Committee
Dr Sophia Aharonovich
Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Archaeology of Ancient Israel
Sophia Aharonovich received her BSc in Biochemical Engineering in 2010 from Technion, Israel Institute of Technology. She then completed her MA at the University of Haifa, Israel, using pollen grains and phytoliths as proxy data for environmental reconstructions in the Middle Palaeolithic period. During her candidature, Sophia was involved in over 25 excavations in Israel, dealing with environmental and anthropogenic aspects of archaeological material from the Middle Palaeolithic to the time of the Crusaders. Sophia then came to Macquarie University to undertake her PhD on global palaeoenvironmental reconstructions based on geological biomarkers during the Miocene Period (23–5 million years ago), which she completed in 2019.
Since 2019, Sophia has worked as a scientific archaeologist for the Khirbet el-Rai excavation project run by Macquarie University's Ancient Israel Program in partnership with The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Israel Antiquities Authority. With the financial support of the Wakil family, Sophia developed a unique onsite laboratory for Macquarie University students to work on the analysis of organic residue, pollen, and phytoliths from the Iron Age site.
In 2020, Sophia took up a three-year Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in the Archaeology of Ancient Israel in the Department of History and Archaeology and the Centre of Ancient Cultural Heritage and Environment at Macquarie University, financially supported by the Education Heritage Foundation and by Sir Asher Joel Foundation from 2021.
Dr Kate Churruca
Dr Kate Churruca, PhD is a Research Fellow at the Australian Institute of Health Innovation in the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences. She completed her PhD in 2016 at Western Sydney University; her thesis drew upon feminist and poststructural theories to explore women’s experiences of bulimia. Since starting at Macquarie University, Kate has become an experienced health services researcher. Her research projects span hospital, general practice and residential aged care and utilise complexity science to understand and improve healthcare delivery.
Kate is the recipient of a National Health and Medical Research Council Investigator Grant (2022-2026) on understanding and improving safety culture in residential aged care facilities. She has published 66 peer-reviewed journal articles and supervised six HDR students to completion.
Dr Cynthia Isley
Dr Cynthia Isley works with Macquarie University’s DustSafe program, helping people across Australia understand the contaminants in their home and how to make their home environment a healthier place to live. Cynthia’s work has also included environmental studies across the Pacific Islands, researching air quality, health impacts, dust, soil and bees.
Dr Mahdi Vesal
Dr Mahdi Vesal is an associate lecturer in Marketing at Macquarie University. Mahdi's research interests include B2B marketing strategy, supply chains, and environmental sustainability. His research attempts to provide new insights into how manufacturers can leverage their supply chain partners' resources to achieve greater innovation and operate in a more environmentally sustainable manner.
Dr Matt Withers
Matt Withers is a research fellow within the Discipline of Sociology at Macquarie University. His research addresses the developmental implications of temporary labour migration and remittances throughout the Indo-Pacific region, with an emphasis on South Asia and Pacific Island Countries. His current project examines how temporary labour migration interfaces with the work and care arrangements of transnational migrant households, using the concepts of 'decent wages' and 'decent care' to frame the need for improved labour governance and gender-equitable policymaking in support of sustainable development outcomes. He is the author of Sri Lanka’s Remittance Economy: A Multiscalar Analysis of Migration-Underdevelopment.
Dr Colin Zhang
Dr Colin (Jinhui) Zhang is a Lecturer in Department of Actuarial studies and Business Analytics. He has years of experience in delivering lectures for a broad range of Actuarial and Applied Finance units. Dr. Zhang holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Actuarial Studies), a Bachelor of Commerce (First class Honours in Actuarial studies) as well as a Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Applied Finance and Actuarial Studies) from Macquarie University. His research area includes, life cycle model, optimal control, financial strategy and derivative pricing.
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The 2021 ECR Showcase is supported by the ECR Network Team, including Ms Emily Brennan, Project Manager, Researcher Development and Research Performance and Dr Megan Brewer, ECR Network Coordinator.
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Macquarie University is located on the land of the Wallumattagal clan of the Dharug people. We pay respects to the Elders and knowledge holders who have, and continue to share their wisdom and knowledges, nurturing and sustaining our environments, cultures and education.
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