Our People

Biography

Tim Brown has been the Director of the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute (AMSI) since 2019. With 41 members drawn from universities, government agencies and learned societies, AMSI is the principal national voice for the mathematical sciences discipline. Its programs cover research and higher education, school education and industrial and commercial engagement. AMSI is recognised by government and industry as a leading provider of policy advice, services, programs and strategic initiatives.

Tim has a long academic career across the University of Bath, Monash University, University of Melbourne, University of Western Australia, Australian National University and La Trobe University. He has been a Professor of Probability, Statistics and Data Science in totality for over 32 years and has held leadership positions such as Head of Department of Statistics; Head of Department, Mathematics and Statistics; Dean of Science; and Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research).

Biography

Kally has worked many years as a biostatistician at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and Centre for Youth Mental Health at the University of Melbourne.

She is an accredited statistician, awarded by the Statistical Society of Australia in 2004. Her qualifications include a Master of Science degree in Statistics, Bachelor of Science degree with First Class Honours in Statistics and Computer Science. She received the Maurice Belz First Prize for Statistics while she was an undergraduate at the University of Melbourne.

Kally’s specialisation includes survival analysis, generalised linear models and relational database management system. She is experienced in statistical consulting, design of research studies, development of study protocol, statistical analyses of research data, design of database and protocol review for Research and Ethics Committees. She has been a co-author in more than 30 research publications, 14 of which as a senior author. She also has experience as an assessor for grant applications, as an instructor in statistics training courses and as a supervisor for research students.

At AMSI, Kally mainly works as a statistical consultant to the research team at Parks Victoria providing statistical advice on study designs and performing data analysis for Parks Victoria projects. Occasionally she assists in the review of AMSI Industry Internship applications and progress of interns.

Biography

Rod holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Melbourne and post-graduate accounting qualifications. Formerly with the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences at the University of Melbourne, his career has spanned work in Government, two major accounting firms and a major bank and has included consulting to the tertiary education sector. Rod joined AMSI as Business Manager in October 2011.

Biography

Mari is responsible for developing the marketing and communications strategies and communication plans for AMSI and its programs, including branding and e-communications, positioning, networking and outreach activities. Before joining AMSI, Mari held senior marketing positions at the UK Financial Times (UK) and the Victorian National Parks Association. Mari graduated in 1999 with a Bachelor of Business in Tourism and Hospitality from La Trobe University.

Biography

Chloe is responsible for the AMSI Research and Higher Education portfolio. Prior to joining AMSI, Chloe worked on international and domestic marketing and recruitment strategies to attract undergraduate and postgraduate students to the University of Melbourne. Chloe also has experience in policy and advocacy relating to equity in higher education and public health reform in the state of Victoria.

Biography

Angela is responsible for the successful planning and delivery of projects and events that form the national AMSI Research and Higher Education Program. She has held positions in the government, not-for-profit and hospitality industries. Prior to joining AMSI, Angela coordinated the annual national program of events for a medical membership-based organisation including event marketing and promotion, and sponsorship management.

Biography

Anna is responsible for the successful planning and delivery of projects and events that form the national AMSI Research and Higher Education Program. She has previously worked in a range of different industries such as the arts, philanthropy and travel, and worked on a number of prestigious events including Live Performance Australia’s Annual Helpmann Awards®, and TEDx St Kilda. Anna’s work experience spans marketing, sponsorship and events.

Biography

Francesca is responsible for providing administrative and project support to the Research and Higher Education team. Before joining AMSI in 2017, she worked as a library assistant and research assistant while completing her studies at The University of Melbourne.

Biography

Liam has been with AMSI since the beginning of 2014. His main responsibility is providing administrative support to the AMSI sponsored events run throughout the year. As well as posting to social media channels, updating content on the Research and Higher Education websites and maintaining the advertising mailing lists . Liam completed his BSc in Bioengineering Systems in 2014 and an Honours year in Biomechanics in 2015 at the University of Melbourne.

Biography

Janine Sprakel manages AMSI Schools. Janine leads a professional development and schools visit program for teachers across the country. Through clusters of schools supported by industry and government partners, Janine’s aim is to encourage more Australians to enjoy and study mathematics.

