Leadership

Leadership
	Professor Nicky Morrison – Co-Director Nicky Morrison is the Professor of Planning at Western Sydney University. Nicky is a leading authority on delivering healthy and sustainable communities and securing affordable housing through the planning system. Nicky is Western Sydney University’s academic lead in delivering Penrith Sustainable Community.
	Professor Greg Morrison — Co-Director Greg Morrison is the Lang Walker endowed Chair in Urban Transformation. Greg is a leader in environment and environmental engineering who has made demonstrable impact in Circular Economy, Net Zero, Living Labs, and climate adaptation and innovation.
	Associate Professor Rashidi – Deputy Director Maria Rashidi is an experienced Senior Researcher with a notable background in design, construction, and asset management projects spanning over 15 years. Her specialised field is Civil Engineering, with a focus on Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) and Decision Support Systems (DSS). Maria possesses extensive research capabilities in the area of health monitoring of bridges and other civil infrastructure assets, utilising advanced technologies such as drones, sensor networking, laser scanning, artificial intelligence, and digital twinning. She also holds a keen interest in infrastructure sustainability, energy harvesting and the development of energy-efficient housing solutions.
	Professor Sebastian Pfautsch — Co-Lead on People-Centred Sustainable Precinct Design Sebastian Pfautsch is a Professor in Urban Studies and the Research Champion for Western Sydney at Western Sydney University. He is also a member of the NSW Government’s Greening our City Panel. Sebastian’s expertise includes transdisciplinary research into urban heat and its mitigation and has been widely published and applied.
	Associate Professor Kathy Tannous — Co-Lead on Resilient Construction and Infrastructure Kathy Tannous is a Senior Health Economist with Digital Health CRC, Senior Research Fellow in Translational Health Research Institute, Health Economist with Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism Translational Research Unit (DOMTRU), and Senior Lecturer in the School of Business at Western Sydney University. Kathy has an extensive background in financial and health economics, academia, and consultancy.