Mentors

Professor Jason Byrne

School of Geography, Planning & Spatial Sciences
University of Tasmania

Jason Byrne is Professor of Human Geography and Planning at the University of Tasmania. He researches urban greenspace, climate change adaptation, and environmental inequity, focusing on urban heat. An ARC Future Fellow, Jason has authored over 150 scholarly publications and is a named researcher on more than $20 million in grant funding. He sits on the editorial boards of Landscape and Urban Planning, Local Environment, Journal of Political Ecology, Australian Planner, and Urban Policy and Research. A Fellow of the Planning Institute of Australia (PIA), Jason has won PIA’s national award for cutting edge research and teaching, and overall award for planning excellence. He completed his PhD at the University of Southern California (2007), receiving a commendation for his research on parks and social inequality. He was previously a Senior Fellow at Johns Hopkins University’s Institute for Policy Studies (1999), researching environmental inequity, and before that worked as a planner, policy officer and environmental officer with the Western Australian government. Jason regularly appears in print media, radio and television, and is a featured expert for the Asia Pacific Network’s (APAC) cities series. He has 24 articles in The Conversation, discussing environmental planning issues. In his spare time, he loves gardening, surfing, and bushwalks. Jason has supervised numerous Honours, Masters and PhD students.

Professor Jago Dodson

Centre For Urban Research
RMIT University

Professor Jago Dodson has an extensive record of research into urban problems addressing a wide array of housing, transport, urban planning, urban policy, governance, infrastructure, energy, and spatial labour market questions, often with a suburban dimension. Jago's research record includes more than 140 publications and he has been awarded research funding from the ARC, AHURI, NHRA the iMove CRC, AURIN, and the European Union Horizon 2020 scheme. I has consulted to government and international agencies and is a regular media commentator on urban issues.  

Associate Professor Debra Flanders Cushing

Landscape Architecture
Queensland University of Technology

Debra Flanders Cushing is an Associate Professor in Landscape Architecture at QUT. Working in interdisciplinary teams, her research currently covers critical urban topics including green infrastructure, wayfinding, accessibility, heat and flood mitigation to explore ways to increase community engagement and experience. She specifically focuses on creating more inclusive communities in which all people can thrive, including intergenerational groups, children, and people experiencing disability.  

Professor Carl Grodach

Monash Art Design & Architecture
Monash University

Carl Grodach is Foundation Professor of Urban Planning and Design at Monash University. His research focuses on economic development and land use planning in relation to urban manufacturing and industrial lands, cultural industries, and circular economies. His books include Urban Revitalization: Remaking Cities in a Changing World (Routledge) and The Politics of Urban Cultural Policy: Global Perspectives (Routledge). He was the inaugural Director of Monash Urban Planning and Design from 2017-2022 and is currently co-Editor-in-Chief of the journal City, Culture, and Society (Elsevier).

Dr Hayley Henderson 

Master of Public Policy and Master of Public Administration
Crawford School of Public Policy 

Dr Hayley Henderson is Senior Lecturer at the Crawford School of Public Policy and teaches urban policy in the Master of Public Policy and Master of Public Administration. The urban policy elective, Public Policy in Cities, focuses on principles and methods for analysing and addressing problems in cities related to equitable and sustainable development. Hayley is passionate about working with partners in practice to develop equitable and resilient cities. Hayley is Senior Researcher within the Institute for Infrastructure in Society (I2), where she works with colleagues on the social dimensions of urban policymaking and delivery. Specifically, her research is related to the social benefits and risks of urban policies and projects, as well as the institutional and governance settings that enables collaboration between stakeholders in urban governance. Hayley’s research is primarily focused urban revitalisation and waterway catchment planning in Australian and Argentine cities, though she also conducts comparative studies that involve other South American, European and North American cities. She is co-founder of Superdiversity Research Australia and recipient of the 2023 Peter Harrison Memorial Prize for Urban Planning. She is Director, Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access of the Crawford School of Public Policy. 

