Meet our researchers

Monash scientists are global research leaders at the forefront of innovation and discovery. Watch the videos below to learn about their work.

School of Biological Sciences

Professor Steven Chown FAA

Biologist Steven Chown explores life in the world’s most remote areas like Antarctica to understand more deeply how the world works and develop solutions to the problems we are causing.

Emeritus Professor Ros Gleadow FAA

Ros Gleadow explores how rising carbon dioxide emissions affect the nutritional value of food crops in developing countries.

Professor Dustin Marshall

Marine evolutionary ecologist Dustin Marshall is trying to understand how the size of fish effects their biological function, particularly in exploited populations where we are losing larger fish.

Professor Richard Reina

From studying the impact of climate change on sea turtles to measuring stress levels of sharks caught in fishing nets, biologist Richard Reina cares deeply about conservation.

Professor Anne Peters

Biologist Anne Peters has spent her career studying birds to answer questions about evolution and ecology. She studies the complex lives of Fairy Wrens to monitor their behaviour and discover whether certain traits are genetic or environmental.

Professor Bob Wong

Bob Wong gives 'Thanks to all the fish' as they help to provide the answers on how animals can adapt their reproductive behaviours to ensure their survival in an ever changing environment.

Professor John Bowman

Gain an insight to the exciting world of genetic biology with John Bowman in 'Seed without sex'.

School of Chemistry

Dr Karolina Matuszek

Karolina Matuszek's research has delivered major breakthroughs in thermal energy storage, including the discovery of a novel trimodal material that integrates multiple storage mechanisms to achieve exceptionally high energy capacity.

Professor Bayden Wood

Spectroscopist Bayden Wood is developing portable devices that use light to diagnose diseases such as malaria.

Dr Victoria Blair

Chemist Victoria Blair is looking at the behaviour of simple nitrogen-based molecules and the creation of metal-based drugs to combat diseases and antibacterial infections.

Professor Doug MacFarlane FAA FTSE

Doug MacFarlane is a world-leading expert in ionic liquids. He was recognised by the Australian Academy of Science in 2018 as the recipient of the David Craig Medal for chemistry.

Professor Andrea Robinson

Andrea Robinson loves designing and creating complex molecules with real world use. This includes a synthetic form of insulin that doesn’t require refrigeration - offering huge potential to diabetic patients in third world countries.

Associate Professor Michael Grace

From caffeine to anti-histamines, chemist Mike Grace looks at biologically active chemicals present in waterways, asking whether this is something we should be worried about.

School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment

Professor Hugh O'Neill FAA FRS

Hugh O’Neill is a widely recognised international leader in the field of experimental petrology and geochemistry with applications to the understanding of planetary processes.

Associate Professor Ailie Gallant

Ailie Gallant’s work has focused on trying to understand how bad Australian droughts can get using multiple lines of evidence, and by working to understand the underlying causes of precipitation variability and drought.

Professor Julie Arblaster

Julie Arblaster uses large climate models that run on super computers to understand how the climate around us interacts and changes from day to day and up to century time scales.

Professor Shayne McGregor

Climate Scientist Shayne McGregor is trying to understand why El Nino events are predictable and why this predictable lead time has changed in the recent past.

Professor Peter Cawood FAA

Geologist Peter Cawood has made major contributions to understanding the evolution of the continental crust over our planet’s 4.5 billion-year history.

Professor Andrew Tomkins

Through studying rocks from space as old 4.5 billion years, Geologist Andrew Tomkins is uncovering clues to the origins of our solar system.

Professor Peter Betts

See how a passion for rocks led Peter Betts, Earth Scientist, on a journey to discover 'Whatever lies beneath' to help us understand the bigger picture about the earth we live on.

Professor Christian Jakob

Capturing the clouds with Christian Jakob - an insight in to the fascinating world of weather prediction and the challenges surrounding climate change.

Associate Professor Jeff Stilwell

Palaeontologist Jeff Stilwell travels the length and breadth of the earth finding animal and plant fossils that shed light on earth’s history.

School of Mathematics

Dr Stephen Muirhead

Stephen Muirhead's work has resolved long-standing conjectures in the physics literature and opened new frontiers across percolation theory, stochastic geometry and random field theory.

Professor Jessica Purcell FAA

Jessica Purcell has an international reputation for her ground-breaking contribution to low-dimensional topology and geometry.

Professor Nick Wormald FAA

Nick Wormald is a world leader in the field of random graph theory, which combines advanced probability theory, combinatorics and theoretical computer science to produce deep insights into the nature of such large and complex networks.

Professor Heiko Dietrich

Mathematician Heiko Dietrich is pushing the boundaries of what we currently know about computational group theory - the mathematics of symmetry.

Professor Burkard Polster

Discover a world of magic and mathematics with Burkard Polster, who has been inspiring students to find the fun in maths and how maths applies to the world around us.

School of Physics and Astronomy

Dr Amelia Liu

Amelia Liu’s research addresses the central conundrum of the ‘glass problem’ with the development of new experimental tools to measure the structure of glass.

Professor Michael Fuhrer FAA

Michael Fuhrer is an experimental condensed matter physicist renowned for his work on the electronic properties of low-dimensional materials.

Professor Daniel Price

Astrophysicist Daniel Price is mapping the gas flow around stars which has been instrumental in the world first discovery of a baby planet.

Professor Meera Parish

Physicist Meera Parish is exploring the world of condensed matter physics and how quantum mechanics come into play in different phases of matter.

Professor Paul Lasky

Dr Paul Lasky has dedicated his career to furthering our understanding of the most exotic regions of the universe. His contributions to astrophysics was recognised by the Australian Academy of Science with a Pawsey Medal in 2018.

Associate Professor Kaye Morgan

Physicist Kaye Morgan uses ground-breaking x-ray imaging to investigate cystic fibrosis treatments.

Professor John Lattanzio

Journey inside the stars with John Lattanzio on a quest for answers to discover the true impact stars have on the universe.

Professor Kris Helmerson

Curiosity driven research is what gets Kris Helmerson up in the morning. He is studying the properties of atoms cooled using lasers; at sub zero temperatures they behave like fluids even though they are gases.