Researchers

HADRI Core Staff

Professor Nichole Georgeou  - Founder and Co-Director

Professor Nichole Georgeou is Professor of Humanitarian and Development Studies at Western Sydney University, in the School of Social Sciences. She is the Founder and Co-Director of the Humanitarian and Development Research Initiative (HADRI), a university-based research group that promotes applied, interdisciplinary research into humanitarian action and development practice.

Nichole’s research sits at the intersection of civil society, development, and humanitarian action, with thematic expertise in aid volunteering, the humanitarian-development nexus, food systems, and human security. Her regional focus encompasses South and Southeast Asia, as well as the Pacific. She has led or contributed to several cross-institutional research collaborations, including work on food and nutrition security in Samoa, Tonga, Solomon Islands, and Fiji, as well as resilience and localisation in Bangladesh during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A recognised leader in development and humanitarian education, Professor Georgeou has been instrumental in shaping Western Sydney University’s Master of Humanitarian and Development Studies program. She has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals and is an editorial board member of the International Gramsci Journal and Development in Practice.

Nichole is an inaugural member of the Development Studies Association of Australia (2019-2020) and co-Chair of the Himalayan University Consortium (2022-2025). Her work bridges scholarship and practice, with a commitment to decolonising development and promoting inclusive, context-sensitive approaches to aid and education.

Dr Valentina Baú - Co-Director

Valentina holds a PhD from Macquarie University and is a Senior Research Fellow at Western Sydney University, Institute for Culture and Society. She conducts research on the application of Communication for Development (C4D) in Peacebuilding, documenting and evaluating C4D approaches that employ different media and communication channels to contribute to social change and sustainable peace in the aftermath of violence. In 2021 Valentina was awarded an Australia Research Council (ARC) Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) for her project on development communication interventions aimed at promoting peace among communities experiencing protracted displacement. Valentina has worked in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, collaborating with international NGOs, UN agencies and the Italian Development Cooperation, both in a research and communication capacity.

Associate Professor Garry Stevens - Theme Leader for Disaster Preparedness, Response and Management

Garry is a Clinical Psychologist and Senior Lecturer, Humanitarian and Development Studies Program, School of Social Sciences, Western Sydney University. His work includes examining population mental health and epidemiology, in particular interventions and service development regarding deliberate self-harm presentations and technology supported aftercare programs. Garry is involved in research projects examining population preparedness for disasters and critical incidents, including occupational risk and resilience factors among emergency service workers, Australian Medical Assistance Teams (AUSMAT) and humanitarian aid workers and trainees. His recent work with aid practitioners has focused on worker self-care and help-seeking attitudes in the context of work-related stress. Garry’s primary research interests include: disaster mental health and community adaptation; occupational resilience and help-seeking among aid practitioners; mental health effects of labour trafficking; and service development for deliberate self-harm.

Dr Nidhi Wali - Theme Leader for Sustainable Development and Human Security

Nidhi is a Lecturer of Humanitarian and Development Studies Program, School of Social Sciences, Western Sydney University. Her research is multi-disciplinary across public and social health, nutrition, development and humanitarian studies and migration. Nidhi has published works across these disciplines, including several systematic and scoping reviews of literature. The knowledge produced by systematic and scoping reviews of literature has been instrumental in filling knowledge gaps in understanding social determinants of health and nutrition disciplines in the global south and this work is highly cited (total google scholar citation 350 plus). Her research interests include intersection of culture, gender and health and intergenerational social connectedness. Nidhi has previously worked with international organisations such as CARE and UNICEF and the Humanitarian and Development Research Initiative (HADRI) at Western Sydney University. Nidhi’s PhD research focussed on ‘Child undernutrition in South Asia, A multidimensional analysis’, from Western Sydney University, Australia and she completed her master’s in development studies from University of Sussex, UK.

WSU HADRI Members

Dr Anastasia Mortima

Anastasia is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow for the Centre for Western Sydney. She is a social sciences researcher who explores issues related to internal disaster displacement, climate justice, emergency shelter and housing, and sustainable development. She has recently completed her PhD from the University of Newcastle, and her thesis examined the displacement crises following the Eastern Australian Floods.

She has held lecturer positions in sociology and social justice, and worked in community engagement and project management positions for environmental NGOs, humanitarian organisations and research centres. Through this expertise, Anastasia has developed skills in mixed-methods research design, community consultation, and knowledge translation.

