Professor Hongdong Li is a Tenured Professor at the School of Computing, Australian National University (ANU), within the College of Engineering and Computer Science. His research focuses on 3D Computer Vision, Machine Learning, and their applications in dynamic environments. He has held visiting roles at Carnegie Mellon University and has contributed to significant projects like the Australia Bionic Eyes initiative. Education: PhD (Electrical Engineering). Research Interests : 3D Computer Vision fundamentals and applied AI systems Learning-based 3D perception for plant sciences Robot navigation in unfamiliar environments Awards : Marr Prize Honourable Mention CVPR Best Paper Award Advising & Grants : Supervised 40+ PhD students, with funding from ARC, CSIRO, Microsoft, and firms like OPPO/Tencent. Active in projects such as bushfire detection via video analytics and sign language translation systems. Labs/Teams : Co-founder of the Australian Centre for Robotic Vision (ACRV). Collaborates globally on cross-view localization and autonomous systems.
Owen Price is an Associate Professor and Director in Bushfire Risk Management at the School of Earth, Atmospheric and Life Sciences (SEALS), University of Wollongong. His roles include leading research on wildfire impacts on ecosystems, human health, and infrastructure. He holds a PhD from the Australian National University (1998), an MSc from the University of Strathclyde (1986), and a BSc (hons) from the University of York (1985). Director, Centre for Environmental Risk Management of Bushfire (since 2020) Principal Fellow, SEALS (2019–2021) His research integrates fieldwork, GIS/remote sensing, and statistical modeling to address landscape-scale wildfire risks. Key interests include fire severity effects on biodiversity, smoke pollution impacts, and cost-effective fire management strategies. He supervises postgraduate students in topics like coastal wetland vulnerability and fire regime analysis. Recent grants include studies on coastal wetlands' fire resilience (2023–2026), Bayesian fire spread modeling (2023–2026), and evaluating aerial firefighting efficacy (2023). His work bridges ecological, social, and technical dimensions of wildfire risk. Notable awards and recognitions are not explicitly listed in the provided materials. His contributions to fire policy and community adaptation are highlighted through collaborative projects with government and environmental agencies.
Kat Haynes is an Honorary Fellow at the School of Earth, Atmospheric and Life Sciences (SEALS) at the University of Wollongong. Her research focuses on environmental change, disaster risk reduction, and community resilience through participatory processes. She holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences from the University of East Anglia (2005). Her work emphasizes youth and community-centered initiatives, including post-disaster investigations in Australia and volcano risk communication in Montserrat. Haynes has received significant recognition, including the Australian Academy of Science ASPIRE Award (2015) for contributions to disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation. She leads or collaborates on grants such as the NSW Bushfire Inquiry (2021), Re-walking and Reawakening Country (2021), and Indigenous cultural burning research (2020). She has advised on multiple higher-degree research projects, including geochemistry studies of historical fires. Her research spans natural hazards, environmental management, and human geography, with a focus on wildfire management, flood risk communication, and elderly resilience during disasters. She collaborates with government and NGOs to institutionalize child-centric disaster resilience strategies. Haynes also contributes to global initiatives like the Centre for Environmental Risk Management of Bushfires and has published extensively on disaster preparedness and recovery.
Amir Aryani is an Associate Professor at the School of Business, Law and Entrepreneurship , Swinburne University of Technology . He leads the Social Data Analytics (SoDA) Lab within the Social Innovation Research Institute , focusing on data-driven solutions for health and social challenges. His work involves large-scale cross-institutional projects with international collaborators including the British Library , ORCID , and NIH . Research Focus: Data modeling, real-time analytics, and information retrieval for social-good initiatives Collaborations: CERN, Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS), and Global Information Systems (GESIS) His research explores data science applications in mental health, community resilience, and sustainable development. Key trends in his publications include: Mapping research to United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Developing hybrid expert-finding models using NLP and graph algorithms Creating interoperable research graphs for cross-platform discovery Assessing social impact of data projects in non-profit sectors Amir is actively involved in PhD supervision and has secured funding from Australian Research Council , National Health and Medical Research Council , and philanthropic foundations . He also contributes to community data projects through the SoDA Lab , which builds tools for social connection analysis and humanitarian response optimization.
