Our People at School of Science
Dean of the School
Professor Graciela Metternicht is an internationally recognised sustainability and environmental expert. Professor Metternicht brings extensive experience, strategic leadership and interdisciplinary knowledge to the role of Dean, serving to strengthen the School's reputation for innovative teaching and learning, research and partnerships.
Graciela's impressive career includes roles in academia, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), as well as advisory roles with the Global Environment Facility, NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment and the Australian Academy of Science. This professional transition between academia and government has given her unique expertise in translational research and science-policy interface related to environmental management and sustainability.
Graciela's research interests are in the field of environmental geography, with a focus on geospatial technologies and their application in environmental management and policy, such as sustainable land management, land degradation, indicators, ecosystem services, and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Through her prior professorial appointments at the University of New South Wales, the University of South Australia and Curtin University of Technology, and her ongoing association with the United Nations, she has developed a unique understanding of the challenges and opportunities of influencing policy, together with the barriers and enabling conditions that countries confront in policy-making.
In collaboration with multi-disciplinary teams, her work has improved national natural resource management databases, informed national and international policy reviews and has contributed to national and international debates on policy instruments for advancing sustainable development.
As well as holding numerous professional memberships and advisory roles, Professor Metternicht is an Honorary Fellow of the International Cartographic Association, Fellow of the Surveying and Spatial Sciences Institute of Australia and a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Email: G.Metternicht@westernsydney.edu.au
Deputy Dean of the School
Associate Professor Kamali Kannangara is an Organic Chemist and at present, the Associate Dean (Global Engagement) in the School of Science.
She has over 60 refereed publications on synthesis of organic/metallorganic compounds and nanomaterials, including multi-step synthesis of cannabinoid metabolites and analogues and the use of spectroscopic techniques for the elucidation of molecular structure. These synthetic skills have been successfully applied to other fields such as nanotechnology, geochemistry, environmental and forensic sciences. She has worked on controlled synthesis of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), functionalisation of CNTs using microwave irradiation conditions, mainly to improve the dispersion of CNTs to form nanocomposites with improved material and mechanical properties. She has co-authored a book on "Nanotechnology" - UNSW and CRC Press, published in 2002.
Together with Dr Adriyan Milev, she has been successful in receiving Australia-India Strategic Research funds (2013-16) to develop new cathode materials for Lithium ion battery. After joining WSU in 2003, she has played a key role in organising and acquiring the state-of-art research facilities on materials characterisation and setting the research on an upward trajectory; publishing regularly in internationally recognised journals, deriving part of their research funding from the very competitive funding schemes. She has supervised and co-supervised a number of higher degree students.
At present, she is a team member of the Australian Medicinal Cannabis Research and Education Collaboration (AMCREC) at the Western Sydney University and is keen to explore research in to synthesis of medicinal cannabinoids and analogues.
Deans Unit
Associate Dean Learning and Teaching, Dr Graham Jones
Deputy Associate Dean Teaching & Learning, Dr Chris Jones
Email: C.Jones@westernsydney.edu.au
Associate Dean Research, Professor John Hunt
Email: J.Hunt@westernsydney.edu.au
Associate Dean Masters, Associate Professor Michelle Moffit
Associate Dean Research and HDR Training, Associate Professor Liza Cubeddu
Associate Dean Engagement and Advancement, Prof. Janice Aldrich-Wright
Associate Dean International, Professor Zhonghua Chen
Professor Zhonghua Chen is Associate Dean International and Engagement at the School of Science and Education Leader of the National Vegetable Protected Cropping Centre at Western Sydney University. He has an internationally-recognized track record of research excellence in agriculture, plant science and evolutionary biology. He teaches into undergraduate and postgraduate units at WSU. Since 2005, his research has resulted in over 100 publications include high quality research articles on Proceedings of National Academy of Science USA, Trends in Plant Science, The Plant Cell, eLife, Ecology Letters, Plant Physiology, New Phytologist, Plant Biotechnology Journal, and The Plant Journal. He has obtained research grants from the ARC, HIA, CRDC, GRDC, and AISRF in the past five years and received a range of research awards. He is the Editor in Chief for Plant Growth Regulation and a reviewer for over 60 international journals. He is also an international referee for grant applications to the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Netherland Organization for Scientific Research, Swiss National Science Foundation, Natural Science Foundation of China, South Africa National Research Foundation etc.
Email: Z.Chen@westernsydney.edu.au
Associate Dean Global Engagement, Dr Sunil Panchal
Dr Sunil Panchal completed his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Nagpur University, India. He completed Doctor of Philosophy in Biomedical Science at the University of Southern Queensland. His research has focused on characterisation of potential health benefits associated with food components including anthocyanins. His research involved studies with rat models of diet-induced obesity and inflammatory bowel disease. He has collaborated with food industries and received prestigious fellowship and research funding from Queensland Government for these projects. He joined Western Sydney University as a Lecturer in Nutrition and Food Science in 2020. His current research focus is valorisation of food waste and by-products for the isolation of nutraceuticals.
School Manager, Janette Rawlinson
Jannette Rawlinson brings with her over 10 years experience in higher education, including having previously managed the Research School of Computer Science at ANU. Janette hails from Western Sydney, and is delighted to be in a position to directly contribute to her local University.
Directors and Associate Directors of Academic Programs
Director of Academic Program, Science – A/Prof Nicholas Tothill
Associate Director of Academic Program, Science – Dr Narsimha Reddy
Director of Academic Program Medical Science – Dr Manisha Dayal
Associate Director of Academic Program Medical Science – Dr Oliver Morton
Director of Academic Program, Masters – A/Prof Ricky Spencer
Associate Director of Academic Program, Masters – Dr Hayley Green
Discipline Leads
Agriculture & Food Sciences, Professor David Tissue
Biological Sciences, Associate Professor Oula Ghannoum
Chemical & Forensic Sciences, Vacant
Vacant
Environment & Ecology, Professor Mark Tjoelker
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.
Medical Sciences, Associate Professor Peter Shortland
Physics, Professor Miroslav Filipovic
Astronomy, 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.
Zoological Sciences, Professor John Hunt
Email: J.Hunt@westernsydney.edu.au
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