Professor Mark Tjoelker is the Associate Director of the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment and science leader of the Hawkesbury Forest Experiment whole-tree chamber research facility. He is a leading plant biologist and ecologist with expertise in the impacts of global environmental change on trees and forest ecosystems in natural and managed contexts. His research expertise includes climate change effects on respiration and carbon cycling, climatic adaptation in plant traits, plantation forestry, urban forestry and the biogeography of forest tree species. A goal of his research is to advance fundamental knowledge of plant and ecosystem responses to environmental change and provide science-based information to inform policy choices. Professor Tjoelker served as an advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture through the Forestry Research Advisory Council. He has authored more than 125 refereed journal articles and edited the book, The Biology and Ecology of Norway Spruce (Springer, 2007). His published work is among the most cited (top 1%) in the refereed literature (ISI, Essential Science Indicators). Professor Tjoelker was appointed to the prestigious ARC College of Experts commencing in 2019. The College plays a key role in identifying research excellence in the ARC National Competitive Grants Program, moderating external assessments and recommending applications for funding. Prior to arriving at Western in 2011, Professor Tjoelker was a faculty member in the Department of Ecosystem Science and Management at Texas A&M University, USA.
Email: M.Tjoelker@westernsydney.edu.au
Associate Professor Peter Shortland gained his BSc. in Zoology from Bristol University in 1985 and did his PhD at Uinversity College London under the tutelage of Professors Pat Wall, Clifford Woolf and Maria Fitzgerald and his research focussed on the neuroplasticity of primary afferents following peripheral nerve injury. He graduated in 1990. From 1990-94 he worked as a postdoctoral researcher in plasticity of primary afferents after in various models of neuropathic pain following peripheral nerve injury in the UK, the USA (St. Louis University and Washington University). Ifrom 1994-1996 he was the receipient of an International postdoctoral fellowship in Neuroscience from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. In 1996 he became a lecturer in Anatomy at Queen Mary University of London, part of the Bart's & London School of Medicine and Dentistry. In 2004, he was promoted to a Senior Lecturer in Neuroscience. In 2013 he was recrited to the School of Science and Health as an Associate Professor in Human Anatomy. <
Hisresearch interests are centred on chronic pain, primarily of cutaneous origin, but also of musculoskeletal, trigeminal and visceral origin. For the past decade Peter has been investigating the effects of spinal root avulsion injuries (both dorsal and ventral root) and how they contribute to avulsion injury pain such as occurs in brachial plexus or cauda equina injuries. The emphasis is on the synaptic rearrangements, phenotypic plasticity, glial and vascular responses and neuronal survival mechanisms that contribute to the functional rewiring of central nervous system circuits after such injuries. The ultimate aim is to be able to identify the molecular mechanisms/factors that are responsible for the abnormal responses to injury, to reduce/alleviate the associated neuropathic pain and to try to restore normal function after such injuries using growth factor or other pharmacological agents alone or in combination with surgical strategies. He continues to work on the functional consequences of peripheral nerve the mechanisms involved in the chronic neuropathic pain that results from these injuries or other injuries such as cancer induced peripheral neuropathy..
Email: P.Shortland@westernsydney.edu.au
Professor Miroslav FilipovicAstronomy, Science, Education and Computing are Professor Filipovic's profession, hobby, interest and passion. Especially, research in Astronomy has been a source of fascination since the early 1980s.
Imaging at all frequencies, especially at radio and X-rays, are his main ‘tools’. All the work is closely related to understanding the evolution of, and interactions between galaxies and the processes of star-formation and star evolution as they affect galaxy evolution. Also, he has been involved in projects that develop astronomical software (for data reduction, exp. MIRIAD, IRAF, AIPS++, MIDAS and NOD2).
Throughout his professional career he has been fortunate to work with the best instruments (telescopes) ever built. These include: Australia Telescope Compact Array, Very Large Array, Parkes, ROSAT, XMM-Newton, CHANDRA, NANTEN2, Hubble Space Telescope and South African Large Telescope. Also, he is a member of a few large consortia to build the next generation of instruments such as the Square Kilometre Array (SKA and its precursor ASKAP) and eROSITA.
Professor Filipovic's major scientific research interests are in Supernova Remnants (SNRs), Super Planetary Nebulae (PNe), Milky Way structure and mass extinctions, HII regions, X-ray Binaries, Active Galactic Nucleus, Local Group of galaxies, Masers, Extrasolar Planets, Search for local/nearby Brawn Dwarfs, X-ray background radiation (SPT & Pavo deep field), virtual observatory, comets, star/planet formation and Stellar Content (WR, O, B stars) in nearby galaxies.
Email: M.Filipovic@westernsydney.edu.au