Janine is one of the authors of ICE-EM Mathematics, and has developed a suite of online and careers materials in her time at AMSI. Janine was one of the writers for the Australian Curriculum: Mathematics F – 10. She is an experienced primary teacher, who has worked as a lecturer in mathematics education at the University of Melbourne and serves on the Maths Challenge and AMOC Committees of the Australian Mathematics Trust.

Biography

Michael O’Connor is Schools Outreach Manager. This role involves the support of teachers in teaching mathematics, the development of Mathematics materials for use in schools and the collection and dissemination of information and advice on careers in Mathematics and Mathematics in careers. Michael has a Masters of Education (Studies) from Monash University. He is an experienced author of Mathematics texts, assessment items and dynamic geometry materials.

Michael was raised on a farm in country New South Wales. He fell in love with the smell of old books at the age of four and with science by the age of seven. As well as twenty-five years of mathematics teaching Michael has also worked as a station-hand and roustabout, a Sydney taxi driver, a cleaner and a pizza deliveryman. His taxi work serves him well in ferrying his children around to their many appointments and social engagements.

Biography

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” (Lao-tzu).

Jacinta is one of AMSI’s Schools Outreach Officers. Jacinta’s journey started with being ‘good at maths’ at school, then continued with maths being one of her favourite subjects to teach. She enjoys problem solving and puzzles and building and creating.

As maths educator she now shares this love of maths and teaching mathematics with others. Jacinta has been a primary school teacher for 20 years, holding various leadership positions including wellbeing, sport and of course mathematics. She holds a Masters in School Leadership (Numeracy) and is working on a Grad Cert in Educational Research. Jacinta believes maths should be fun, challenging and promote a sense of achievement. It’s the journey, not the destination that is important!

Biography

Susan was born and raised in England. She began her academic career at Cambridge University where she completed a Masters degree in Mathematics. Research then beckoned and, being sponsored by the UK’s largest pharmaceutical company, she obtained a MSc and PhD from Leicester University. Her field of research was Medical Statistics, looking specifically at the analysis of multiple end points in clinical trials. Susan then entered the world of education, hoping to instill some of her passion for the subject into the future generation. She spent ten years teaching Mathematics in an English boarding school before moving her family to the sunnier Australian climate. For the last fourteen years, Susan has continued to teach Mathematics to years 10 to 12 as well as being the Head of Senior Learning and having overall responsibility for the VCE curriculum in an independent school.

Susan is thrilled to be part of this exciting project and views it as a perfect amalgamation of all her academic passions. When she’s not working Susan likes reading, spending time with her family and watching episodes of Friends.

Biography

After 30 + years teaching across all year levels, Helen has joined AMSI as a Schools Outreach Project Officer. While Maths has always been her ‘best subject,’ her passion for mathematics education really began when she had the opportunity to work on the NT Numeracy Project with Diane Siemon from RMIT.  Moving from Darwin to Victoria in 2005, Helen’s interest and knowledge in the teaching of Maths, particularly at primary level, continued to grow, while working as a Teaching and Learning Coach with the Department of Education and Training. She found working with teachers to build their capacity, particularly in the teaching of Maths, to be extremely rewarding. Working as part of the ‘Choose Maths’ project, where improving participation and engagement in Maths, particularly among girls, are key, will enable Helen to continuing working with teachers and students to enhance their enjoyment of Mathematics.

Biography

Nadia joined the AMSI team as a Schools Outreach Officer in 2017. She began her career as a Quality Control and Research specialist after completing her Bachelor of Science with a major in Geophysics in 1997. Her passion for education drove her to complete a Graduate Diploma in Secondary Education, enabling her to work as a teacher of mathematics for 13 years. In this time, Nadia has held the positions of Numeracy Coordinator and Learning Culture leader with a particular focus on PAT-M and NAPLAN statistics. She has also spent time writing for Oxford University Press, developing assessment tasks for their range of mathematics textbooks.

Nadia’s passion for education has been driven by her own personal “struggle” in Mathematics during her time at school. Overcoming these difficulties and finding a true love for maths, she has made it her mission to assist students in developing effective strategies in order to combat their own challenges and find beauty, appreciation and success in mathematics.