Dr. Husam Al-Najjar is a Lecturer at the School of Computer Science within the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). He serves as the Course Director for the Bachelor of Information Systems (BIS) program. With expertise in geospatial technology and machine learning, Dr. Al-Najjar focuses on predicting and mitigating natural hazards and environmental issues to contribute to a sustainable digital earth. Dr. Al-Najjar earned his PhD from the University of Technology Sydney. Before joining academia, he worked in project management and has received numerous prestigious awards, scholarships, and grants throughout his career. Dr. Al-Najjar's research primarily centers on the application of machine learning techniques to address complex environmental challenges. His work spans geospatial AI, natural hazard prediction (particularly landslides and bushfires), and sustainable development. He has developed innovative approaches that integrate physical models with machine learning algorithms to improve prediction accuracy in data-scarce environments. His research also extends to remote sensing applications, urban planning, and smart city technologies, with a strong emphasis on practical solutions for real-world problems. Analysis of Dr. Al-Najjar's recent publications reveals a strong focus on applying explainable AI techniques to natural hazard prediction, particularly landslides. His work consistently bridges the gap between theoretical machine learning approaches and practical geospatial applications. He has made significant contributions to integrating physical models with AI, developing methods for handling imbalanced data through generative adversarial networks, and improving feature selection for remote sensing applications in environmental monitoring. Best Paper Award at the ISPRS Geospatial Week in Enschede, the Netherlands As an educator, Dr. Al-Najjar is actively involved in mentoring and teaching. He serves as Course Director for the Bachelor of Information Systems program and teaches courses in GIS, Information Systems, IS development methodologies, Design & Innovation, and Project Management. He welcomes prospective PhD candidates interested in his research areas and emphasizes the importance of detailed research proposals that demonstrate novelty and significance. His teaching philosophy focuses on fostering an engaging and inclusive learning environment that promotes student success and well-being. Dr. Al-Najjar is affiliated with 'The Trustworthy Digital Society' concentration at UTS and serves as a referee and holds editorial roles in respected journals. His work contributes to the development of geospatial AI frameworks that support decision-making in environmental management and disaster preparedness.
Scott Johnston serves as Professor (Research Scholar) and Deputy Associate Dean of Education (Students) at Southern Cross University's Faculty of Science and Engineering, where he co-leads the Catchments, Coasts and Communities Research Cluster. His environmental hydrogeochemistry expertise focuses on water quality processes in wetlands, coastal floodplains, and river systems, particularly regarding acid sulfate soils and toxic element cycling. His academic background includes a Bachelor of Applied Science from the University of New England (1990-1993) and a PhD from Southern Cross University. These qualifications underpin his research on redox-sensitive element transformations and contaminant behavior in natural environments. Johnston's research examines iron, sulfur, and carbon cycling alongside toxic trace elements (arsenic, antimony, aluminum) through field studies and mineral-water interface experiments. Recent work addresses climate extremes, bushfire impacts on water quality, and revolutionary findings on tree-mediated methane emissions in wetlands, revealing previously underestimated ecosystem fluxes. Analysis of his 2023-2025 publications shows dominant themes in antimony/arsenic geochemistry within mining-impacted systems and acid sulfate environments, coupled with innovative investigations into wetland methane dynamics from tree stems. These studies integrate advanced spectroscopic techniques and field monitoring to develop practical remediation strategies. His scientific recognition includes: Australian Research Council APDI Fellowship (2008) Australian Research Council Future Fellowship (2011-2015) Outstanding Teaching Award from Southern Cross University (2024) Johnston has secured >$5.1 million in external funding as lead CI, directing large-scale ARC/CRC projects with government and industry partners. He currently supervises 8 PhD and 1 Master's student (with 8 PhD and 1 Master's completions), while teaching undergraduate courses in Earth Systems, Environmental Chemistry, and Hydrodynamics. As founding Co-Lead of the Catchments, Coasts and Communities Research Cluster, he coordinates interdisciplinary teams conducting sub-catchment scale field research and laboratory experiments. His community collaborations include citizen science projects quantifying bushfire impacts on water quality across eastern Australia.
