Our People

Professor Wendy Boyd

Associate Dean (Education)

Professor Wendy Boyd joined Southern Cross University in February 2009 with professional expertise in early childhood education and care. She taught for 25 years leading a large early childhood centre that was continuously assessed as high quality.

Professor Sue Walker

Associate Dean (Research); Leader, Early Years Research Lab

Professor Susan Walker’s research interests concern children's developmental outcomes and the role of early intervention in early childhood. Susan has extensive expertise in survey methodology and quantitative data analysis.

Professor Alexandra (Lexi) Lasczik

Associate Dean Education Partnerships

Professor Lexi Lasczik is an internationally and nationally esteemed Arts-based researcher, most particularly in the discipline of the Visual Arts and critical Walking Inquiry. She was previously a secondary school educator for 25 years.

Associate Professor Stacey Campbell

Chair of Discipline (Early Childhood Education and Care)

Stacey Campbell, Associate Professor and Chair of Early Childhood Education and Care, is a researcher specialising in literacy, language and teaching professional practice. Her interests include phonics, phonological and phonemic awareness, and oral language in early reading and writing development, as well as family-teacher partnerships. A registered Queensland primary teacher, Stacey has extensive experience in early childhood and primary education, and university pre-service teacher training.

Associate Professor Aspa Baroutsis

Chair of Discipline (Primary); Senior Lecturer; Academic Integrity Officer

Dr Aspa Baroutsis is the Chair of Discipline (Primary) and Academic Integrity Officer in the Faculty of Education. She is also a member of the Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) for Southern Cross University. Her research draws on digital and media sociology, education policy, and learning engagement, student voice, and belonging across mainstream and alternative school settings.

Dr Lana McCarthy

Chair of Discipline (Secondary)

Dr Lana McCarthy is Chair of Discipline (Secondary); and a Senior Lecturer in Teacher Education (PDHPE), in the Faculty of Education, located on the Gold Coast Campus. She has extensive experience teaching HPE at Secondary School and Tertiary level in both New Zealand and Australia. Her doctoral research focussed on team culture, leadership and coaching approaches, and how captains and coaches constructed the culture within the New Zealand Silver Ferns netball team.

Professor David Lynch

Chair of Discipline (Teacher Professional Learning); SCUOnline Education Course Coordinator

Dr David Lynch is Professor of Education in the Faculty of Education. He is the author of numerous books and articles on teacher education and teaching improvement, specialising in Whole of School Teaching Improvement.

Dr Christos Markopoulos

Acting Director of Higher Degree Research; Acting Doctor of Education Course Coordinator; Chair of Education Faculty Board; Senior Lecturer

Dr Christos Markopoulos has extensive experience in teaching mathematics discipline as well as mathematics education for undergraduate and postgraduate education students. He has developed and taught Mathematical Content Knowledge units for pre-service teachers.

Dr Mia Christensen

Director of Professional Experience

Dr. Mia Christensen is a registered teacher and early childhood researcher with 30 years of experience across various educational settings in Queensland, Northern Territory, and Western Australia. She previously worked at G8 Education as the Education Innovation and Partnerships Manager and spent 15 years as an academic at QUT. Her research focuses on early childhood education for sustainability, STEAM, and enhancing children's voices and participation.

Sandra Kenny

Manager, Education Professional Experience

Sandra and her team of Professional Experience Placement Officers are based the Lismore, Coffs Harbour and Gold Coast campuses.

Simon Brown

Faculty Manager

Simon can be contacted for queries on the management of the Faculty of Education and its staff.

Penny Bredenkamp

Executive Assistant

Penny can be contacted for queries relating to the Office of the Executive Dean of Education.

Professor David Lynch

Chair of Discipline (Teacher Professional Learning); SCUOnline Education Course Coordinator

Dr David Lynch is Professor of Education in the Faculty of Education. He is the author of numerous books and articles on teacher education and teaching improvement, specialising in Whole of School Teaching Improvement.

Dr Katie Hotko

Honours Course Coordinator; Lecturer

Katie Hotko is a Lecturer in Creative Arts in Initial Teacher Education. Her PhD thesis is titled "We make art and it makes us: An A/r/tographic exploration of generalist primary teachers’ creative self-beliefs." Katie is an active member of the Sustainability, Environmental, and the Arts in Education (SEAE) Research Centre, the First Year Coordinator and Honours Course Coordinator. Katie's passion lies in democratizing the arts, striving to make them inclusive and accessible to all.