Her research and advocacy aim to draw attention to the impacts of climate change and environmental degradation, as well as intersecting human rights challenges within the social and ecological nexus.

Dr Anita Jahid

Dr Anita Jahid is an academic and researcher specialising in climate migration, focusing on women's vulnerabilities and survival strategies. She holds a position as a Casual Academic at Western Sydney University, where she also earned her PhD. Her research provides critical insights into the complexities of climate-induced displacement and its gendered impacts. In addition to her academic pursuits at Western Sydney University, Dr. Jahid serves as a Lecturer and Unit Coordinator at the Crown Institute of Higher Education, Australia, where she contributes to shaping the minds of future leaders and researchers. She complements her academic roles with her significant involvement with non-governmental organisations across Australia and South Asia.

Associate Professor Awais Piracha

Awais is an urban planner in Geography, Urban Planning, and Heritage and Tourism, School of Social Sciences at Western Sydney University. His areas of research cover sustainable urban development and use of spatial analysis/techniques in land use and transport planning. He trained as a civil/environmental engineer as well as a town planner, and previously worked as a researcher with the United Nations University in Tokyo, the Asian Institute of Technology Bangkok and University of Dortmund, Germany. In his professional career spanning over two decades, Awais has participated in numerous projects as urban planning spatial analyst. His recent work includes articles in Australian Planner, Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, International Journal of Built Environment and Sustainability, and Journal of Town and City Management.

Dr Ataus Samad

Ataus Samad is Lecturer in the School of Business at Western Sydney University. He holds a PhD in Management and a Master of Business (Research) from Central Queensland University and specialises in the regional settlement of migrants. His work on the settlement and secure employment of migrants in regional agribusiness has recently been published by the Central Queensland University Centre for Tourism and Regional Opportunities. Before joining WSU Ataus was on the board of the Queensland Government’s Multicultural Queensland Advisory Council. He has published in high-ranking journals and his work has been cited by academics, NGOs, government and the media.

Dr Cymbeline Buhler

Cymbeline Buhler recently completed her PhD at Western Sydney University. Her research builds on twenty years of arts practice in professional and applied theatre. She has held Artistic Director positions at Backbone Youth Arts in Brisbane and Western Edge Youth Arts in Melbourne. Her research and practice interests are in creative citizenship, shared and hybrid identities, feminist approaches to voice, and the nexus between arts practice and community health. Her greatest artistic influences are bouffon theatre, improvisation, storytelling and theatre anthropology.

Dr Irena C. Veljanova

Irena is Lecturer in Sociology, School of Social Sciences, Western Sydney University. Her research interest focuses on transcultural health, particularly how diversity and disability are conceptualised and operationalized in policy, service provision and clinical settings. She is also interested in health knowledge co-production dynamics which are increasingly enabled by the digital technologies. She is the co-editor (together with Prof. Iedema, Rick) of the HSR 2013 Special Edition titled Lifestyle Science: Self-healing, co-production and DIY and features as an editor of two interdisciplinary edited volumes titled Perception, Meaning and Identity (2010) and Health, Agency and Wellbeing (2014)(co-edited with Mills, Cally, Emmanuel, Glory). More recently her published work can be found in Pain Medicine, BMJ Open and Pain. Her current funded research project focuses on exploring the discriminatory aspects of the migration health requirement in Australian immigration laws.

Professor Karen Soldatic

Karen holds aPhD (summa cum laude) from the University of Western Australia. She is Professor in the School of Social Sciences and Deputy Director of Research in the Institute for Culture and Society at Western Sydney University. She is also an Institute Fellow of the Whitlam Institute. Karen has been awarded: a Fogarty Foundation Excellence in Education Fellowship for 2006–2009; a British Academy International Fellowship in 2012; a fellowship at The Centre for Human Rights Education at Curtin University (2011–2012); and an Australian Research Council DECRA Fellowship (2016–2019). Her research on global welfare regimes and disability builds on her 20 years of experience as an international (Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia), national and state-based senior policy analyst, researcher and educator.

