate Professor Steve Pace

School of Education and the Arts

Head of Course - Digital Media

Associate Professor Steven Pace is an Associate Professor and the Head of Course for Digital Media in the School of Education and the Arts at CQUniversity. Some highlights of Steven's academic career include:

being recognised as a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy in 2020;
being appointed as an Advance Queensland Community Digital Champion in 2016;
winning the award for National ICT Educator of the Year in 2011;
receiving a Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning from the Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) in 2011;
winning the CQUniversity Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Learning and Teaching in 2010;
serving as a member of the Register of Experts of the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA);
serving as an international expert for the Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications (HKCAAVQ);
participating in an international research project in South America funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2010;
completing a PhD in the field of human-computer interaction at the Australian National University in 2003; and
serving as the Head of Course for Digital Media at CQUniversity.

Dr Linda Pfeiffer

School of Education and the Arts

Senior Lecturer

Dr. Linda Pfeiffer is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Education and the Arts, CQUniversity, based at the Gladstone Marina campus. Linda is the Australia Pacific LNG STEM Research Central project lead and she coordinates the Science and STEM units in the undergraduate and postgraduate Primary and Early Childhood Education courses. Linda has a broad range of successful teaching experiences in primary, secondary and tertiary education and she is a Research Higher Degree Supervisor. Linda’s passion is STEM education and engagement and she has received two CQUniversity Engagement Opal Awards. Linda works with industry, community groups and local schools to improve STEM outcomes across all sectors. She coordinates the ConocoPhillips Science Experience for Year 9 and 10 students. Linda won the 2016 Women in STEM Research Prize for her work with schools on science education and engagement events. She has been a part of the OLT project “It’s part of my life: Engaging university and community to enhance science and mathematics education” as well as the RUN Digital Classrooms project. Linda coordinates the STEM Leadership Team at CQUniversity, the CQ STEM Hub network and is the MIT REAP Gladstone sub-REAP team leader. She is a Research Higher Degree supervisor and she has published peer reviewed journal articles, book chapters, conference papers, and edited and authored books.

Dr Ann-Marie Priest

School of Access Education

Senior Lecturer/Research Coordinator

Dr Ann-Marie Priest is a humanities scholar with a special interest in Australian women writers and biography. Her most recent project is a biography of renowned Australian poet Gwen Harwood (forthcoming, LaTrobe University Press & Black Inc., 2021).

In her role in the School of Access Education, she facilitates research in enabling education, with a focus on widening participation in higher education.

Dr Amanda Rebar

School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences

Director of Motivation of Health Behaviours Lab and Senior Lecturer in College of Psychology

Dr Amanda Rebar is a strong advocate for mentoring and engaging students and staff with their research. Her work is focused on behaviour change and data analytic strategies of tracking change over time Amanda regularly engages with industries to evaluate programs for mental and physical health outcomes. Amanda graduated with rigorous training in advanced statistics as a Quantitative Social Science Initiative Research Fellow at The Pennsylvania State University (USA). She has 15 years of experience conducting quantitative analyses with expertise in time series data. She is familiar with the data analyses packages R and SPSS and is a strong advocate of open science.

Dr Susan Richardson

School of Education and the Arts

Senior Lecturer

Dr Susan Richardson is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Education and the Arts at CQUniversity, Noosa Campus and is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA award). She is Campus Coordinator for the School of Education, Noosa campus; responsible for administrative responsibilities associated with staff recruitment, management and timetabling, staff and student pastoral care, staff mentoring, community engagement activities and advocacy leadership. Susan mainly teaches undergraduate students, across all year levels, in the Bachelor of Education course (Primary/Early Childhood). Susan specifically teaches in the areas of learning and well-being, professional practice and school-based pedagogy as well as service-learning and community practices. These teaching areas underpin Susan’s diverse research interests; homework and teacher homework practice in primary schools, the lived experiences of local and international service-learning placements for university staff and students and the experiences of VET students transitioning into Higher Education studies. She is a frequent presenter at national and international conferences on these topics and works in a range of research teams within CQUniversity. Susan is currently a member of a HEPPP-funded project, Smoothing Assessment Transitions for VET Students (2019), and has presented project findings with team members at conferences and through on-line CQUniversity staff professional development opportunities. Susan led a team of five CQUniversity Education lecturers in an innovative learning and teaching project that won the Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Exemplary Practice in Learning and Teaching (Tier 1) 2020, “For adaptively using technology to re-imagine an alternative, innovative ‘third-space’ teaching and learning environment, characterised by reflective, responsive, conversational teaching that connects and engages students.” As part of the team, Susan co-authored a publication, presented at international and national conferences and shared project findings with colleagues at the School of Education and the Arts symposium.

Dr Nadia Mead

School of Education and the Arts

Lecturer - Education

Dr Nadia Mead is a creativity professional and expert with interests in teacher identity and teacher voice, and how storytelling can influence the teaching experience. She is currently a Lecturer in the School of Education and the Arts at CQUniversity Australia. Her research work focuses on how case studies and stories can prepare pre-service teachers for their placements and examines how sharing stories can impact upon teacher wellbeing. Nadia’s research also explores the use of humor and fiction in teacher training. She has significant methodological experience in the use of autoethnography and is currently supervising research students in the use of autoethnography to investigate teacher experience.