Dr Kelly Bittner

Post Grad Course Coordinator (Main and Sydney Campus) Early Childhood Education and Care, Senior Lecturer

Kelly is a Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood with Southern Cross University. Her work as an academic includes a Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship with the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child, lecturer with Macquarie University and senior researcher positions with the Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO) and the Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA).

Dr Tracy Young

Post Grad Course Coordinator (Melbourne Campus) Early Childhood Education and Care, Senior Lecturer

Dr. Tracy Charlotte Young is a senior lecturer and researcher in early childhood education and care at Southern Cross University's Faculty of Education. Committed to animal activism, her research focuses on multispecies education, child-animal relations, environmental education, and critical posthumanism. Tracy employs qualitative and post-qualitative methods such as narrative inquiry, ethnographic, speculative, and embodied research/praxis.

Dr Amanda Levido

Undergrad Course Coordinator Early Childhood Education and Care, Lecturer

Dr Amanda Levido is a Lecturer in the Faculty of Education at SCU. She researches media arts and media literacy education. She is interested in how young children use digital media technologies as part of their learning in both formal and informal learning settings.

Associate Professor David Turner

Post Graduate Course Coordinator Primary Education, and Post Graduate Course Coordinator Secondary Education; Deputy Research Projects Leader; Associate Professor

David Turner is QASSP’s Director of Professional Learning. He has enjoyed a diverse career in school leadership working in small rural schools through to large complex urban schools. David has taught in Victoria and in British Columbia, Canada and also spent over three years working in the tertiary sector as Head of Campus and Head of School. He's worked as a member research team on projects related to initial teacher education, teaching staff capability through coaching, mentoring and feedback.

Mr Patrick Bruck

Undergrad Course Coordinator Primary Education; Deputy Chair of Faculty Board; Deputy Academic Integrity Officer; Associate Lecturer

Patrick Bruck is an Associate Lecturer in the Faculty of Education. He is enrolled in a Doctor of Education (EdD) at Southern Cross University with a focus on the teaching of proportional reasoning in Australian schools. Patrick has held numerous roles in Australia’s education sector, including as a teacher, Head of Department, Deputy Principal and Principal in high schools, predominantly in Queensland. He has also taught internationally in Asia and Europe.

Adjunct Senior Lecturer David Ellis

Undergrad Course Coordinator Secondary Education and Course Coordinator Secondary Technology Education; Adjunct Senior Lecturer

David Ellis is an Adjunct Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Education at Southern Cross University. He is currently progressing his PhD study on teacher professional learning and expertise in a changing world.  This study is crucial for the recognition of teacher education as foundational and teacher capability for lifelong learning is required. He has been internationally recognised as a leader in interdisciplinary approaches such as STEM and technology education.

Dr Erika Kerruish

Course Coordinator Bachelor of Education (Primary), Bachelor of Arts; Bachelor of Arts; Senior Lecturer

Dr Erika Kerruish is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Education and teaches in the Bachelor of Arts. Erika's research examines sensory, affective and cultural aspects of our interactions with digitally driven technologies.

Dr Mandy Hughes

Course Coordinator Bachelor of Education (Secondary), Bachelor of Arts; Bachelor of Social Science (Teach out); Senior Lecturer

Dr Mandy Hughes is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Education and teaches in the Bachelor of Social Sciences. Mandy is a passionate and experienced teacher and social researcher with a commitment to encouraging a love of learning to foster social justice. She has more than a decade's experience working in higher education and has also worked in secondary schools, community and international development and in media, including working in television for ABC and SBS.

Dr Aidan Coleman

Course Coordinator Creative Writing; Senior Lecturer

Dr Aidan Coleman is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Education and also teaches in the Associate Degree of Creative Writing. His research and scholarship spans Australian literature, Shakespeare, poetry, ecocriticism and creative writing. He is the co-author of a series of Shakespeare textbooks and his poetry volumes have been shortlisted for national literary awards. Aidan has extensive experience as a secondary English and history teacher, and faculty coordinator.

Professor Alexandra (Lexi) Lasczik

Associate Dean Education Partnerships

Professor Lexi Lasczik is an internationally and nationally esteemed Arts-based researcher, most particularly in the discipline of the Visual Arts and critical Walking Inquiry. She was previously a secondary school educator for 25 years.

Dr Mia Christensen

Director of Professional Experience

Dr. Mia Christensen is a registered teacher and early childhood researcher with 30 years of experience across various educational settings in Queensland, Northern Territory, and Western Australia. She previously worked at G8 Education as the Education Innovation and Partnerships Manager and spent 15 years as an academic at QUT. Her research focuses on early childhood education for sustainability, STEAM, and enhancing children's voices and participation.