Dr Melissa Phillips

Melissa is a Senior Lecturer, Humanitarian and Development Studies Program, School of Social Sciences, Western Sydney University. Her research interests include migration, mobility, displacement and refugee settlement including diasporas. Melissa has previouslyworked for the United Nations and for international non-government organisations in South Sudan, the Horn of Africa (Kenya and Ethiopia), Libya and the Middle East in protection of civilians and humanitarian coordination roles. She has also worked with asylum seekers in immigration detention in Australia, supported community-based asylum seekers in the UK, and managed a refugee resettlement project in Australia. Melissa is co-author of Becoming Australian: Migration, Settlement and Citizenship (with Brian Galligan and Martina Boese), MUP, Melbourne (2014) and has published widely in academic journals on refugee settlement, multiculturalism and transit migration. She is an Associate Editor for Journal of Intercultural Studies and is a Board member of the Australian Red Cross, a Regional Advisor for the International Detention Coalition and Advisory Board Member of ‘Urban Refugees’.

Dr Navindhra (Navin) Naidoo

[Cert Critical Care, NDip AEC, BTech EMC, H Dip Ed, MPH, PhD (Forensic Med)]

Navin is Senior Lecturer and former Director of Academic Program: Paramedicine at Western Sydney University. He has 31 years of experience including Paramedicine practice, education, regulation and research, mostly in South Africa and Australia where he holds dual professional registration. He holds an Adjunct Professorship at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Emergency Medical Sciences in Cape Town, South Africa. Navin served as co-chair of the Belgium Red Cross First Aid for First Responders Evidence-based Medicine project. This developed teaching and practice guidelines for African Red Cross organisations in member countries in sub-Saharan Africa.  He was Chair of the Working Group on Violence, Abuse and Neglect at the Australasian College of Paramedicine, and deputy chair of the Australasian Council of Paramedicine Deans. Navin’s research interest includes critical theory, transformative pedagogy, gender-based violence prevention and evidence-informed decision making that intersects vulnerability reduction and health security across the lifespan. He is certified as a Commercial and Court-Aligned Mediator (for alternate dispute resolution) and supervises higher degree research in the fields of Paramedicine, social inclusivity, health professions education, public health, and emergency and forensic medicine. Navin is an Associate Editor for ‘Paramedicine’. More recently, he is the project lead on a Pipeline Research Infrastructure grant that addresses capacity building to redress unmet health needs among at risk communities.

Dr Rohini Balram

Dr Rohini Balram is an Adjunct Fellow in the School of Social Sciences at Western Sydney University. Her interdisciplinary research draws on feminist, decolonial, and intersectional frameworks to explore the lived experiences of marginalised communities, with a focus on women, migrants, refugees, diasporic groups, and culturally and linguistically diverse (CaLD) populations. Rohini’s work spans sport, leisure, migration, diaspora studies, the creative industries, and community development. Her current research examines the role of sport and leisure in promoting equity and belonging, and the shaping of diasporic identities across transnational contexts. She is particularly interested in arts-based and participatory methods that centre community and underrepresented voices and lived experience.

Her work is informed by her own background as an Indo-Fijian-Australian woman with a skilled migration history. She holds a PhD from Western Sydney University, where her thesis focused on the sporting lives of Indo-Fijian women, using creative and collaborative methodologies to highlight issues of displacement, gender and racial justice, community-led development, and diaspora engagement.

Associate Professor Shameran Slewa-Younan

Shameran is Associate Professor, Mental Health, School of Medicine, Western Sydney University. She has worked as a sessional psychologist for the NSW Transcultural Mental Health Centre since 2001, specifically with Iraqi refugees and more recently with Syrian arrivals. She has been involved with several projects examining trauma-related mental health disorders in this group of refugees, including the measurement of psychological and physiological measures of distress, and the mental health literacy of refugee populations. She has published over 50 peer-reviewed publications, including several invited articles and has appeared on ABC News regarding the mental health outcomes of Iraqi refugees in Australia. She has developed collaborative networks with academics at Universities of Melbourne, Charles Sturt, and Sharjah (UAE) and with NSW Refugee Health Service and is Honorary Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Mental Health, University of Melbourne. She is also a board member of South Western Sydney Local Health District.

Associate Professor Zulfan Tadjoeddin

Zulfan is Associate Professor, Humanitarian and Development Studies, School of Social Sciences, Western Sydney University. He has held visiting research appointments at the Queen Elizabeth House at University of Oxford, and at the Institute of Social Studies (ISS) of Erasmus University Rotterdam (The Netherlands). Zulfan was a Technical Advisor on decentralization and conflict at the United Nations Development Programmes (UNDP) in Indonesia, and a researcher at the UN Support Facility for Indonesian Recovery (UNSFIR-UNDP) and World Agroforestry Centre. His research areas include development and conflict, employment and labour market, and poverty and inequality. Zulfan has published in leading journals such as Journal of Peace Research, Civil Wars, Economics of Peace and Security Journal, Journal of Development Studies, Oxford Development Studies, Journal of East Asian Studies, Journal of International Development, Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy and Economics and Labour Relations Review. His book titled Explaining Collective Violence in Contemporary Indonesia was published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2014. He has consulted for various UN agencies such as ILO, UNDP and UNICEF.

