Kirsten Martinus is an Associate Professor at the School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia. Prior to becoming an academic, she worked as an economic development consultant and Japanese/English interpreter while residing in Australia, USA, Indonesia and Japan.

Her work is interdisciplinary, balancing fundamental research with applied outputs to inform economic development strategic policy and decision making across government. Kirsten’s work examines the (re)distribution of resources (mining, energy, innovation, labour, wealth) across regions, and the socio-economic factors increasing regional competitiveness (productivity/innovation) and mitigating uneven development.

Kirsten has won several large competitive grants for her research including an Australian Research Council Discovery Project and early career fellowship (DECRA). She is a board member for the Australian Academy of Sciences National Committee for Geographical Sciences and Institute of Australian Geographers, and on the editorial boards of Geographical Research, Applied Geography and Global Networks.

Professor Amanda Davies is a social scientist with expertise in demography, population geography, and rural and regional development. Her research focuses on examining population growth, distribution, and patterns of demographic change, particularly in response to economic, social, or climatic challenges.

As an applied researcher, Amanda works closely with industry and government to deliver timely and relevant information that informs policy. She is one of Australia's leading public commentators on population and demographic issues. Amanda’s work has been particularly influential in raising awareness about Australia’s declining fertility rate and shaping public policy responses. Through her partnerships with government and industry, Amanda explores the application of emerging and innovative social science methods, with a focus on linking datasets to enable longitudinal or comparative spatial analyses.

Sharon Biermann is Professor and Director of the Planning and Transport Research Centre (PATREC), hosted at The University of Western Australia. PATREC is a collaboration between three Western Australian universities and three government departments as well as the Local Government Association. She is responsible for delivering on the PATREC mandate, to conduct collaborative, applied research and teaching in support of policy in the connected spaces of transport and land use planning. Her role includes leading and conducting research projects in the areas of integrated land use and transport futures; smarter personal travel decisions; integrated freight system optimisation; emerging technology; network optimisation and intelligence and transport infrastructure investment risk management.

She has recently established a new program of research in relation to climate action in land use and transport planning. With a PhD in Geography, her specific areas of expertise include: scientific research leadership and management of integrated planning and infrastructure programs, Planning Support Systems and integrated land use and infrastructure planning and modelling.

Bryan Boruff is an environmental geographer and Associate Professor in the UWA School of Agriculture and Environment, the University of Western Australia (UWA). He has expertise in the application of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS) technologies to a range of environment management issues.

Over the past decade, Dr Boruff’s collaborations have include research on physical activity and health outcomes, urban vegetation measurement and monitoring, information and communications technology for development, sustainable livelihoods, and renewable energy and agricultural production. These collaborations have resulted in significant contributions to the use of GIS and RS in the fields of population health, planning, international development, and environmental science as well as through the promotion of Geography across a range of multidisciplinary projects.  

Anu Rammohan is a Professor of Economics, and Director of International Engagement (Business School) at The University of Western Australia. She is also the Senior Research Fellow at UWA for the Australia Indonesia Centre’s Partnership for Australia Indonesia Research’s (PAIR) program. She led the UWA Australia India Institute from 2018-2022. She is on the Steering panel of the ARCH-India (Australia Research Collaboration-India) and in this capacity has served on selection panels for Australia-India research collaboration grants supported by the Department of Education. Anu currently serves as a member of the Australian Research Council's College of Experts, which oversees Australia’s largest competitive national research grants program. She was previously on the Editorial Board of Economic Record.

Her research is in Development Economics, Health Economics and Agriculture Economics. The focus of her research has been on understanding household vulnerability and socio-economic factors that can influence education differences, maternal and child health outcomes, gender discrimination and food security issues in South and South-East Asia. As such, her research is multidisciplinary and brings an economics lens to research in Public Health, Agriculture and Geography. She has received research funding of over $9 million through competitive research grants from the Australian Research Council, DFAT, Australian Council of International Agriculture Research, Department of Health (WA), and the Australia India Institute. Her research has been presented at numerous invited research seminars and conferences, both nationally and internationally.

Associate Professor Thomas Sigler (Deputy Head, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at The University of Queensland) is an urban and economic geographer with a longstanding interest in how globalisation shapes cities and regions. His projects focus on the impacts of international firm activity on urban form and structure, in addition to how corporate activities connect disparate places through networks of knowledge.