Michelle Roberts

School of Education and the Arts

Associate Lecturer

Michelle Roberts has been teaching Digital Media for over 15 years and her current role is Associate Lecturer and Unit Coordinator in the Bachelor of Digital Media. Over the years, Michelle has taught Print Design, Web Design, User Experience Design, Animation, Visual Communication Design as well as a large range of other units within Digital Media and Communications. Michelle recently received the Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Exemplary Practice in Learning and Teaching (Tier 1) 2020 for her contribution to learning and teaching at CQUniversity Australia.

Michelle holds a Diploma of Teaching, Bachelor of Communication (with Distinction),a Graduate Certificate in Creative Industries (with Distinction)and is currently completing a Masters of Education at CQUniversity.

Ms Colleen Ryan

School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Sciences

Industry Liaison Educator - Lecturer

Colleen Ryan completed her re-entry competency assessment through CQ University in 2005, after 10 years absence. Her areas of interest in nursing are clinical teaching in particular simulation, education for undergraduates and professionals and professional development of RN's working with students in clinical and classroom settings. These interests are also the focus of her research. In the past Collen has worked in youth drug and alcohol, harm minimisation and sexual health programs. She remains clinically current through shift work at my local hospital.

She has worked as a clinical facilitator at several facilities on the Sunshine Coast. Collen also has extensive experience facilitating workshops in both present and past employment.

Professional Memberships

Member Australian Nurse Teachers Society (ANTS)
Member International Nursing Association of Clinical Simulation Learning (INACSL)
Group member INACSL Australian Regional Interest Group (RIG)
Group member Peer Supported Open Dialogue WA/QLD

Dr Sonia Saluja

School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences

Senior Lecturer/HOC Med Science/HOC Clinical Sciences

Dr Sonia Saluja is a medically trained academic with over 20 years of teaching experience in tertiary institutions and medical schools in Australia and overseas. In her role as Head of Course she provides academic leadership and oversight to the curriculum development, delivery, and academic quality of the Bachelor of Medical Science (Pathway to Medicine).
She has a keen interest in medical education and has extensive experience in curriculum design and development of medical programs throughout her professional career. Creating learning environments contextualised to student’s careers has been at the heart of her work. Her teaching practice involves including authentic learning experiences and presenting students with real-world situations to link theory with practice. A strong believer in taking a student-focused approach, she develops teaching tools and assessment strategies aimed at encouraging students to discover the exciting world of medical science.
Sonia is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (UK) and has received a number of institutional awards for her teaching, most recently the Vice-Chancellor's Award for Outstanding Contribution to Learning and Teaching (2020).

Melissa Sullivan

School of Education and the Arts

RHD Student

Melissa Sullivan has been working and studying with CQU for more than 20 years. Her main teaching areas has been in the School of Business, teaching students based on Brisbane campus. Her EdD is currently under examination and she is currently working on journal drafts to be submitted pending examiner feedback. She am also working on a professional development unit to be offered to academics working in WIL. Melissa is keen to evolve her research into practice and looks forward to future work and research in the field of student -profession transitions.

Celia Tinetti

School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences

Lecturer

Celia Tinetti is a current PhD student at CQUniversity, doing a project on Professionalism in Sonography. Lecturer in sonography; after coordinating lab-simulation units for 5 years, now coordinating units that lead into the two biggest lab-based units to ensure students are prepared fully for scanning in terms of anatomy, pathology, and sonographic image recognition. Actively involved in teaching students about what will be required of them as sonographers (and sonography students on clinical placement) in terms of both their technical skills and professionalism.

Dr Robert Vanderburg

School of Education and the Arts

Lecturer - Education

Dr. Robert Vanderburg has a background is in methodological design, statistical analyses, psychological measurement development, and literacy. He has published research using cognitive and writing measures to run a structural equation modeling analysis which demonstrated a significant link between working memory and writing factors. One of his grants was a literacy program entitled The Claflin Saturday Academy. He developed all the measures used in the Saturday Academy Grant. While in the United States, he has received over 3 million dollars in research grants.

Dr Miriam Ham

School of Education and the Arts

Head of Course Diploma Secondary School Teaching

Dr Michelle Vanderburg

School of Education and the Arts

Head of Course - Master of Teaching (Primary)

Dr. Michelle Vanderburg has a PhD in Language and Literacy. She has experience teaching in primary, secondary, and higher education settings. She has published research using ethnographic and case study methods, including conducting observations and interviews. She has experience analysing qualitative data using open coding, grounded theory and constant comparative methods. Her research background includes looking at inquiry methods, literacy coaching, teaching effective literacy practices to teachers and K-12 students, and literacy in the content areas, such as STEM. Dr. Vanderburg is currently a Senior Lecturer and the Head of Course – Master of Teaching (Primary) at CQUniversity.