HADRI Adjunct Research Fellows
National

Dr Archana Voola

Archana is a social policy researcher who holds a PhD in Policy Studies from Sydney University. Her PhD focussed on gender inequalities in microfinance, comparing problem representations in India and Australia, and her current research interests include gender, marketplaces, poverty and inequality. Archana’s research is underpinned by her passion to be a voice for the voiceless and focuses on the experiences of vulnerable groups such as ultra-poor women, financially excluded people, and people experiencing food insecurity and/or domestic violence. Her work has contributed to publications on marketing strategies for social impact, gender equality strategies, anti-poverty program evaluations, comparative social policy and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Archana's work has been published in journals such as European Journal of Marketing, Third Sector Review, Australian Journal of Social Issues, Social Business and The International Education Journal: Comparative Perspectives.

Dr Atem Dau Atem

Dr Atem Dau Atem is the Communities in Cultural Transition (CiCT) Senior Project Officer at the NSW Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors (STARTTS).
Dr Atem arrived in Australian in 2002 through Australia’s humanitarian program. He holds a bachelor’s degree in applied sciences (Medical Sciences) from the University of Canberra, a Master of Studies (Social Policy) from the Australian National University (ANU), and a PhD from ANU. Dr. Atem’s academic interests include refugee (re)settlement, the role of refugee-led organisations in promoting settlement and integration, diaspora collective identity, diaspora’s role in responding to humanitarian emergencies and in peacebuilding. Other areas of interest include the ethics of doing research with marginalised communities, decolonisation of the academy through centring the voices and lived-experiences of marginalised groups. Dr Atem is also the president of the NSW Refugee Communities Advocacy Network (RCAN), a refugee-led and driven organisation.

Mr Cory Steinhauer

With 20+ years’ experience, Cory is a senior impact expert specializing in impact management, measurement, and investment. He has facilitated complex programming in various regions, including Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Iraq, Jordan, Korea, Laos, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Somalia, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Syria, Timor, Turkey, and Vietnam. Cory's career spans the UN, multilaterals, governments, private, and civil society sectors, advancing next-generation impact approaches with commercial, social, and academic rigor. He was formerly a Lecturer at the University of Sydney, where he taught international project management units at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. He is currently focused on defining and measuring impact in the Indo Pacific, exploring AI and Web3.0 enabled development models, building a Theory of Change Rating Benchmark and Scorecard Protocol, and mobilizing crypto capital and DeFi into impact investing. As the Head of Quality and Impact at Save the Children, Cory is dedicated to understanding and improving the return on programmatic investments. He holds a Bachelor of Business (Massey University) and a Master of Social Science (Southern Cross University).

Associate Professor Dianne Bolton

Dianne holds a PhD from Birmingham University, UK, in the areas of sociology and the economics and politics of development. Over a long period, she has designed and managed postgraduate programs in business and commerce, embedding thematic treatment of sustainability agendas. Dianne has extensive experience in the public, private and Not-for-Profit sectors and has consulted broadly concerning quality and performance management associated with international and domestic business education, accreditation and governance. She has a keen interest in cross-disciplinary and cross-sectoral program initiatives and the effective engagement of stakeholders in their design and management. Dianne is an active researcher in sustainable business practice; emergent trends in development agendas to meet SDGs; responsible leadership and governance as risk management strategies; responsive regulation in higher education environments; and in tailoring higher education design to deliver requisite skills to achieve these agendas. Current research interests include the management of mass displacement in the context of increasing, dynamic global pressures.

Dr Helmut De Nardi

Dr Helmut De Nardi is working in the LGBTQIA+ advocacy and coordination sector at the Consortium for Stronger LGBT Communities in London. Alongside their current role, they continue to conduct participatory action research with Pakistani colleagues in the areas of cultural heritage and social and cultural inclusion. Helmut is also providing strategic support (capacity building, reporting, communications and funding planning) to a Somali-UK NGO Somali Medical Aid Organisation.