Associate Professor Crystal Legacy

Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning
The University of Melbourne

Crystal Legacy is Associate Professor of Urban Planning at the University of Melbourne, Australia where she is also the Co-Director of the Informal Urbanism Research Hub. She resides on Wurundjeri Country where she writes, teaches and works with communities on issues related to urban transport politics, public participation and the post-political city. She publishes in a range of academic journals, provides critical commentary for local and national media outlets, and works in solidarity with a range of community-based groups seeking climate just outcomes in transport planning. Crystal is an Editor of the journal Planning Theory and Practice and is the co-Chair of the Australasian Cities Research Network.

Dr Mark Limb

Queensland University of Technology

Mark is a qualified urban planner with more than a decade of experience in strategic and statutory land use planning, and a full member of the Planning Institute of Australia. His doctoral research evaluated the implementation of two decades of compact city policy in greater Brisbane. Mark currently coordinates and lectures undergraduate units in Planning and Design Practice, Urban Planning Practice, and Stakeholder Engagement. His ongoing research interests include policy evaluation, infill development, land use planning, and active transportation.

Dr Natalie Osborne

School of Engineering and Built Environment
Griffith University

Dr Natalie Osborne is an environmental planner and urban geographer and a white settler living on unceded Jagera and Turrbal Country. She is interested in social, spatial, and climate justice, resisting alt-right, eco-fascist, & neo-colonial responses to social and environmental crises, and working towards collective liberation. She is a co-producer of Radio Reversal, a critical theory and politics program broadcast on 4ZZZ 102.1FM, and an organiser with the Brisbane Free University.

Dr Annah Piggott-McKellar

School of Architecture and Built Environment  
Queensland University of Technology

Dr Annah Piggott-McKellar is a DECRA Research Fellow at Queensland University of Technology (QUT), specialising in the social dimensions of planned relocation as a response to climate change. Her research focuses on how communities experience and engage with relocation processes, particularly in the Pacific and Australia. Over the last seven years Annah has undertaken research in Fiji and Australia where communities have relocated with government assistance, resisted relocation, or relocated independently. Her work explores the lived experiences of those affected by relocation, examining local-decision makings, governance, trade-offs, and long-term outcomes. She is particularly interested in how place attachment, livelihoods, mobility, and well-being interact with adaptation pathways. Annah is currently working on two Australian Government funded research projects looking to inform more inclusive, just, and context-responsive relocation policies and programs across Fiji, Australia, and Alaska (USA). 

Dr Sara Rashidian

Queensland Building And Construction Commission
Queensland University of Technology

Dr Sara Rashidian’s research serves to enhance stakeholder collaboration in construction projects, demonstrating the value of Lean Construction, Integrated Project Delivery (IPD), BIM, and Construction 4.0. Sara developed the Integrated BIM-IPD-Lean Construction framework to enhance stakeholder collaboration knowing it is vital for project success. This framework has been expanded into a Maturity Model enabling an organisation to assess its capability in implementing the Integrated BIM-IPD-Lean approach. Her internationally published research highlights how Lean Construction, IPD, BIM, and Construction 4.0 enhance project communication processes, transparency, and build trust among the project stakeholders of clients, contractors, and design teams. 

Sara’s key role in a collaborative project with Building 4.0 CRC, the Australian Building Codes Board, and the Victorian Building Authority developed recommendations to update the National Construction Code and statutory regulations to establish consistent building approval pathways for Offsite Construction. This project “Regulatory Reform for Offsite Construction” serves to accelerate the adoption of the innovative method of offsite construction in Australia and strengthen stakeholder confidence. 

Dr Rashidian’s multidisciplinary expertise in architecture and construction management, combined with her deep insights of working with diverse stakeholders at each stage of the construction project, enables her to develop and implement strategies that address stakeholder needs, ensuring seamless collaboration and successful project outcomes.”

Professor Kristian Ruming

Centre for Housing and Urban Research
Macquarie University

Kristian Ruming is a Professor and Australian Research Council Future Fellow. He is Director of the Macquarie University Housing and Urban Research Centre. He is an urban and economic geographer with research interests centring on issues of urban governance, housing and planning.