معرفی
Dr. Jacqueline Thomas serves as a Senior Lecturer in Environmental Engineering at the University of Sydney's School of Civil Engineering, where she leads the Humanitarian Engineering Education program and co-directs the Immersive Learning Laboratory. She is a member of the Sydney Southeast Asia Centre and maintains active research collaborations across Africa, Southeast Asia, the Pacific, and with remote Indigenous communities in Australia.
Dr. Thomas holds a BSc (Hons) in microbiology and a BA in politics and international relations from the University of New South Wales, followed by a PhD in Environmental Engineering conducted in conjunction with the US Environmental Protection Agency and UNSW. Before joining the University of Sydney in 2016, she worked as a policy analyst for the NSW Health Department and spent nearly four years with the Ifakara Health Institute in Tanzania.
Her research focuses on climate-resilient sanitation systems to address the global crisis where inadequate sanitation affects approximately 2.7 billion people. She designs integrated, sustainable water, sanitation, and hygiene (WaSH) systems for vulnerable communities, with particular attention to resource recovery opportunities from human waste. Her work spans sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, the Pacific, and remote Indigenous communities in Australia, with an emphasis on solutions that satisfy community needs, improve health, benefit the environment, and withstand climate change impacts.
Dr. Thomas's recent publications reveal a strong focus on decentralized sanitation solutions, faecal sludge management, and the intersection of sanitation with climate resilience and environmental conservation. Her work increasingly incorporates virtual reality technology for engineering education while maintaining her core focus on practical sanitation solutions for developing regions. She examines how climate variability affects water quality and develops locally appropriate technologies that consider both technical and social dimensions of implementation.
- 2020 Faculty of Engineering Dean's Award for Teaching Innovation in Civil Engineering
- 2019 Faculty of Engineering Dean's Award for Work Health and Safety (runner-up)
- 2018 Faculty of Engineering and IT Dean's Award for Teaching Innovation
- 2015 UNSW Alumni Award in Science and Technology
- 2014 Finalist for the UNSW Women in Engineering Award
- 2011 Prince of Wales Award for Australian Defence Force Reservists
- 2008 American Australian Association Education Fellowship
Dr. Thomas has secured significant research funding from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), including the SAPPHIRE project (2024-2028) and WISH Fiji project (2018-2022), along with support from the Sydney Southeast Asia Centre and the Science for Nature and People Partnership. She supervises student fieldwork through courses CIVL3310 (Humanitarian Engineering) and CIVL5330 (Global Engineering Field Work), providing students with hands-on experience in disadvantaged communities.
As Co-Director of the Immersive Learning Laboratory, Dr. Thomas pioneers the use of virtual reality technology in engineering education. Her group collaborates with international partners including the Fiji Institute of Public Health Research, Bremen Overseas Research Development Association, Eawag (Swiss Aquatic Research Institute), Ifakara Health Institute in Tanzania, and the Pollution Research Group at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
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