Dr Lal B Rawal

Lal is Senior Lecturer in Public Health at Central Queensland University (CQU) and based at the CQU Sydney Campus. He holds a PhD in Global Health from Monash University, is an experienced public health researcher, and has led several research projects funded by international/national agencies, universities and health ministries across Nepal, Bangladesh, Ghana and Australia. His work has been widely published in leading peer-reviewed international journals, and as books/book chapters. Lal’s research interests include Non- Communicable Disease prevention and control; Migration health; Health policy and systems strengthening; Primary health care, health behaviour and health promotion.

Dr Louise Olliff

Louise holds a MA in Collaborative International Development Studies (Anthropology) from the University of Guelph, Canada, and a PhD in Anthropology and Development Studies from the University of Melbourne. She has worked for various non-governmental organisations in research, policy and advocacy roles in Australia, Cambodia and Ghana since 2001. Louise worked for over a decade in a variety of roles for Refugee Council of Australia. She has also worked as a consultant on settlement, international detention and refugee issues, and as a sessional lecturer (2018-2021) in the Master of Development Studies at University of Melbourne. Her research interests are in refugee policy and global governance, diaspora transnationalism, refugee diasporas, and critical humanitarianism studies. Louise is the author of the monograph, Helping Familiar Strangers: Diaspora Humanitarianism and the International Refugee Regime, to be published by Indiana University Press in 2022. Her work, both single and co-authored, has appeared in journal articles, reports, good practice guides and book chapters.

Dr Madeline Baker

Madeline is interested in the state of the humanitarian system, what the future holds for it and how we can support a system of change. Madeline brings 13 years experience in international humanitarian response and has a strong skill set ranging from designing and managing humanitarian programs to monitoring, evaluation and partnership brokering. Madeline has experience managing multifaceted and international teams and working across different contexts in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, North America, Australia and the Pacific. Madeline has specific field experience in disaster response; Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, and the Kenya drought in 2017. She also has conflict and refugee experience managing programs supporting refugee and displaced populations in Syria and surrounding countries and responding to the needs of the Burundi refugee crisis in Tanzania.

More recently, Madeline has focused her work on localisation and some of the challenges facing the humanitarian sector, working with partners in Australia and the Pacific. Madeline has a Master’s in International Law and International Relations from the University of New South Wales.

Dr Magdalena Arias Cubas

Magdalena is the Research Lead at the Red Cross Red Crescent Global Migration Lab and an Adjunct Fellow with the School of Social Sciences at Western Sydney University. She is a social scientist with over a decade of experience in research specialising in international migration. Born in Mexico, and of Chilean descent, Magdalena has held multiple research and teaching roles in Australia and has led qualitative and quantitative research with migrants in vulnerable situations in the Americas, Africa, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific.

Magdalena holds a PhD in Sociology and Social Policy from the University of Sydney, and her work has been published in Comparative Migration Studies, the Humanitarian Leader, the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Migración y Desarrollo, Migration Information Source, and the Revue Europeean des Migrations Internationales among others. Her research interests include the intersection between migration, inequality, and humanitarianism.

Ms Margaret Piper

Margaret was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 2011 in recognition of her decades of service to the community through leadership and advocacy roles assisting refugees and asylum seekers. Margaret is a consultant with over 30 years of experience working in the refugee sector, including as an Executive Director of the Refugee Council of Australia (1991- 2005). She is involved in policy and program planning through her work on various government and non-government committees and boards. She is a member of the Advisory Board of Multicultural NSW and of the Board of MYAN NSW. Since October 2015 Margaret has participated in the joint committee that supports Professor Shergold and the Department of Premier and Cabinet to identify and implement reforms in refugee settlement in NSW. Previously, Margaret was a Board Member of the Australian Red Cross and a member of its Audit and Risk Committee (2012-18) and continues to chair the Red Cross’ Service Committee and sit on its Migration Policy Advisory Committee. She has written extensively on refugee issues and is the author of numerous reports and studies, as well as four training packages for VET-courses linked to working with refugees. In 2018 she was awarded the Red Cross’ Distinguished Service Medal.