Samsung Lim serves as an Associate Professor of geographic information systems (GIS) in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Sydney. With expertise spanning data science, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, Lim applies geospatial technologies to critical real-world challenges in natural disaster management and public health research. Lim's interdisciplinary work bridges engineering, computer science, and public health domains to develop practical decision-making tools for emergency response and disease surveillance. Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA M.A. in Mathematics, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea B.A. in Mathematics, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea Lim's research focuses on applying GIS to natural disaster management and public health challenges. Key areas include machine learning methods for bushfire susceptibility mapping, spatial clustering for landslide susceptibility analysis, city-scale evacuation management in flood scenarios, and social media-based natural disaster assessment. In public health, Lim investigates geo-correlations between environmental factors and asthma occurrence, computational approaches to avian influenza outbreaks, emerging hot spot analysis of COVID-19, and early detection systems for emerging infectious diseases. This work combines advanced spatial analytics with machine learning to address complex environmental and health challenges. The recent publication record demonstrates a clear interdisciplinary trajectory where geospatial science intersects with public health emergency response and natural hazard management. Lim's work consistently applies machine learning techniques to geospatial data, with particular emphasis on disaster susceptibility mapping, disease outbreak detection, and infrastructure monitoring. The research spans multiple continents and addresses both immediate emergency response needs and long-term environmental health challenges, reflecting a commitment to practical applications of geospatial science. Associate Editor of Geospatial Information Science National Delegate of Commission 3 of International Federation of Surveyors (FIG) National Representative of the International Cartographic Association (ICA) Commission on Sensor-driven Mapping Senior Member of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Lim actively contributes to the development of early warning systems for emerging infectious diseases through collaborations with public health researchers. The work on EPIWATCH demonstrates how AI can enhance surveillance capabilities for outbreak detection. Lim's research on cruise ship transmission of diseases and the spread of avian influenza through bird migration patterns and poultry trade networks shows strong engagement with real-world public health challenges. These projects often involve multidisciplinary teams spanning engineering, computer science, epidemiology, and veterinary medicine. Lim's work integrates multiple geospatial data sources and analytical techniques to address complex environmental and public health challenges. This includes developing frameworks for performance analysis of OpenStreetMap data, creating specialized road datasets for pedestrian navigation, and applying Persistent Scatterer Interferometry for land motion monitoring. The research combines traditional geospatial methods with cutting-edge machine learning approaches to extract meaningful insights from complex spatial datasets.
Associate Professor Eleanor Bruce is an academic at the University of Sydney, affiliated with the Sydney Environment Institute and Sydney Institute of Agriculture. As Deputy Node Leader of the University of Sydney's SpaceNet program, her work integrates Earth observation data with socio-ecological research to address environmental change and sustainability challenges. Her research focuses on coastal management, climate adaptation, remote sensing, and geospatial technologies. Her expertise includes spatial analysis of marine ecosystems, disaster risk assessment, and climate-smart agricultural systems in the Pacific region. She leads interdisciplinary projects involving partnerships between academia, policy, and communities. Notable contributions include developing frameworks for youth engagement in climate adaptation and creating open-source geospatial tools for smallholder farmers. Eleanor has secured grants such as the 'Identifying High-Risk Communities for Climate-Sensitive Child Undernutrition in Maluku Province, Indonesia' (2024) and 'Detecting Flooding in Fiji's Croplands' (2022). Her work emphasizes practical applications of geospatial data to enhance resilience in vulnerable coastal communities. She has collaborated on projects like the 'More Than Maps' framework for youth research capacity building and pioneered UAV techniques for whale observation. Her research also addresses historical vegetation changes in protected areas like the Angkor World Heritage Site. Eleanor holds leadership roles in environmental policy and has contributed to initiatives like the Sydney Southeast Asia Centre. Her teaching and supervision span environmental GIS applications and climate change mitigation strategies.
Manu Saunders is a Senior Lecturer in Ecology and Biology at the University of New England's School of Environmental and Rural Science. She holds a PhD in Ecology from Charles Sturt University (2014) and conducts research in community ecology, insect-plant interactions, and ecosystem services. Her research focuses on insect ecology in agricultural and natural landscapes, examining how land use changes affect biodiversity and ecological processes. She investigates pollination networks, insect conservation strategies, urban insect ecology, and the impacts of disturbances like bushfires on insect communities. Dr. Saunders has received multiple awards including the Dean's Award for Early Career Research Excellence and the Ecological Society of Australia Award for Outstanding Science Outreach. She coordinates ecology units and promotes science communication through public engagement initiatives. Her publications demonstrate expertise in pollination ecology, conservation biology, and science communication. Recent work includes studies on fire impacts on threatened plants, urban insect conservation, and developing connected environmental science curricula.
