Experts

Charles Sturt University has a range of experts who can provide media commentary within their areas of expertise. Journalists are welcome to contact staff directly. If you need help finding an expert, contact the University's Media Team.

Find an Expert

Right Reverend Professor Stephen Pickard profile

Right Reverend Professor Stephen Pickard

SPECIALTY TOPICS: Theology, Christianity and culture, Religious traditions

Stephen is the Executive Director for the Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture, a Professor of Theology at Charles Sturt University, and an Assistant Bishop in the Anglican Diocese of Canberra-Goulburn.

Throughout his career he has held a host of senior positions in the Anglican Church in Australia and internationally; served as the Head of the Charles Sturt School of Theology; a Visiting Fellow at Ripon Theological College, Oxford, and Acting CEO Anglicare Canberra & Goulburn.

Stephen is widely-published in the field of theology and Christianity. His most recent books include: Seeking the Church: An introduction to Ecclesiology (2012) and In-Between God: Theology, Community and Discipleship (2011).

Professor Lee Baumgartner profile

Professor Lee Baumgartner

SPECIALTY TOPICS: Freshwater fisheries, Fish passage and migration, Aquatic ecosystems, Riverine ecology

Lee is a freshwater fish ecologist who designs, supervises and undertakes research and advises on various aspects of the biology and ecology of freshwater fish and river management issues.

He has more than 20 years of research and consulting expertise on fish passage, fish migration, fish kills, flow ecology, invasive species, re-stocking and reducing the impact of human disturbance on aquatic ecosystems.

More recently, Lee has been actively involved in research activities pertaining to sustainable irrigation and hydropower, and has expanded his activities to the lower Mekong Basin, Europe and South Africa.

Dr Dale Nimmo profile

Dr Dale Nimmo

SPECIALTY TOPICS: Wildlife ecology, Fire ecology, Conservation biology

Dale is an animal ecologist with broad interests in how 'big' disturbances – things like fire, drought, and land clearing – influence biodiversity.

He joined Charles Sturt University in 2015 as lecturer in Ecology, and soon after took up an ARC DECRA fellowship. Dale has published more than 90 peer reviewed publications.

More recently, Dale has been working as a member of an expert government panel charged with canvassing strategies for wildlife and habitat recovery after the 2019-2020 bushfires.

Dr Geoff Currie, AM profile

Dr Geoff Currie, AM

SPECIALTY TOPICS: Nuclear Medicine, Diagnostic imaging, Molecular imaging, Radiopharmacy, Pharmacology and Pharmacokinetics, Artificial intelligence with neural networks, Machine Learning

Geoff has broad research and teaching interests across the medical radiation sciences and in health generally, and has published more than 150 peer reviewed journal papers, edited five books and received 11 research excellence awards.

He holds a BPharm, MMedRadSc(NucMed), MAppMngt(Hlth), MBA, and PhD.

Geoff is the International Consulting Editor of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology and is the co-founder of the Rural Alliance in Nuclear Scintigraphy. In January 2020, he was conferred a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for his contribution to nuclear medicine and medical radiation science.

Professor Michael Friend profile

Professor Michael Friend

SPECIALTY TOPICS: Animal nutrition, Sheep production, Farming systems

Michael completed a BSc (Hons - Wool and Pastoral Science) at University of NSW (UNSW), before undertaking a PhD in ruminant nutrition at UNSW.

Michael was appointed as Centre Director at the Graham Centre for Agricultural Innovation in 2015.

Although Michael's training is in ruminant nutrition, he has been actively involved in research projects ranging from nutrition, both ruminant and monogastric, to farming systems research.

Dr Sabine Wardle profile

Dr Sabine Wardle

SPECIALTY TOPICS: Palliative Care, Aged Care, Ageing and Spirituality, Culturally and Linguistically Diverse communities, Rural Ageing

Dr Sabine Wardle is a senior lecturer in social work at Charles Sturt University. She began working in aged care and has maintained her practice and research interest in aged care, palliative care and grief and loss. Sabine grew up knowing various cultures and religions. She has maintained an interest in spirituality and religious aspects of the culturally and linguistically diverse population within an Australian context. Sabine’s PhD concerned lived experiences of older adults with palliative care from burgeoning CALD groups in rural NSW.