Dr Mubashar Hasan

Mubashar is a Bangladeshi academic and has done his Post-Doctoral Research fellowship at Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages, University of Oslo. He is an expert in religion, politics, security and migration in South Asia. He is published widely in academic journals and recently co-edited a book on Radicalization in South Asia (forthcoming Sage 2019). Mubashar has worked as a humanitarian journalist for IRIN News, the world’s largest humanitarian news agency. He has worked in public relations and communications and advised various government departments in Bangladesh, UN agencies and International NGOs. In 2018 he was awarded an Emerging Early Career Researcher by the US based Common Ground Research Network. Mubashar completed his PhD degree at Griffith University, where he founded www.alochonaa.com , an online platform to promote dialogue.

Mr Nate Henderson

Nate is an international public policy expert and currently is an Associate Director at Investment NSW. Previously, Nate represented Australia as a diplomat at the United Nations in New York where he negotiated numerous international agreements including the Sustainable Development Goals. Nate was the Manager International Program at Family Planning Australia, where he led a team delivering health projects across 11 countries in the Pacific. Nate also worked for UNICEF in Papua New Guinea where he delivered education projects, and for Macquarie University, Sydney. Nate holds a Master of Arts (Research), Master of Business Administration, a Master of International Law, and a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations. Nate’s research interests and publications focus on international development, foreign policy, and global trade.

Dr Pamela Sitko

Pamela holds a PhD in urban disaster resilience from the Urban Planning and Design Department at Oxford Brookes University. She is an urban resilience consultant who has worked in disaster, development and conflict settings in over 20 countries for the United Nations, Red Cross and Red Crescent and numerous non-government organisations. Pamela develops evidence-based research for practitioners on topics related to resilience building, and urban development, crisis preparedness and response. In 2018, Pamela was responsible for the urban component of the revised Sphere Handbook for minimum humanitarian standards. Previously, Pamela worked as World Vision International’s technical advisor for urban disaster management. She has led evaluations, strategy development, media and communications, and disaster simulation training.

Associate Professor Samsul Huda

Samsul is an agroclimatologist and Associate Professor in the School of Science and Health, Western Sydney University. He has developed and applied a framework to address climate variability towards maximising opportunities and minimising crop production risk in a number of countries. Samsul works with a variety of stakeholders, including researchers, policy makers, government agencies, farmers and agribusinesses, to increase food production, create sustainable natural resource management, implement policy, and ensure food security and livelihood improvement in participating countries. He has secured significant funding for his research into food security from Australian and overseas governments and other bodies (including from the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, the Australia-India Council, and Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research), for his work on subsistence farming systems in India, Bangladesh, Cambodia, and China.

Dr Terry Landells

Terry holds a PhD in sustainable strategy making in complexity. He has interdisciplinary experience teaching and researching sustainable development themes, often associated with the role of SDGs in development strategies. Current research focus includes burgeoning mass displacement and utopian frameworks for envisioning its management into the future. Recent publications include a focus on Rohingya refugee care, microfinance and poverty alleviation in the Philippines, and labour migration and trafficking in the Bay of Bengal. Terry has also published in sustainability related areas such as sustainable governance, responsive regulation, stakeholders and power relations, decision-making in complexity, and participative research methodologies. He reviews for the Social Responsibility Journal and provides consulting and advisory services regarding registration / accreditation of higher education institutions. Prior work has included services to government, CSOs and industry concerning employment for people with disabilities, job placement services, quality management systems, and business development. He is a member of the Development Studies Association of Australia (DSAA) and is a CPA. Prior to his academic career, he held general management positions with two state-run energy corporations, an aged care, family and childcare provider, and a disability services provider.

Dr Valentine Mukuria

Valentine Mukuria holds a PhD in Educational Policy and Leadership from the Ohio State University (USA). She has worked in the field of university-community engagement and curriculum advising for over a decade and is currently Engagement Facilitator in the Office of Engagement at Western Sydney University. Prior to this Valentine held visiting academic appointments at Green Templeton College (Oxford University), and Institute of Education (University of London). She is currently undertaking a second doctorate (Doctor of Social Science) at the University of Sydney with a research project titled: Higher Education sans frontieres: The role of universities in addressing the protracted refugee situation in Kenya. This research, aligned with the HADRI’s Migration and Diaspora thematic research area, focuses on the educational, career and leadership aspirations of refugee youth in Kenya.

Dr Rob Goodfellow

Dr Rob Goodfellow (PhD History) (Adjunct Fellow and researcher Humanitarian and Development Research Initiative (HADRI), Western Sydney University) is a book writer, newspaper columnist, researcher, and Australian Government registered lobbyist, specialising in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.