Biography

Marcus Garrett is one of the Schools Outreach Officers for the Choose Maths project. This role involves working with the Schools Outreach Team in the support of teachers in teaching mathematics, the development of mathematics materials for use in schools and the collection and dissemination of information and advice on careers in mathematics and mathematics in careers. Marcus has a Bachelor of Economics with a Diploma of Education and a Graduate Certificate in Personnel Management. He has about 23 years experience in Education, including both primary and secondary (Economics, Business, Vocational and Financial Studies), curriculum consulting, teacher training and employment, education and training policy roles. Marcus grew up in Sydney and moved his family to the Upper Hunter Valley of NSW in 2001, where he and his partner raised their three kids. More recently, he and his family moved to Melbourne to take advantage of educational and employment opportunities and to be able to attend live AFL games more frequently than was the case in his home state. Marcus has also dabbled in amateur theatre, likes to read good books and, besides his human family, lives with two small dogs who are unashamedly spoiled rotten.

Biography

Anna is excited to have joined the AMSI team as a Schools Outreach Officer. She has worked in education for over 30 years.  In that time Anna has held various roles both in primary schools, as a classroom teacher and mathematics leader, and within Catholic Education Melbourne, as a Mathematics Resource Officer, Teaching and Learning Coach (Numeracy), School Adviser (Mathematics) and Learning Consultant (Mathematics).

In the past 10 years the focus of Anna’s work has been on school improvement in mathematics learning and teaching within the primary school sector. Anna has completed a Master of Education from Melbourne University and a Postgraduate Certificate in Mathematics Leadership from Monash University.

Anna is a passionate educator who loves the mathematics curriculum and leading change in this area by influencing teacher knowledge and practice in order to improve student learning outcomes. She is enthusiastic about providing access to mathematics learning for all students, with a focus on students being thinkers, challenged and striving to be the best that they can be.

Biography

Cassandra joined the AMSI Choose Maths team in July 2017. Her journey to become a mathematics educator began soon after secondary school, where she completed a Bachelor’s degree in mathematics, specialising in statistics. Many years of being told by others that they “hated maths at school” would lead her to complete a teaching degree at the University of Melbourne, in the hope to shift students’ attitudes towards her beloved subject. In 2012, with a renewed focus on leadership, she returned to the University of Melbourne to complete a Master of Education in which she focused on mathematics education.

Cassandra has worked across the Government and Catholic sectors in various primary schools in the western suburbs of Melbourne. Her most recent position was as F-3 Mathematics Leader at Lumen Christi Catholic Primary School in Point Cook. This role allowed her to strengthen her links with the Mathematical Association of Victoria (MAV) and eventually led her school to be recognised as a Maths Active School (MAS). This partnership also gave Cassandra the opportunity to present at the MAV Annual Conference and write an article for MAV’s newsletter, Common Denominator.

Cassandra is a passionate Carlton supporter who can often be found checking out the latest restaurants and bars that Melbourne has to offer. She has one son, currently completing Year 12, who is hoping to study economics at university next year.

Biography

Leanne has joined the AMSI Choose Maths team after some time with Catholic Education Melbourne as a School Advisor – Mathematics, and is very excited to extend her work with schools around Australia. She has a Bachelor of Science with majors in Biochemistry and Genetics and has developed a real interest in bioinformatics, which combines her love of Mathematics and Biology beautifully.

Over her 25 year teaching career, Leanne has worked at Independent, Government and Catholic schools, teaching mostly secondary Maths, Science and Biology, but also working with primary teachers to bring these subjects to life in the early years. A real career highlight for Leanne was her time with Museum Victoria doing everything from educational consulting on the Marine Exhibition through presenting Bugs Alive and Dinosaur education programs to running the planetarium and teaching astrophysics.

Leanne’s passion for girls’ education is embodied in her twin daughters who are both studying mathematics at a tertiary level. She is looking forward to having an Engineer to solve her problems and a Physiotherapist to iron out her knots.

Biography

Julia Collins is an Outreach Officer for the ChooseMaths program, with a particular focus on managing the ‘Women in Mathematics’ initiative. She will be establishing a community of role models and developing events to inspire young female Australians to continue with mathematical studies and careers.