Dr. Alyssa Morse is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Mental Health Research within the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health at Australian National University . Holding a PhD in Psychology from ANU, her work focuses on lived experience integration across mental health research, services, and policy. Key affiliations: ANU Centre for Mental Health Research Research groups: Child, Youth and Family Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Unit; Lived Experience Research Unit Research Interests: Alyssa specializes in enhancing lived experience involvement in mental health systems, developing youth mental health prevention programs, and evaluating mental health service designs. Her work addresses emotional regulation, stigma reduction, and digital health innovations. Publication Trends: Her recent scholarship examines pandemic impacts on mental health, technology-based interventions, post-disaster recovery, and ethical frameworks for lived experience research. Collaborative projects often involve school-based programs, caregiver support, and peer worker integration. Scientific Contributions: ALIVE Next Generation Researcher Network 2022 Seed Funding RSPH Excellence in Population Health Research Award Advisory & Grants: Actively supervises projects like "We live in our own world" (young caregiver support) and co-creates mental health resources. Funded studies include "Lived Experience Mental Health Education" and disaster resilience programs. Labs & Teams: Works with multidisciplinary teams in the Child, Youth and Family Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Unit , collaborating with Mental Illness Education ACT (MIEACT), Health Care Consumers’ Association, and ACT Mental Health Consumer Network.
Dr. Yifei Dong is a Research Fellow at the Data Science Institute , University of Technology Sydney, with expertise in LLM-assisted agent systems , explainable AI , and multimodal artificial intelligence . Holding a PhD in Computer Science from UNSW Sydney and over a decade of fintech industry experience including CTO roles, he has secured $2.4 million in competitive funding for AI solutions bridging academia and real-world applications in healthcare, education, and finance. Education : PhD in Computer Science from UNSW Sydney Current Role : Research Fellow at UTS Data Science Institute (2023–present) Past Academic Appointments : Lecturer at Southern Cross University and Western Sydney University Dr. Dong’s research focuses on making AI systems transparent and socially beneficial , with contributions to adversarial AI, trustworthy digital societies, and wireless sensor networks. His recent work includes: Developing AICAttack (2025) for adversarial image captioning attacks Creating the QMAD fairness metric (2025) for dynamic environments Advancing explainable ECG diagnosis systems (2025) via multimodal LLMs As a scientific awardee (2025 RegTech Social Impact of the Year), he has pioneered AI solutions for vulnerable populations, such as NDSI participants through the "My Complaint Assistant" tool. His supervision of PhD and Honours students emphasizes technical rigor and ethical responsibility.
Dr. Phillipa McCormack is an Adjunct Lecturer at the School of Law, University of Tasmania (UTAS), and a Future Making Fellow at the interdisciplinary Environment Institute and Adelaide Law School, University of Adelaide. A leading environmental law and climate adaptation scholar, her research focuses on law and policy frameworks for biodiversity conservation, climate change adaptation, and evolving bushfire regimes in Australia. Phillipa’s work is highly interdisciplinary, with collaborations spanning global institutions. Key research themes include: Adapting legal frameworks to address climate-driven biodiversity loss Comparative analysis of bushfire governance in Australia and the United States Integrating climate change into environmental and employment law Advancing ecosystem restoration through legal instruments Interdisciplinary approaches to human-wildlife conflict Recent publications highlight emerging trends in: Climate adaptation law for marine and coastal restoration Greenwashing regulatory reforms in energy and natural resources EPBC Act reform as cyclical policy stagnation Fire shelter policy barriers in bushfire-prone regions Conservation covenant innovations for global biodiversity challenges Scientific Awards & Grants: Inaugural Early Career Research Fellow, Natural Hazards Research Australia (2022) Second Fellowship, Natural Hazards Research Australia (2023) Peer Prize for Women (2017) for climate-driven species redistribution research Spencer Foundation Grant (2024): Youth climate education models UTAS Internal Funding (2019): Bushfire governance mapping Australian Department of Environment Grant (2019): Negative emissions technologies Dr. McCormack supervises doctoral students, including Jennifer Mary Boocock (completed 2024) on public health adaptation law. She actively contributes to environmental law discourse through editorial board roles (Frontiers in Climate: Law & Policy, Journal of International Wildlife Law & Policy) and governance positions (NRM South, International Association of Wildland Fire DEI Committee).