Sandra Kenny

Manager, Education Professional Experience

Sandra and her team of Professional Experience Placement Officers are based the Lismore, Coffs Harbour and Gold Coast campuses.

Renee Hogben

Senior Professional Experience Coordinator

Renee works in the Professional Experience Team and is based at the Gold Coast campus.

Emilee Devine

Senior Professional Experience Coordinator

Emilee works in the Professional Experience Team and is based at the Lismore campus.

Tiffany Cutter

Senior Professional Experience Coordinator

Tiffany works in the Professional Experience Team and is based at the Gold Coast campus.

Judy De Vries

Professional Experience Coordinator

Judy works in the Professional Experience Team and is based at the Lismore campus.

Alison Adams

Professional Experience Coordinator

Alison works in the Professional Experience Team and is based at the Gold Coast campus.

Jenny Ellis

Professional Experience Coordinator

Jenny works in the Professional Experience Team and is based at the Coffs Harbour campus.

Isabella Smith

Professional Experience Coordinator

Isabella works in the Professional Experience Team and is based at the Gold Coast campus.

Tina Nguyen

Professional Experience Coordinator

Tina works in the Professional Experience Team and is based at the Gold Coast campus.

Margaret Fletcher

Professional Experience Coordinator

Margaret works in the Professional Experience Team and is based at the Lismore campus.

Vicki Hennessy

Professional Experience Officer

Vicki works in the Professional Experience Team and is based at the Coffs Harbour campus.

Keyarrah Sweetwater-Delauney

Professional Experience Officer

Keyarrah works in the Professional Experience Team and is based at the Lismore campus.

Jahli Eves

Professional Experience Officer

Jahli works in the Professional Experience Team and is based at the Lismore campus.

Simone Gardoni

Professional Experience Officer

Simone works in the Professional Experience Team and is based at the Coffs Harbour campus.

Ella Hegh

Professional Experience Officer

Ella works in the Professional Experience Team and is based at the Lismore campus.

Emily Bedford

Professional Experience Officer

Emily works in the Professional Experience Team and is based at the Lismore campus.

Professor Sue Walker

Associate Dean (Research); Leader, Early Years Research Lab

Professor Susan Walker’s research interests concern children's developmental outcomes and the role of early intervention in early childhood. Susan has extensive expertise in survey methodology and quantitative data analysis.

Dr Christos Markopoulos

Acting Director of Higher Degree Research; Acting Doctor of Education Course Coordinator; Chair of Education Faculty Board; Senior Lecturer

Dr Christos Markopoulos has extensive experience in teaching mathematics discipline as well as mathematics education for undergraduate and postgraduate education students. He has developed and taught Mathematical Content Knowledge units for pre-service teachers.

Dr Katie Hotko

Honours Course Coordinator; Associate Lecturer

Katie Hotko is an Associate Lecturer in Creative Arts in Initial Teacher Education. Her PhD thesis is titled "We make art and it makes us: An A/r/tographic exploration of generalist primary teachers’ creative self-beliefs." Katie is an active member of the Sustainability, Environmental, and the Arts in Education (SEAE) Research Centre, the First Year Coordinator and Honours Course Coordinator. Katie's passion lies in democratizing the arts, striving to make them inclusive and accessible to all.

Amy Mulholland

Senior Research Administration Officer

Amy can be contacted to assist Faculty researchers and postgraduate students with their research, publications, grants and promotions, and to provide support for the Faculty's research events and promotions. Email Amy at educationresearch@scu.edu.au

Siobhan Foley

Research Administration Officer

Siobhan can be contacted to assist Faculty researchers and postgraduate students with their research, publications, grants and promotions, and to provide support for the Faculty's research events and promotions. Email Siobhan at educationresearch@scu.edu.au

Professor Liz Mackinlay

Director of Higher Degree Research; Doctor of Education Course Coordinator

Professor Liz Mackinlay is an eclectic scholar, having experience in Indigenous education, music ethnography and feminist issues.

Associate Professor Michelle Neumann

Deputy Leader, Early Years Research Lab

Associate Professor Michelle Neumann is an academic in the field of early childhood education, literacy, and educational technology. Michelle has had over 10 years’ experience working as a primary and secondary school teacher and is a registered Teacher with Education Queensland.

Associate Professor Adele Wessell

Associate Professor

Adele Wessell is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education. Adele's research is in the field of Environmental History. She has published on food as communication, nonhuman animals and tastescapes as an expression of the impact of eating on land use. Most of her work is focussed on the Northern Rivers, particularly the history of agriculture and the Richmond River. She has a particular interest in regional and community archives and climate change.