International

Dr Ahmed Abid

Dr. Ahmed Abidur Razzaque Khan (alias Ahmed Abid) is an artivist academic presently working as an Assistant Professor, General Education, University of Liberal Arts (ULAB) Bangladesh.  Since the 80’s, Ahmed developed himself as a promising young actor, director, and playwright as a cultural activist in Bangladesh. He holds a joint Ph.D. in ‘Human Rights, Society, and Multi-level Governance’ through the Human Rights Centre- University of Padova, Italy, and School of Social Sciences, Western Sydney University, Australia. He also holds a Master of Arts, Human Rights and Social Development (Mahidol University, Thailand), a Master of Arts, Philosophy (University of Dhaka, Bangladesh); and a Diploma in Cinema and Human Rights (European Inter University Centre for Human Rights and Democratization (EIUC) in Venice, Italy). He was the artistic director of the Move Media Rights Festival, the first travelling human rights film festival in Thailand, 2009. Ahmed’s research interests have developed across four key areas: (1) irregular migration, refugees, and labour trafficking; (2) Climate change, innovation and disaster risk management; (3) ethical storytelling, digital humanities and creative methodologies; and (4) postcolonial studies. He makes documentary films, designs plays, curates storytelling projects, and organizes events around the world to make a sustainable change through creative methodologies and community engagement.

Dr Christina Martinez-Fernandez

Cristina is Senior Specialist, Environment and Decent Work, International Labour Organization (ILO) in Bangkok. She has previously worked with: the Asian Development Bank as an Education Specialist (skills and Employment); the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) as Advisor of the Knowledge Sharing Alliance at the Secretary General’s Office, and as Senior Policy Analyst at the OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs and Local Development; and at Western Sydney University as Associate Professor. She is currently part of the ILO Global Team on Green Jobs and the Green Initiative. Apart from authoring and contributing to numerous internal documents for ILO and the OECD, Christina has published in a range of journals including European Planning Studies and Urban Geography.

Dr Charles Martin-Shields

Charles Martin-Shields is a Senior Researcher at the German Institute of Development and Sustainability in Bonn, Germany. His research focuses on the role of technology, digitalization, and social cohesion in migration and forced displacement processes, covering both developing country contexts, including work with urban migrants in Bogota, Nairobi, and Kuala Lumpur, as well as the role of digitalization in changing patterns of how high-income workers move between industrialized countries. During his PhD he was a Fulbright Public Policy Fellow, advising the Samoan Ministry of Communications and Information Technology on disaster response and crisis prevention policy. Outside academia Dr. Martin-Shields has consulted for UNHCR and the World Bank, and worked with TechChange Inc and the U.S. Institute of Peace on peacebuilding, training and technology programs. He completed his PhD at the Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution at George Mason University in August 2016, and holds a MA and BA from American University in Washington, D.C.

Dr Michael Omondi Owiso

Michael Owiso is Director, Odera Akang’o Campus and Dean in the School of Development and Strategic Studies at Maseno University-Kenya. He also holds a Senior Visiting Research Fellow position at Kings College, London. He has taught subjects in the fields of political science, international relations and development studies at various universities in Kenya and abroad. He was previously in the humanitarian sector for over 17 years, during which he made contributions in the areas of conflict resolution and peacebuilding. During this time, he also worked closely with displacement-affected communities in various settings including camps and urban centers in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. He has conceptual and practical experience in dealing with conflict, peace, security and development issues in the Eastern and Horn of Africa region. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa, MA in International Relations from the United States International University-Africa, and a PhD in Political Science from Aalborg University in Denmark. His research areas include migration governance, livelihoods and social cohesion, the nexus between climate change and forced migration, localization of forced migration research, host community- refugee relations, human rights and access to justice.

Dr Mom Bishwakarma

Dr Mom Bishwakarma holds a a PhD in Sociology & Social Policy (2018) from the University of Sydney and a BA and an MA in Sociology from Tribhuvan University Nepal. He is a Research and Development specialist, with over 10 years’ experience working with the World Bank, United Nations, and non-profit organisations. Mom has expertise in program management, monitoring and evaluation, program design and delivery in social development, and he brings his strong research and analytical skills to manage and track data, produce reports, and strategically respond to development problems. He is committed to improving the condition of ethnic minorities and disadvantaged groups in the Asia-Pacific region.

