• Project lead, Disability Competency Training in the Social Services SectorClient: ACOLA + Department of Social ServicesLed a team of three PhD interns, to produce a scan of available disability competence training available in Australia, for a selection of social science-related professions, within a tight 2-month timeframe. In addition to the clients’ request, our team developed a science-based, good practice checklist for the evaluation of disability-related training, which became the centrepiece of the main report delivered to the Department.• Process lead/manager (ongoing), Workshops Program GrantsPromotion and management of this annual, competitive grant program (eight grants of $9,000), that fosters cutting-edge thinking and innovation in the social sciences. This grant program provides cross-disciplinary, cross-institutional teams with financial assistance to host multi-day, in-person workshops, where leading minds join forces to explore frontier-science ideas, chart immediate priorities and agendas, and imagine potential implications for research and society. Management of the program involves: promotion and outreach (across the social sciences research community), coordination of the application submission and assessment process (judged by a panel of Academy Fellows), legal agreements and financials, assisting workshop convenors where required, and the publication and dissemination of outputs (online, social media, parliament).

Partners: Lifecourse Centre (UQ), Australian Data Archive (ANU), ISSR (UQ), CEPAR (UNSW), ADS+M (RMIT), Academy of the Social Sciences in AustraliaThe Decadal Plan aims to drive progress in the Australian social science research sector by addressing the digital research capability gaps holding it back. This 10-month project will achieve the following objectives:• Establishing a sector-wide consensus on the digital capability gaps and their impact on the sector's performance in a digitally driven world.• Translating the identified gaps into technical, workforce, and policy infrastructure requirements to provide clear goals and advocacy opportunities.• Effectively communicating the gaps and requirements across research, technical, and policy-making communities to ensure everyone is aligned.• The project will be carried out through a comprehensive stocktaking exercise, two rounds of research-focused consultations and technical and policy-making design sessions, guidance from an Expert Steering Group, and a communications and engagement campaign through Academy networks and social media.

Partners: ARDC + Australia’s five Learned Academies + ACOLA As the lead for the social sciences chapter of the ARDC+Academies project, I spearheaded the effort to identify the current challenges and create an interim vision for the future of digital research infrastructure in Australia. With a focus on collaboration, I guided the team through extensive consultations with over 160 social science researchers and research infrastructure providers, which included scenario planning roundtables and an online survey with 94 participants. The result was a comprehensive report that accurately reflects the current state and future aspirations of the social sciences sector in Australia.

Initially an intern but assumed leadership halfway through the project. The State of the Social Sciences 2021 was a massive consultation exercise (8 roundtables and online survey n=410), directed at identifying critical gaps and priorities in the social sciences education and research sectors, to inform the Academy’s strategic direction over the next 5-10 years. The exercise also involved extensive desktop research (data on primary/secondary schools, universities, TAFE, research, translation/think tanks, and the broader workforce/industry sector), and oversight by an expert Steering Group. It led to the identification of 5 national priorities and 26 specific actions. Results were delivered in a concise, visually-striking and user-friendly report, which rebrands Australian social science, and the work of the Academy, as what they are meant to be: exciting, world class and absolutely relevant to Australia’s future and the challenges of our time.

My research project proposes and applies a set of indicators to measure the quantum and quality of academic research produced in response to a particular external crisis. The five indicators: awareness, priorities, literacy, consensus, and equity, rely on a carefully curated set of metrics which can be lifted off any corpus of academic literature.The first part of the dissertation presents the measurement tool, and the second part proves the concept by evaluating the quality of the research response of urban planning research to the current, global environmental crises (climate change, biodiversity loss, food and water shocks/scarcity, and deteriorating urban environmental health), leading to the identification of critical response gaps in current urban planning scholarship.This research project has direct applications in the diagnosis of research habits/patterns impeding the production of more outward-looking, socially relevant/impactful research; as well as provide empirical means to test Kuhn’s theories about the existence of scientific paradigms, and their influence on scientific progress (i.e., the idea that science evolves through paradigm shifts or revolutions, as opposed through linear or cumulative progress).