Dr Lynda Hawryluk

Senior Lecturer

Dr Lynda Hawryluk is a practising writer and qualified secondary English teacher. She lectures and teaches in writing units focused on writing and reading practices, poetry for advanced level students.

Dr Olivera Kamenarac

Senior Lecturer

Olivera Kamenarac is a Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Education (Gold Coast Campus). Her scholarship intersects feminist post-structuralist and post-humanist philosophies of subject formation and subjectivities in education across different countries. With vast international experience in studying educational policies and politics, Olivera is particularly focused on challenging local and global policies, structures, and systems (re)producing injustices for human and non-human be(com)ings.

Dr Gregory P Smith

Senior Lecturer

Gregory is an academic, social researcher and author. He completed his PhD in 2016 which focused on the issues faced by adults who experienced out-of-home care. He now lectures in the Social Sciences. Understanding disadvantage in society is always a challenge. His research investigates the most socially disadvantaged in our society - the homeless and vulnerable. He also explores issues such as shame, stigma and identity in these populations using methodologies within the qualitative paradigm.

Dr Tina Marcoionni

Senior Lecturer

Dr Tina Marcoionni is a Senior Lecturer and working in the teaching/research fields of interdisciplinary education, professional experience and leadership.

Dr Lewes Peddell

Senior Lecturer

Dr Lewes Peddell is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Education with a focus on Mathematics Education. Prior to coming to Southern Cross in 2018, he was Director of Research, Learning and Enterprise at Canterbury College (QLD) where he also served as Director of Arts Academy, Acting Director of Curriculum and taught Music and Mathematics.

Dr Alicia Phillips

Lecturer

Dr Alicia Phillips joined Southern Cross University in 2015 with a wealth of teaching experience in educational contexts ranging from early childhood education and care settings, primary schools and tertiary education.

Dr Valentina Bertotti

Lecturer

Valentina is a Lecturer in Early Childhood. Her areas of expertise include literacy development, foreign language and EAL teaching, curriculum design and inclusive education. She is a registered teacher (SA) with an ACECQA-recognised early childhood education degree. Valentina has won excellence awards for her teaching, and integrates her extensive experience, multilingualism and passion into her educational practice, fostering cross-cultural understanding and communication among her students.

Dr Simone Blom

Lecturer

Dr Simone Blom is an experienced leader, educator and emergent researcher with over two decades in education and high-impact project officer roles. Simone’s skills are best deployed in workshop facilitation and collaborative enterprises that require succinct translation of complex concepts and outcomes into accessible, workable ideas and solutions.

Dr Sarah Crinall

Lecturer

Dr Sarah Crinall is a Lecturer of science childhoods, place-based relational philosophies of education and art-based methodologies. Sarah's scholarly interests are in the power of the practical, the ethical and the 'everyday' and the informal learning ecologies that we live with as families and communities. Her focus is on the concept of sustenance in education, right now, during life in early years motherhood.

Lee-Ann Ewing

Lecturer

Lee-Ann is a lecturer in the Faculty of Education at SCU. Before joining Monash in 2019, she was a primary school teacher, having taught for many years in two countries and four states. Lee-Ann holds an M. Ed from UWA and a B.A. from the University of South Africa.

Dr Mel (Mellie) Green

Lecturer

Dr Mel (Mellie) Green has been a primary school teacher for over 25 years, with 20 of those in the classroom and teacher-librarianship, and five in curriculum leadership. She completed her PhD in 2021. Her doctoral research explored student engagement in reading for enjoyment in the upper primary years. Her areas of research passion are: use of children’s literature in the primary classroom, reading instruction, curriculum and pedagogy.

Dr Aida Hurem

Lecturer

Dr Aida Hurem is a Lecturer in Inclusive Education at Southern Cross University. She is a wellbeing and belonging researcher in the International Education space with a focus on student experience, equity and social justice. Being an interdisciplinary researcher, she utilises her skills in Psychology and Education to collaborate with colleagues and bring her knowledge of wellbeing and belonging across to other areas and disciplines.

Dr Jubilee Smith

Lecturer

Jubilee Smith has recently completed her PhD with Southern Cross University investigating early childhood educator decision making with digital technology. Jubilee has presented and published from the initial research which led to her PhD topic.

Dr Lisa Siegel

Lecturer

Dr Lisa Siegel is a skilled environmental educator with over 20 years’ experience in developing and facilitating educational experiences for children, young people, and adults, having worked in both public and independent schools in three different countries.