Besides multiple publications in palliative and end-of-life care, Sabine co-facilitates and provides consultation to palliative care social workers undertaking research, through Palliative Care Social Work Australia (PCSWA). Sabine is Member Secretary and Social Work consultant for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse communities with the National Alliance of Social Workers-Palliative Care Social Work Australia (PCSWA).

Professor Sharynne McLeod profile

Professor Sharynne McLeod

SPECIALTY TOPICS: Speech-language pathology, Speech acquisition, Speech sound disorders, Multilingual children's speech

Sharynne is a Professor of Speech and Language Acquisition whose research focuses on monolingual and multilingual children's speech.

She has received a number of national and international accolades for her work, and in 2019 was revealed by Google Scholar as the world’s most cited expert in the field of audiology, speech and language pathology.

Sharynne is a chairperson and professional member of a number of international organisations in the field of speech-language pathology, and is also on the editorial board of a number of academic journals in this discipline.

Associate Professor Dominic O'Sullivan profile

Associate Professor Dominic O'Sullivan

SPECIALTY TOPICS: Political Science, Self-Determination, New Zealand, Citizenship

Dominic came to Charles Sturt in 2008. He has over 50 refereed research publications including more than 30 refereed journal articles and book chapters and six books. He also has extensive political commentary experience for ABC Radio and has written for The Conversation, OpenForum, the New Zealand Herald, the Policy Space, Nursing Review and a number of other newspapers.

Dominic's work has had significant public policy influence.

Professor Lesley Forster  profile

Professor Lesley Forster

SPECIALTY TOPICS: Medicine, Rural and regional medicine, Indigenous medical education

Lesley is Charles Sturt’s inaugural Dean of Rural Medicine, and previously served as Associate Dean (Rural Health) and Head of the Rural Clinical School at the University of New South Wales.

She has a strong focus on Indigenous medical education, extensive experience in regional and rural medicine, and was announced as Member of the Order of Australia in June 2020 for her significant service to tertiary education, rural public health and medical administration.

Lesley was previously the Director of Medical Administration at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney, and established the NSW Trauma System and Retrieval Services and the Delineation of Roles in Hospitals.

Dr Belinda Cash profile

Dr Belinda Cash

SPECIALTY TOPICS: Mental health, Ageing, Social policy, Rural health and wellbeing, Informal caregiving

Belinda is a social worker passionate about understanding and addressing issues of social justice and inequality.

She completed her PhD in 2018 at La Trobe University, completing a multi method project that critically explored the impacts of policy, practice and wider sociological changes on the experiences of spousal caregivers in rural areas.

Belinda’s teaching and research areas span mental health, ageing, social policy, rural service provision and informal caregiving.

Associate Professor Maree Bernoth profile

Associate Professor Maree Bernoth

SPECIALTY TOPICS: Nursing, Ageing, Rural ageing, Elder abuse, Residential aged care

Maree is an academic in the School of Nursing Midwifery and Indigenous Health who specialises in ageing, nursing, and research.

She has been involved with the residential aged care sector as an academic and a Registered Nurse for nearly fifty years.

Maree has undertaken extensive research and practice development projects in the residential aged care sector, has led a number of research teams exploring rural ageing, mentoring nurses, and elder abuse, and is the author of numerous peer reviewed publications related to ageing and research.

Professor Mark Nolan profile

Professor Mark Nolan

SPECIALTY TOPICS: Legal psychology, Criminal law, Military discipline law, Human rights law, Citizenship law

Mark is an interdisciplinary legal scholar with qualifications in law, honours and doctoral training in social psychology, and a Master of Asian and Pacific Studies majoring in Thai language.