Professor Natalia Szablewska

Natalia is Professor in Law and Society and The Open University Law School (UK) and Adjunct Professor at the Centre for the Study of Humanitarian Law (CSHL) at the Royal University of Law and Economics (Cambodia). She is a social scientist and lawyer specialising in human rights (law) and transformative justice processes. She has over 20 years of experience spanning the public sector, governmental and non-governmental organisations, and academia in five countries. Her research centres on themes at the intersection of law, public policy and ethics, and she employs gender- and human rights-based approaches to examine issues relating to vulnerable populations and socio-legal (in)equalities. Natalia has published widely for academic and non-academic audiences, and her academic work has appeared in leading law, social sciences, business, conflict studies and public health journals. Her more recent appointments include serving as Chair of Business and Human Rights Committee of Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) and as a Member of the Modern Slavery Leadership Advisory Group to the New Zealand Government.

Associate Professor Robert Huish

Robert lectures in International Development Studies at Dalhousie University, Canada.  His research is focused largely on Cuba and North Korea and covers a wide range of topics including global health, social justice, and political/economic sanctions. He is the author of the 2013 study Going Where No Doctor Has Gone Before: Cuba’s Place in the Global Health Landscape, which explores how good health is often the product of social justice, as well as over 40 refereed articles on global health. Robert teaches several classes on global health at Dalhousie University and was Visiting Fellow at the University of Leipzig in Germany in 2018. In 2012 he was named as one of Canada’s most innovative educators in the Globe and Mail’s “Our Time to Lead” series.

Professor Sagar Raj Sharma

Dr. Sagar R. Sharma is a Professor of Development Economics/ Development Studies at the School of Arts of Kathmandu University. He is the former Dean of the School. He has done extensive research on issues related to agrarian reform, land rights and land reform, migration and mobility, and sustainable development, on which he has numerous publications.  So far, he has supervised several PhD and Post-doc researchers and has taught and done research in national and foreign universities. He is also the Founding Director of the Himalaya Centre for Asian Studies (HiCAS), a research platform for studying heritage, cultures and traditional knowledge systems across the Himalayas.

Dr Soo Jin Park

Dr Soo Jin Park is an urban food strategy expert and food pedagogy professional with extensive international experience in South Korea, Italy, and Australia. She has worked in academia and government. Her areas of expertise include the development and implementation of food policies and strategies; the coordination of international-level food initiatives integrating food culture, health, and sustainability; and food systems education. Her PhD research designed and applied a food pedagogy framework to improve the effectiveness of food policies or food strategies, policy development, and food-related programs, with the goal to promote societal health and environmental sustainability.

Soo Jin brings strong academic and practical experience in food pedagogy and community-based food initiatives, with a demonstrable track record in addressing research challenges at the intersection of health and sustainable food systems. Her research, education, and practice focus on applying this pedagogical approach more broadly, collaborating with government, academia, industry, and communities, and facilitating new and creative food systems-based transitions.

Dr Toan Dang

Dr. Toan Dang’s work is dedicated to sustainable development and the empowerment of vulnerable communities, particularly ethnic minority groups. He holds a BA in Education from a university in Vietnam, an MA in Sustainable Development from the University of Queensland, Australia, and a PhD from Western Sydney University, where he focused on rights-based approaches to sustainable development. Dr. Dang is the founder and current CEO of the Centre Highlands Centre for Community Development and Climate Change Adaptation (CHCC) in Vietnam’s Central Highland region. Dr. Dang’s interests encompass a wide range of areas, including gender equality, local participation, development rights, sustainable development, and science-based policy making. Over the past 20 years, he has collaborated with various stakeholders, such as local ethnic minorities, women, school girls, farmers, NGOs, and policymakers at local, regional, and central levels. Recently, he has expanded his expertise to include consultancy for national and international organizations in the region, such as the Global Coffee Platform (GCP).

Dr Uddhab Pyakurel

Uddhab Pyakurel is Associate Professor of Political Sociology and serves as Associate Dean of School of Arts at Kathmandu University (KU), Nepal. He was also acting Director of Global Engagement Division of KU. He completed his Master in Political Science and Sociology from Tribhuvan University, joined Delhi School of Economics (University of Delhi) to pursue a M. Phil, and earned his Ph.D. from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Pyakurel engages in the writing of academic journal articles and book chapters on poverty, people’s participation, social inclusion/exclusion, conflict, identity, democracy, election, Nepal's foreign relations and other socio-political issues of Nepal and Asia.