• A Charles Sturt University PhD candidate has received international recognition with the recent award of two significant prizes
• The prizes include a Google PhD Fellowship and a prize in the international Spatial Thinking Student Competition
• Google PhD Fellowship students are a select group recognised by Google researchers and their institutions as some of the most promising young academics in the world

The practical value of research by a Charles Sturt University PhD candidate has been acknowledged by the recent award of two significant international prizes.

Ms Krystal Dacey (pictured) a PhD candidate in the Charles Sturt School of Agricultural, Environmental and Veterinary Sciences is researching the relationship between human navigation behaviour and the terrain to develop a spatial model that explores humans’ interaction with the environment.

Her PhD research thesis is titled ‘Navigation and the environment: Understanding the interaction between human navigation behaviour and terrain through agent-based modelling in the Australian wilderness’. It expands on her Honours project.

Ms Dacey was awarded a Google PhD Fellowship, officially announced on Saturday 14 October.

Her fellowship (in the Machine Learning category) is one of only five awarded in Australia from the 67 Google fellowships awarded worldwide in 2023.

Google PhD Fellowship students are a select group recognised by Google researchers and their institutions as some of the most promising young academics in the world.

Ms Dacey said she feels very honoured that the researchers at Google can see the value of her research.

“I am so passionate about my project, and it is very validating when others can see the possibilities of my research in the future,” she said.

“I am really looking forward to working with my Google mentor as part of the program and I hope to run many of my ideas past them to get their perspective.”

Ms Dacey was also a recent winner in the Spatial Thinking Category of the International Statistical Institute (ISI) and ESRI Spatial Thinking Contest.

The Spatial Thinking Student Competition is sponsored by the International Statistical Institute and Esri to promote the convergence of research, spatial thinking and curiosity.

The competition promotes cutting-edge research in statistical and geospatial data integration. It fuels exploration and leverages the power of geographic information system (GIS) technology for statistical analysis.

The competition aims to inspire curiosity with a platform that unlocks insights through spatial analytics, visualisation, and sharing.

Students are encouraged to apply their spatial thinking abilities as the event fosters the development of geospatial methods and analysis in university statistics programs.

Ms Dacey is also working with South Australia Police and the Australian Federal Police (AFP), which see the practical value of her research.

“Both police forces are very supportive of my work and are actively assisting me to validate my model,” Ms Dacey said.

“After successful validation, I will look to test the model in real-life situations by initially looking at cold cases and longer-term lost-person incidents.”

Ms Dacey’s PhD is supervised by Associate Dean (Academic) in the Charles Sturt Faculty of Science and Health Associate Professor Rachel Whitsed and Dr Prue Gonzalez, Sub-Dean, Learning and Teaching.

Professor Whitsed said Ms Dacey’s research has very practical applications and is deservedly capturing the attention of research colleagues, search and rescue professionals and the media.

“Research on geospatial models of how people move about in the wilderness – including navigation, wayfinding, and search and rescue – is an emerging application of spatial modelling, and Krystal finds herself at the forefront of research in this area,” she said.

“These awards recognise the global value of her work, and in particular the Google Fellowship will pair her with a mentor to help with model development. We are very excited by the potential and expertise that pairing with Google will bring to the project.”