Before joining Charles Sturt as Director of the Centre for Law and Justice, he worked in teaching and administrative positions at the ANU College of Law for 18 years.

Mark is widely published on the subject of law and legal psychology, has a life membership with the National Judicial College of Australia, and is the Editor-in Chief of the journal Psychiatry, Psychology and Law.

Dr Robert Lewis profile

Dr Robert Lewis

SPECIALTY TOPICS: Voice and Movement Performance Training, Directing for theatre, Acting

Dr Robert Lewis is a Lecturer in Acting, and Course Director of Creative Industries.

Robert completed a BPA (UTAS), B Ed (RMIT) and Grad Dip Dramatic Art (Voice Studies) at NIDA, before completing his PhD on intercultural and physio-vocal performance training aesthetics at UTAS.

He is widely published on the subject of integrative practices and physiovocality, and his main areas of teaching at Charles Sturt University are voice, movement and acting for theatre.

Associate Professor David Smith profile

Associate Professor David Smith

SPECIALTY TOPICS: Education and teaching, Teacher education, Online learning, Online assessment, Learning design, Learning and education technologies

David is a learning technologist with a PhD in the field of eLearning from Newcastle University in Australia.

He has developed a broad expertise in education through his work in schools and universities, and in recent years has specialised in the fields of learning pedagogy and technology.

David has worked on the design, development and delivery of educational programs for education authorities in Australia and Europe, and continues to conduct extensive research into the effective implementation of eLearning strategies in the education sector.

Professor Megan Smith profile

Professor Megan Smith

SPECIALTY TOPICS: Physiotherapy, Healthcare delivery, Allied Health, Evidence based practice

Professor Megan Smith was appointed Executive Dean in January 2019 and Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Science in May 2018 following 4 years as Head of School of the School of Community Health and inaugural Director, Three Rivers UDRH in July 2017.

Originally graduating from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Applied Science (Physiotherapy) and practicing as a clinical physiotherapist, Megan joined the staff at Charles Sturt University in 1999.

Senior Lecturer Jock Cheetham profile

Senior Lecturer Jock Cheetham

SPECIALTY TOPICS: Journalism, News and media industry, Feature writing, Religious persecution in Indonesia, Moral psychology, Tribalism

Jock has been a journalist for nearly 30 years. He spent 13 years at Fairfax Media, six years in editorial and seven years as editorial training manager.

He has a master's degree in journalism and a research master's degree analysing religious persecution in Indonesia.

In 2017, he joined Charles Sturt as a Senior Lecturer in journalism, where he teaches video and online journalism, as well as practical newsroom subjects. ​

Dr Kristy Campion profile

Dr Kristy Campion

SPECIALTY TOPICS: Terrorism studies, Contemporary terrorism, History of terrorism, Right wing and left wing extremism and terrorism

Kristy is a terrorism expert and historian. Her research crosses the terrorism spectrum, with research spanning jihadist, nationalist, left wing, and right wing terrorism threats.

She lectures in terrorism studies, supervises Higher Degree by Research candidates, consults for specialist audiences and industry, and engages in media and public commentary.

Kristy’s recent research focuses heavily on the transnational and domestic connections of the Australian extreme right, in addition to extreme right belief systems, organisation, strategy, and gender.

Associate Professor Mehmet Ozalp profile

Associate Professor Mehmet Ozalp

SPECIALTY TOPICS: Contemporary issues facing Islam and Muslims, Islamic theology, Islamic history, Islamic culture

Mehmet is a public intellectual, theologian, author, academic and the founding director of the Charles Sturt University Centre for Islamic Studies and Civilisation.

Since 2000, Mehmet has worked in the interfaith and intercultural scene in Australia and has pioneered the design of Islamic courses in English within the Muslim Community.

He has contributed towards numerous courses on Islamic theology and history and contemporary issues around Islam, and in 2009 founded the organisation ISRA Australia, which provides research, information, and educational services on Islam.