His collaboration with Associate Professor Kirsten Martinus and Professor Matthew Tonts has spanned more than a decade, leading to several Perth-related projects and studies. His current work focuses primarily on the impacts of Airbnb and other short-term rental platforms on Australian cities.  He has published more than 100 scientific papers, and serves on the editorial boards of four international journals.

Doctor Bingjie Song is a human geographer in the School of Social Sciences at the University of Western Australia. Her research focuses on regional and rural development in China and Australia, with particular attention to socio-economic transitions in agriculture and mining. She examines how farmers, workforces, governments, and industry actors respond to changes driven by market reforms, decarbonisation, and rural demographic shifts, using applied social science and mixed methods.

Beyond academia, her research engages directly with stakeholders and informs practice. She has led an industry-funded project in the Bowen Basin, developed in partnership with mining industry partners, local communities, and regional NGOs, examining how technological change reshapes job structures and skill demands in mining. She also collaborates on policy-relevant research in China, including a Ministry of Education–funded project on agricultural ecological efficiency and sustainability in the Yellow River Basin, building on her expertise in multifunctional agriculture. She welcomes collaborative research with academic, industry, and policy partners.

Anna Costello is a full time staff member of the Future Regions Lab in the School of Social Sciences. She has a Master’s of Urban Design, with a specialisation in Environmental Planning, and a bachelor’s degree of Landscape Architecture, from UWA.

She has developed a number of key research interests throughout her educational experiences, resulting in a passionate understanding of Ecological Urbanism, Biodiversity Sensitive Urban Design, Water Sensitive Urban Design and the enhancement of water-dependent ecosystems, and equality in urban planning, particularly in the delivery of social and affordable housing.

She is enthusiastic to broaden her knowledge of planning to include the challenges and opportunities faced beyond that of the urban realm, and aspires toward a future in which she will help to shape the future of Western Australia. 

Amy Buehrig is a Research Assistant at the Future Regions Lab in the School of Social Sciences, focusing on the WAterways Program.

She is currently a Bachelor of Arts student at the University of Western Australia, majoring in English & Literary Studies and Law & Society with a minor in Creative Writing Studies. She is enjoying the diverse nature of her degree, and hopes to deepen her knowledge of the Humanities and the Social Sciences, and the connections between them, as she continues her studies. She is looking to do further study after completing her bachelor’s, either through research or undertaking the Juris Doctor

Devy Dhian Cahyati is a PhD student at the School of Social Sciences, UWA. She holds a scholarship from the Australian Government’s Research Training Program (RTP), and is a lecturer in the Department of Politics and Government, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia. Alongside her teaching responsibilities, she has conducted research in areas such as gender politics, natural resource governance, and local politics.

Currently, her doctoral research focuses on gender relations and social reproduction in everyday cassava production. This study explores women's involvement in cassava production and investigates how they navigate and challenge gender gaps in their daily practices. By examining these dynamics, her research aims to contribute to promoting gender equality in agricultural production, particularly by advocating for more inclusive and equitable practices for women in the cassava sector.

Stiffan Djami is currently undertaking a PhD degree at the School of Social Sciences at The University of Western Australia. He is a distinguished recipient of the Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education, commonly known as the LPDP Scholarship, awarded by the Ministry of Finance of Indonesia. Prior to his doctoral studies, he secured the same scholarship to pursue a Master of International Trade and Development at the University of Adelaide during the academic year of 2016-2017.

Stiffan is a diplomat and foreign service officer at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia. He embarked on his career in the world of diplomacy in 2014 and was once posted to the Indonesian Embassy to the Slovak Republic in Bratislava in 2020-2023. Prior to joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he has worked in TV, radio, and banking.

Stiffan’s current research endeavours are focused on critical and current debates on the complex dynamics of environmental sustainability and global trade. His research emphasizes on how a country’s sustainability frameworks influence the trade performance of other countries, including global value chains, market access, and export competitiveness. His research also explores how such framework affects developing countries’ participation in the multilateral trading system. In this context, the nexus of the European Union's Renewable Energy Directive and Indonesian palm oil is taken as a case study. Stiffan contends that this study is of paramount importance, which can contribute to the ongoing debate on how to balance trade and sustainability.

Anita Herlina is a PhD student at the School of Social Sciences of The University of Western Australia. She received a scholarship from the Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education, Ministry of Finance of Indonesia.

Anita has 20 years experience in Indonesian immigration and policy, as a lecturer and immigration officer in Indonesia. She has researched various areas of migration such as Indonesia-Australia immigration cooperation, Indonesia's migrant workers, refugees, transnational crimes particularly how immigration policy affects human security.