Developed an online course on green/sustainable entrepreneurship, for the ATSIAP Challenge 2019. The initiative, owned by the UQ Critical Thinking Project and the Department of Education, delivers a 10-week, hands-on challenge to high-achieving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in State High Schools all over Queensland. The course encouraged students to engage with state-of-the-art concepts, methods and tools in entrepreneurship (design sprint, value proposition), environmental and social impact assessment (environmental mitigation measures, social action plan), and communication (ad and video production, 3-minute pitch presentation).The course was delivered online (I built the platform using Google Sites), supported by a range of online resources including videos, templates and real-world case studies.Critical self-reflection is encouraged throughout the activities, as well as via completion of an assessable reflective journal.

- Lead consultant in major projects ($200K+) such as the City of Canning Activity Centre Strategy and the City of Swan Ageing Strategy.- PIA (WA) Planning Excellence Award (Best Planning Ideas – Large Project) (2016), for the City of Swan Ageing Strategy. I was responsible for the successful tender application, as well as the issues and opportunities investigations, mapping and futures modelling behind this winning strategy.- Identified critical soft and hard infrastructure needed to boost economic development in regional WA, from the analysis of demographic trends, infrastructure (future needs vs existing provision), case studies, regional strengths/ advantages and global megatrends (client: Regional Development Authority).- Desktop and on-ground assessment of the quality of public infrastructure (e.g. walking paths width, materials/finishes, shade, facilities/amenities, etc.).

• The Senior Project Officer role involved leading/supervision of the Systems officer, and direct/ongoing collaboration with the Database officer, within a business improvement/support environment. Daily tasks involved developing technical solutions: from mapping and documenting procedures for existing tasks and processes, to proposing an implementing process improvements using Council systems and databases. • Led the project that brought together the Managers of Roads, Water, Waste, Economic Development, Finance and Land Use Planning, to agree on a common set of population and residential growth projections. I led the project, built and presented the business case, and facilitated the negotiations between departments until gaining full sign-off on the proposed technical solution.• Restructured the Planning and Development Department’s old monthly performance report (70+ pages), to include KPIs that spoke to the most critical tasks of each Program. I led the internal consultation, mapped the required changes to systems and procedures, and created the new report template (under 20 pages).• Ownership and maintenance of the property and zoning GIS database.• In collaboration with the GIS team, I established and documented best practice procedures for maintenance of the GIS database on the planning side.• Revamped the Heritage Awards 2012, creating new award categories (to include Schools and Community organisations), drafting new user-friendly application guidelines and deploying a broad marketing strategy (news pieces, direct correspondence). The awards saw the greatest number of participants that year (70+) as well as compliments from heritage experts and the community.

- Preliminary site investigations to identify relevant legislation, applicable overlays, and other potential restrictions to proposed future developments.- Evaluated the tourism development provisions in land use plans across Australia, and formulated recommendations to unlock future, sustainable tourism development.

Daily news scanning, lead proposition, daily reporting (desktop, observation and interview), analysis, and writing. Coordination of a team of three journalists, and responsible for the sections: Family, Education, People, and Entertainment.

Temporary assignment (long service leave replacement) as a writer for La Gaceta Dominical, an Arts and Culture weekly magazine.

Six-month internship, earned as a result of achieving a national university-level journalism award. Did my entire apprenticeship in the 'Justice' section, under the tutelage of Ruben Dario Valencia.

During this period, I worked as a university tutor for the courses: Writing I, Writing III, and Print Journalism.

In 2003, I worked as an assistant to research on university student literacy. My work involved identifying and reviewing relevant literature, preparing questionnaire sheets, logistics to conduct the surveys (venue hiring, advertising and recruitment of volunteer subjects), and creating and populating a database with survey responses.