Cathy Lembke

Lecturer

Cathy Lembke is currently researching in the area of the impact of short-term immersion programs on the cultural competence of pre-service teachers, as part of a prospective PhD thesis. Cathy has recently been working on the North Coast Initiative for School Improvement.

Dr Carla Valério

Lecturer

Dr Carla Valério is a PDHPE Lecturer and researcher with special interest in Physical Education Teacher Education innovative strategies of Teacher Professional Development. In the past few years, her research focus has been related to Social Learning Strategies and Student-centred Approaches.

Ms Lauren Brocki

Lecturer

Ms Lauren Brocki is a lecturer in the Early Years Research space.

Evie Moran

Lecturer

Evangeline Moran is a Lecturer in the Faculty of Education at Southern Cross University. Evangeline has experience working in various roles in centre-based services, long day care and standalone kindergartens settings. She is currently studying her PhD investigating how children’s agency is supported within and between the kindergarten and home learning environments. Evangeline was a runner-up for the Outstanding Thesis Award in 2020 and was awarded the Jean Ferguson Memorial Award in 2016.

Madison Rybka

Lecturer

Madi is a proud Arrernte woman and passionate primary-trained teacher with over five years of experience in Aboriginal Education. She has led mentoring programs for teachers and initiatives to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. Madi integrates Indigenous perspectives into teaching and creates inclusive learning environments. She is committed to empowering students and educators to achieve success while promoting respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.

Miss Amy Mills

Associate Lecturer

Amy is an Associate Lecturer in Early Childhood Education and Care

Kelly Simpson

Associate Lecturer

Kelly is a Higher Degree Research candidate for a PhD with Southern Cross University, investigating outcomes of initial teacher education programs for early childhood teachers. She has extensive teaching experience in early childhood and vocationally, and a deep interest in initial and ongoing teacher education.

Rachelle Naidu

Associate Lecturer

Rachelle is an Associate Lecturer for the Faculty of Education

Dr Charmaine Bernie

Vice-Chancellor Senior Research Fellow

Dr Charmaine Bernie is a Vice-Chancellor Senior Research Fellow in the Faculty of Education's Early Years Research Lab at Southern Cross University. Charmaine is passionate about early years care and research for children and their families.

Dr Laura Rodriguez Castro

Vice-Chancellor Senior Research Fellow

Dr Laura Rodriguez Castro is a Vice-Chancellor Senior Research Fellow at the Faculty of Education's Sustainability, Environmental, and the Arts in Education (SEAE) Research Centre at Southern Cross University. Her research focuses on Southern knowledges of decoloniality and feminisms, critical public pedagogies, memory and rurality. She also works with arts, visual and participatory methods.

Dr Liberty de Rivera

Vice-Chancellor Research Fellowship

Dr Liberty de Rivera is a Vice-Chancellor Research Fellow in the Faculty of Education. Her research interests include analysing and evaluating policies and their implementation in the areas of education for sustainable development, climate change, and disaster risk reduction. Central to her research is the idea of cognitive justice—what, or whose knowledge, is emphasised or neglected in the process of policy transfer.

Dr Hoi Vo

Senior Research Fellow

Hoi Vo is a Vice-Chancellor Senior Research Fellow in the Faculty of Education's TeachLab research group. He is known for his research on teaching and learning improvement, teacher education, student engagement, and technology mediated learning. He is passionate about using quantitative methods in his research.

Gina de Rooy

Research Assistant

Gina is a research assistant in the Faculty of Education at SCU. She works in the TeachLab research group from the Gold Coast campus.

Kim Fischer

Senior Curriculum and Accreditation Coordinator

Kim's role looks after the Faculty's curriculum and accreditation and she is based at the Lismore campus.

Anita Johnston-Oost

Senior Curriculum and Accreditation Coordinator

Anita's role looks after the Faculty's curriculum and accreditation and she is based at the Lismore campus.

Jackie Brooks

Senior Curriculum and Accreditation Coordinator

Jackie's role looks after the Faculty's curriculum and accreditation and she is based at the Lismore campus.

Isabel Cunningham

Senior Administrative Officer

Isabel assists with the Faculty's administrative processes and is based at the Gold Coast campus.

Karen Moore

Administrative Assistant

Karen assists with the Faculty's administrative processes and is based at the Gold Coast campus.

Tim Mulholland

Administrative Assistant

Tim assists with the Faculty's administrative processes and is based at the Lismore campus.