Anita is currently exploring how effectively the Indonesian border management policy addresses comprehensive non-traditional security threats such as irregular migration, human trafficking, people smuggling, infectious disease, and climate change. She aims to understand best practice for Indonesian immigration policy in protecting sustainable national security, human security, and economic growth and increasing regional and international cooperation with the state and non-state actors of migration areas. She is also a mentor for "PhD Mama Indonesia", a voluntary social community for mothers wanting to pursue a PhD. In this role, she supports mentee scholarship applications, such as reviewing research proposals, advising on test preparation and interview techniques.

Randi Kurniawan is a PhD student in the School of Social Sciences at The University of Western Australia. He is also a lecturer at the Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Hasanuddin, Indonesia, and researcher at Local Governance Celebes, a research institution focusing on regional development issues, particularly in eastern Indonesia. He is a recipient of an HDR Scholarship and University Postgraduate Award from The University of Western Australia.

Prior to commencing his doctoral studies, Randi gained extensive experience in teaching, research, training, and local development planning consulting in Indonesia. He has been actively involved in a range of government-related projects at both national and sub-national levels, covering areas such as local development planning, poverty alleviation strategies, economic development masterplan, regional competitiveness, energy transition, and blue economy development. His work has frequently involved collaboration with local and central governments, as well as research institutions, to develop evidence-based development strategies and strengthen regional planning capacity in Indonesia.

His doctoral research examines the causal effects of internet connectivity and digital infrastructure on employment outcomes, business performance, and regional development in Indonesia. Using large-scale microdata, spatial econometrics, network analysis, and causal inference methods, his research explores how digital connectivity shapes employment opportunities, firm performance, and broader regional development outcomes. Through this research, he aims to contribute to policy discussions on how digital technology affects economic and regional development in emerging economies.

Sandry Putro is a PhD student at the School of Social Science at The University of Western Australia. He is a awardee of the Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education (LPDP) Scholarship from the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Indonesia.

Prior to commencing his doctoral studies, Sandry built over a decade of experience in regional development planning and public policy in Indonesia. His professional background includes strategic planning, investment policy, and regional economic development at the sub-national level, where he worked closely with local governments on development strategy and institutional strengthening.

His current research examines how green investment and regional policy shape uneven development outcomes across regions. Drawing on spatial analysis and institutional perspectives, his work explores how investment, human capital, and governance interact to influence balanced and inclusive regional development. Through this research, he aims to contribute to policy debates on sustainable development, regional resilience, and more equitable growth pathways in decentralised contexts.

Bayley Sassella is a PhD student in the School of Social Sciences at the University of Western Australia, where she is the recipient of the Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) scholarship. She is supervised by Professor Kirsten Martinus and Dr Ari Jerrems.

In 2024, she completed a Bachelor of Arts with majors in Political Science and International Relations and Philosophy from the University of Western Australia. In 2025, she received her First-Class Honours with research involving the examination of how borders are understood through the Polyphagous Shot-Hole Borer invasion in Perth.

Bayley’s research interests lie in security and border studies that involve environmental governance in the state of Western Australia. Her PhD investigates the socio-political dimensions of biosecurity through the lens of Critical Security Studies, with a focus on knowledge production, expertise and invasive species governance. Her research aims to generate insights that contribute to more transparent and accountable approaches within environmental governance. 

Demokrat Xhori is a PhD student at the School of Social Sciences and is supervised by Professor Kirsten Martinus and Professor Amanda Davies. His doctoral research is funded by a scholarship from the Medical Research Future Fund and The University of Western Australia.

Demokrat holds a Bachelor’s degree in Governance and Public Policy from the University of Passau and a Master’s degree in Political Science from the University of Bonn, Germany. His academic research encompasses a diverse range of areas, including international relations, security policy, globalisation, inter-ethnic relations, and communication. He has acquired professional experience in policy consulting, project management, and journalism. Additionally, he has completed internships and training programs in, among others, the Parliament of Berlin, the German Federal Ministry of Research, the German International Development Agency, and the Institute of Strategic Studies and Training (Federation of European Education).

Demokrat’s doctoral research focuses on issues related to crisis communication during the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia and in Europe. Within this framework, his research explores how political views and values are related to public attitudes towards health policies and the communication around those policies, as well as the broader implications for crisis governance and political science theories.