Julia comes to AMSI from the University of Edinburgh, where for five years she was the Mathematics Engagement Officer, doing a combination of undergraduate lecturing and community outreach. She regularly gives public lectures about her favourite parts of maths and is especially keen to highlight the connections between maths and craft. In 2016 she helped create the world’s first ever Maths Craft Festival, which took place in Auckland and featured eight craft creation stations as well as a series of lectures.

Graduating with an MMath in 2006 and a PhD in Knot Theory in 2011, Julia is passionate about communicating the beauty and wonder of mathematics. She is often accompanied by her trusty sheep Haggis (on Twitter as @haggismaths), and in her spare time will either be found knitting in a café or hiking in the hills.

Biography

Dr Ning Li is Gender Researcher for the CHOOSEMATHS project. With an extensive experience in statistical methodology and practice, she has been engaged in high quality research in the areas of Biostatistics, public health, economics, and education. Her research interest has been in the promotion of appropriate use of statistics to help understand real word problems. Her CHOOSEMATHS research “Gender Report: Participation, Performance, and Attitudes towards Mathematics” explores the gender disparities in mathematics education in Australia. Her recent development of a survey instrument that measures motivation behind the various choices in voluntary mathematics enrolments provides a tool for investigating questions such as why students keep or drop mathematics beyond Year 10 and why girls are severely underrepresented in advanced mathematics.

Biography

Gary joined the APR.Intern team in 2018 as Executive Director and is responsible for leading stakeholder engagement and corporate relations with government agencies, universities, peak bodies and industry partners.

A graduate of the Royal Military College, Duntroon, Gary spent more than 30 years in the Australian Defence Force – most notably as Director-General Scientific and Technical Analysis, and as Head of Military Intelligence, retiring with the rank of Brigadier-General. He spent two years on faculty at the US Industrial College of the Armed Forces, in Washington DC.

Gary has held executive and advisory positions at KPMG, RMIT, UNSW and the Victorian Government. He is currently an Enterprise Professor at the University of Melbourne. Gary holds a First Class Honours degree in History (UNSW), a Master of Strategic Studies (UNSW) and is fluent in Mandarin, Vietnamese and Bahasa Indonesia, having served ten years in diplomatic posts, variously in Port Moresby, Hanoi and Jakarta.

A member of the Order of Australia, Gary was also awarded the Conspicuous Service Cross for operations in the Middle East, as well as foreign government decorations from the USA (Legion of Merit) and the Republic of Indonesia (Grand Meritorious Military Order).

Gary is passionately committed to the APR.Intern Program’s ambition to transform the futures and career trajectories of many PhDs across Australia, not to mention the innovation dividends that will be delivered to the Program’s industry partners.

He is also confident that Essendon will be the team to beat in 2019!

Biography

Cate is the National Program Manager for APR.Intern and has been managing the program since 2011. Cate is responsible for the strategic direction and operational management of the APR.Intern program. Her role provides high-level leadership, strategic development and implementation for the expansion of the APR.Intern program, whilst driving the number of placements across our member universities.

It is her responsibility to drive new business partnerships, leverage funding opportunities and source strategic collaborative arrangements with both public and private enterprises and government.

Prior to her position at AMSI, Cate held a role at a tertiary education college in Sydney, where her efforts were focused both on developing further business and industry training.

Biography

Cate is the National Program Manager for APR.Intern and has been managing the program since 2011. Cate is responsible for the strategic direction and operational management of the APR.Intern program. Her role provides high-level leadership, strategic development and implementation for the expansion of the APR.Intern program, whilst driving the number of placements across our member universities.

It is her responsibility to drive new business partnerships, leverage funding opportunities and source strategic collaborative arrangements with both public and private enterprises and government.

Prior to her position at AMSI, Cate held a role at a tertiary education college in Sydney, where her efforts were focused both on developing further business and industry training.

Biography

Margo’s role is to manage the Support Team and the function to ensure the provision of quality internship administration, customer service and related reporting for the APR.Intern program.

Before joining AMSI, Margo worked in Human Resources at The University of Melbourne and held several corporate HR, career development and administration roles in Australia and the UK.