Naonori Ueda is a Research Professor and Deputy Director at RIKEN Center for Advanced Intelligence Project. He also serves as a Visiting Fellow at NTT Communication Science Laboratories, Research Supervisor for Mathematical Information Platform at Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), and Visiting Professor at Kobe University's Graduate School of System Informatics. His distinguished career spans academia, government research institutions, and industry collaboration, with significant contributions to advancing artificial intelligence and machine learning applications across multiple scientific domains. Dr. Ueda's research interests focus on the intersection of machine learning, artificial intelligence, and physical sciences. He specializes in physics-informed deep learning approaches that integrate governing physical equations with neural network architectures. His work spans geophysical data analysis, remote sensing applications, computational seismology, and environmental monitoring systems. He has pioneered methods for crustal deformation modeling, earthquake prediction, tsunami inundation forecasting, and satellite imagery analysis using advanced machine learning techniques. His research demonstrates how AI can solve complex scientific problems by bridging the gap between data-driven approaches and physical domain knowledge. His publication record reveals a strong trend toward applying machine learning to solve real-world geophysical and environmental challenges. His recent work shows increasing sophistication in physics-informed neural networks that incorporate domain-specific knowledge into deep learning architectures. The publications span high-impact journals like Nature Communications, demonstrating the interdisciplinary significance of his work. His research consistently focuses on practical applications of AI for disaster prevention, environmental monitoring, and scientific discovery. Fellow of IEICE (Institute of Electronics Information and Communication Engineers) Member of Japan Prize field review committee Selection Committee Member for Brilliant Female Research Award (The Jun Ashida Award) Member of Kyoto Prize Selection Committee Dr. Ueda has secured substantial research funding through multiple government-sponsored projects including RIKEN Pioneering Project 'Prediction Science,' JST AIP Acceleration Research projects on weather prediction and drug discovery, and AMED-funded medical research initiatives. His leadership extends to serving as Sub-project Director for Japan's Moonshot R&D Project. He actively mentors researchers through his roles at RIKEN, NTT, and various academic institutions, fostering the next generation of AI scientists. As Deputy Director of RIKEN Center for Advanced Intelligence Project, Dr. Ueda leads one of Japan's premier AI research initiatives. He also serves on the Advisory Board of Kobe University's Mathematical and Data Science Center and Kyoto University's Graduate School of Informatics. His leadership extends to coordinating the AI Seminar at Osaka Industrial Association and supervising the Keihanna 'Edison Society' at the International Institute for Advanced Studies, demonstrating his commitment to bridging academic research with industrial applications.
Dr Martin Taylor, affiliated with The University of Queensland , is a dedicated researcher within the School of the Environment . His work focuses on Conservation Biology , Environmental Science , and Climate Change , with particular emphasis on deforestation, protected areas, and wildlife vulnerability. Dr. Taylor’s research spans remote sensing, environmental legislation, and climate change impacts. He has published extensively on deforestation trends in northern Australia, conservation policy compliance, and habitat loss affecting threatened species. Key projects include analyzing deforestation events via Landsat imagery and evaluating the effectiveness of Australia’s Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act. His recent publications highlight systemic failures in environmental laws, the role of protected areas in climate resilience, and quantitative assessments of deforestation compliance. Despite his prolific output, no specific scientific awards or student advisement details are mentioned in the available data.
Dr. Michelle Villeneuve is an Associate Professor at The University of Sydney's Centre for Disability Research and Policy, with an honorary adjunct appointment at Queen's University in Canada. She serves as Activity Lead at the World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre for Rehabilitation Capacity in Health Systems and as Deputy Director at the University of Sydney's impact Centre for Disability Research and Policy. PhD in Education, MSc in Rehabilitation Science, BSc in Occupational Therapy International experience in disaster risk reduction across Bosnia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and Australia Lead developer of the Person-Centred Emergency Preparedness (P-CEP) framework Her research focuses on Disability-Inclusive Disaster Risk Reduction (DIDRR) , Interprofessional Collaboration , and Community-Based Rehabilitation . She applies social learning methodologies to improve cross-sector coordination and has influenced national policy through her work with the Australian Research Council and NSW/Queensland Governments. Key awards include the 2023 National Resilient Australia Award for P-CEP Certificate Course, 2020 Canadian Women in Global Health Award, and multiple Resilient Australia Awards (2017-2023). Current research students include Louise Mitchell (Community Recovery after Bushfire), Brigit Maguire (D/deaf Emergency Preparedness), Bronwyn Simpson (Spinal Cord Injury Well-being), and Olivia Jackson (Mentoring in Occupational Therapy). Her work spans partnerships with Queenslanders with Disability Network, Community Services Industry Alliance, Infrastructure NSW, and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP). She has co-produced 18 award-winning research outputs and leads the Collaborating4Inclusion program.