Iris Gerke

Administrative Assistant

Iris assists with the Faculty's administrative processes and is based at the Gold Coast campus.

Adjunct Professor Tracey Bunda

Adjunct Professor

Professor Bunda has an outstanding track record of teaching and research, specialising in the areas of Indigenous education and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander studies. Her career in universities expands over 3 decades during which time she has held senior Indigenous leadership roles which have focused on the building the profile of Indigenous education. T

Adjunct Professor Rita Irwin

Adjunct Professor

Rita L. Irwin is a Distinguished University Scholar and Professor of Art Education and Curriculum Studies, The University of British Columbia, Canada and Adjunct Professor, Southern Cross University, Australia. She is also a Past President of the UNESCO-affiliated International Society for Education through Art and immediate past Principal Editor of the International Journal of Education through Art.

Adjunct Professor Bruce Knight

Adjunct Professor

Professor Knight has completed a great deal of study in teaching and learning, undertaking high impact applied research that leads to sustainable benefits for all students. He is a specialist in learning design and pedagogy to enhance participant outcomes across all forms of education and mental health. Professor Knight has successfully supervised 27 doctoral candidates and his areas of research have resulted in more than 200 peer-reviewed publications.

Adjunct Professor Richard L Light

Adjunct Professor

Richard Light is Professor Emeritus at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, Adjunct Professor at Southern Cross University and a Visiting Professor at Waseda University, Japan. He has held full-time positions in Australia at the University of Melbourne, The University of Sydney, Ballarat University, and in the UK at Leeds Metropolitan University. He was also Invited Professor at the University of Franche-Comté, France.

Adjunct Professor Anthony Mackay

Adjunct Professor

Professor Mackay Anthony Mackay AM is Board Co‐Chair and immediate past CEO & President of the National Center on Education and the Economy, Washington DC.

Adjunct Professor Pasi Sahlberg

Adjunct Professor

Professor Pasi Sahlberg is Finnish educator, teacher, and author. He has worked as a school teacher, teacher-educator, academic, and policymaker in Finland, and he has advised schools and education system leaders around the world. He served as a senior education specialist at the World Bank (Washington, DC), lead education specialist at the European Training Foundation (Torino, Italy), director general at the Finland’s Ministry of Education and Culture (CIMO).

Adjunct Professor Heidi Harju-Luukkainen

Adjunct Professor

Professor Heidi Harju-Luukkainen, Vice Director at the Kokkola University Consortium Chydenius (JYU, Finland) and Director of Educational Sciences, also works at Nord University (Norway). She founded the Chydenius Learning Lab and serves on JYU’s educational council. With a PhD in Education and global experience at institutions like UCLA and USC, her research spans 40+ projects in education across Europe, the USA, and Arabic-speaking countries.

Adjunct Professor Richard Smith

Adjunct Professor

Adjunct Professor Richard Smith has extensive experience in school and higher education education administration and governance and the development of innovations. He has a distinguished record in research, publication, postgraduate supervision and academic journal creation and editorship. His current academic and applied interests lie in the development of effective pedagogical practice and governance for uncertain times.

Adjunct Professor Kim Snepvangers

Adjunct Professor

Dr Kim Snepvangers is an Adjunct Professor and Principal Fellow Higher Education Academy (PFHEA). Kim is an award-winning educational leader in creative ecologies with expertise in industry partnerships at scale, recognised with a 2018 AAUT national citation.  She is also an Adjunct Associate Professor and a Scientia Education Academy (SEA) Fellow at UNSW. Kim has co-edited 3 books, over 20 book chapters and journal publications with research interests in archival practice-based research.

Adjunct Professor Barnett Berry

Adjunct Professor

Professor Barnett Berry, a research professor at the University of South Carolina, is Senior Director for Policy & Innovation in the College of Education. An education policy advisor and globally renowned thinker, he authored TEACHING 2030 and Teacherpreneurs: Innovative Teachers Who Lead But Don’t Leave. He is researching systems of leading teachers for whole-child education and community schooling.

Adjunct Associate Professor Michael Gard

Adjunct Associate Professor

Michael holds a Masters degree in exercise science and a PhD in the sociology and history of dance. He has written several books on a variety of subjects including obesity, science, and public health policy. While his primary field of research is in health and physical education, Michael is also a social scientist who has intentionally contributed to broader sociological scholarship of health and the body.

Adjunct Associate Professor Sue Hudson

Adjunct Associate Professor

Dr Suzanne Hudson has been involved in teaching and teacher education for over 30 years. Suzanne is now based at the Gold Coast campus at SCU. Prior to coming to SCU she was at QUT where she was responsible for initiating the Bachelor of Education (primary) at the Caboolture campus. Suzanne was the successful applicant of a $1.45 million grant for the implementation of the Teacher Education Done Differently (TEDD) project.

Adjunct Associate Professor Sharon Parry

Adjunct Associate Professor

Sharon worked in research and development in higher education from 1984 and has been at Southern Cross since 1993. Prior to her appointment to the School of Education, she was the Director, Teaching and Learning Centre at the University and inaugural president of the Council of Australian Directors Academic Development. Her current research concerns the relationship between epistemological foundations of academic culture and the influence of those on knowledge-making and reporting.

Adjunct Associate Professor Robert Smith

Adjunct Associate Professor

Robert was a school teacher, head and administrator for 20 years. Through professional organisations he led much English teacher professional development in the region. Then as a teacher-educator his main focus was on language and literacy learning at all levels—from birth to higher education. He is well experienced in higher education governance. His recent research is focussed on educational leadership, and on literacy education from a social-interactionist perspective.

Adjunct Associate Professor Judith Wilks

Adjunct Associate Professor

With a Geography background, Judith Wilks worked for many years as an Environmental Planner. Judith’s current research interests include successful transitions to higher education for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, online teaching methodologies in higher education, active environmental education approaches such as child-friendly cities, and participatory methodologies for children and young people.

Adjunct Associate Professor Tony Yeigh

Adjunct Associate Professor

Tony Yeigh is an Adjunct Associate Professor (Faculty of Education) with a PhD in Educational Psychology. He has received numerous awards for his teaching and research, including a $10,000 DEST award for his PhD research design 2018, 2018 Teacher of the Year Award, and a 2020 Emerald Literati Award for outstanding research paper. He is skilled in intercultural communication, multi-modal research design, project supervision and applied pedagogy.

Adjunct Associate Professor David Rousell

Adjunct Associate Professor

David Rousell is an Adjunct Associate Professor at SCU, where he completed his PhD under the supervision of Professor Amy Cutter-Mackenzie-Knowles and Professor Alexandra Lasczik. David is also Senior Lecturer in Creative Education at RMIT, where he works in the Creative Agency Lab and Digital Ethnography Research Centre (DERC). His project Local Alternatives explores the pedagogical agency of the environmental arts in adapting to climate change at city-scale.

Adjunct Senior Lecturer Anne Bellert

Adjunct Senior Lecturer

Dr Anne Bellert is an academic in the field of inclusive education, with particular expertise in learning difficulties in literacy and numeracy, and leadership. She has over a decade of experience in advising school leaders and teachers about inclusion of students with disabilities in regular school settings, and a further decade of experience in Initial Teacher Education and postgraduate teaching in inclusive education and school leadership.

Adjunct Senior Lecturer Roslyn Franklin

Adjunct Senior Lecturer

Dr Roslyn Franklin has been involved in the teaching profession in varying capacities for forty years. In her early teaching career, she was a Health and Physical Education teacher in Brisbane and Gold Coast secondary and primary schools and then lectured in this area at Griffith University. Ros is an adjunct lecturer and working part-time at SCU as a Unit Assessor for a PDHPE secondary unit and University Supervisor when pre-service teachers undertake their Professional Experience in schools.

Adjunct Senior Lecturer Marianne Logan

Adjunct Senior Lecturer

Dr Marianne Logan is an Adjunct Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Education. Marianne's approach to research (and teaching) is to interrogate and advance socioecology and posthumanism within a science education context, where classical science education is disrupted, and new paradigms are promoted, within the current critical period surrounding climate change. With a posthuman lens all things are entangled rather than humans being perceived as separate from nature.

Adjunct Senior Lecturer Helen Widdop-Quinton

Adjunct Senior Lecturer

Helen is an experienced secondary teacher and environmental educator. Her early career as a science, biology and health teacher eventually lead to working with community and non-government organisations (Landcare, Greening Australia, Victorian Schools’ Garden Awards) as an environmental/sustainability educator, where she has been involved in curriculum writing and project management as well as supporting schools with environmental projects.

Adjunct Senior Lecturer Jake Madden

Adjunct Senior Lecturer

Dr Jake Madden is an experienced school principal. With a leadership career over the last thirty years he has been building teacher capacity through the development of learning in the contemporary world, the promotion of flexible learning spaces to meet the needs of the 21st century learner and curriculum for global mindedness. As a proponent for teacher action research, Jake is widely published in this area, authoring books and journal articles showcasing his experiences and research.

Adjunct Senior Lecturer Angela Turner

Adjunct Senior Lecturer

Angela Turner's research is positioned under the umbrella of Design and Technologies education, specifically food education, sustainability and food innovation research (regional foods and food education research).

Adjunct Lecturer Marilyn Ahearn

Adjunct Lecturer

Marilyn is an Adjunct Lecturer at SCU. She has extensive experience in primary education, including participation and leadership in environmental education initiatives. Marilyn completed her PhD at SCU and continues to collaborate in writing projects as a member of the Sustainability, Environmental, and the Arts in Education (SEAE) Research Centre. She is committed to researching and promoting a universal deep-time story through environmental education and transdisciplinary-based learning.

Adjunct Lecturer Alan Fenn-Lavington

Adjunct Lecturer

Dr Alan Fenn-Lavington's 30+ years in Education include primary and secondary teaching, Sport Coordinator, School Co-Ordinator and Acting Deputy Principal as well as teaching at Griffith University with the School of Education. He has been an Academic with SCU since 2006 teaching with School of Education, PSP and Social Science as well as a short time with Sport Management and Surfing Studies - he describes himself as a classroom practitioner.

Adjunct Lecturer Amanda Isaac

Adjunct Lecturer

Amanda has over 20 years of experience working in Professional Experience, contributing to research in this area and was previously  Deputy Director of Professional Experience for the Faculty of Education. She has established productive relationships with colleagues in the school and university contexts.

Adjunct Lecturer Neville Jennings

Adjunct Lecturer

Dr Neville Jennings is an educator with experience at primary, secondary and tertiary levels of education. He was instrumental in preparing primary and secondary teachers at both the Lismore and Riverside Campuses of SCU, taught units in the MEd program and was deeply involved with teachers’ professional development. He has been active in maintaining contact with former staff and students.

Sarah Armstrong

Adjunct Lecturer

Sarah Armstrong has published five novels, including ’Salt Rain’ which was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award. Her most recent novels are for readers aged 8+. She has more than twenty years’ experience teaching creative writing for writers’ festivals including Byron Writers Festival, for SCU, and in schools. She has a practical, craft-based approach to her teaching. In a former life, she was a Walkley award-winning ABC Radio journalist.

Adjunct Fellow Catherine Hastings

Adjunct Fellow

Dr Catherine Hastings’ interdisciplinary research concentrates on understanding issues of social justice and inequality alongside developing and evaluating policy and program responses for social change. Recent focus areas include legal needs assessment, the causes of homelessness for families and older women, and international student financial and housing precarity. The philosophy of critical realism informs her research.

Ms Victoria Atkinson

Conjoint Fellow

With 19 years of primary school teaching experience, Victoria is a transformative leader in pedagogy, dedicated to empowering every student to excel. Her passion for teacher education shines through as she mentors graduate teachers and university students during practicums, bridging theory and practice. A proud recipient of her M.Ed. from SCU, Victoria was recognised on the Dean's Honours List in both 2022 and 2023 for her outstanding academic achievements.

Mr Thomas Casey

Conjoint Fellow

Tom Casey is a career teacher who has had a variety of roles across a range of secondary schools both same-sex and co-educational. He is passionate about improving the opportunities students have to grow in their classroom learning. He is based on the Gold Coast.

Ms Jacqueline Faulkner

Conjoint Fellow

With over twenty-five years experience in primary education, Jacqueline's career has included State and Independent educational settings in Australia as well as three years in an International school in Japan. As an educational leader, she is dedicated to building capacity within schools, fostering improvements in student outcomes and encouraging educators to reach their full potential.

Chelsea Carter

Conjoint Fellow

Chelsea Carter is the Assistant Principal of Learning and Teaching at St Ambrose Primary School, Pottsville, and commences the role of Resident Teaching Consultant in 2025. She has over a decade of experience in Catholic education and diverse leadership roles. Chelsea holds a Bachelor of Education, Master of Inclusive Education and GradCert in Educational Leadership and Lead Teacher Accreditation.

Trish Furey

Conjoint Fellow

Patricia has over 20 years of experience teaching secondary PDHPE in NSW and has held the leadership roles of Sports Coordinator and Leader of Student Wellbeing. She is passionate about providing quality teacher training and creating opportunities for young students to develop a lifelong love for physical activity. Patricia has a Master of Educational Leadership from ACU and is currently undertaking Doctoral studies at the University of Newcastle, focused on Growth Mindset in Physical Education.

Craig Warnes

Conjoint Fellow

John McKay

Conjoint Fellow