Our Alumni

Former students making their mark on the world we live in.

Our research students come from far and wide, after successfully completing, some return to new roles in their home country, others have found new horizons globally and we have been able to hold on to many here at Griffith and the CRI.

Where are they now? Profiling our Alumni

Dr Boulton is an Early Career Researcher and Sessional Academic with the Environmental Planning and Management discipline in Griffith University's School of Environment and Science and Cities Research Institute. Chris has expertise in municipal government, urban greenspace management, landscape architecture, environmental planning and crime prevention. As an experienced leader, Chris offers inspiration and insight for individuals and learning communities through research and education about the values, challenges and opportunities for supporting healthy cities. Chris is also an honorary Fellow of Australia’s Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA) and an Endeavour Research Fellow (2017-18), pursuing a better approach to providing urban greenspace. In 2019, Chris founded The CityGreen Lab to inspire effective urban greenspace provision, and develop emerging domestic and international, academic and industry relationships, as well as to support research collaborations aligned with achieving Chris’ post-Doctoral research agenda.

Rukuh is a senior lecturer at Urban and Regional Planning Department at Diponegoro University (Indonesia). He is interested in both theory and practice of the intellectual space between urban environmental planning and governance. He is also interested in policy development process, climate adaptation policy in cities, urban regeneration, and green economy. With funding from Astra International's Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), he is now designing a community-based environmental education, tourism and cultural program to showcase sustainable village community livelihood in urban ages. He is also a director of a non-profit organisation known as IKUPI (Initiative for Urban Climate Change and Environment) based in Semarang.

Rafaello has been teaching Art History, History of Architecture, Project Management, Urban Design, Architecture Design and Interior Design. His areas of interest include Vernacular Architecture, Architecture and Urban Sociology, Project management, Art History. Member of the Board of Architects in Italy and Australia, he has nearly 20 years professional experience, split between design management, project management and supervision roles, with some highly respected companies, 6 years of which were in Italy, 10 years in Australia, and 4 years in Middle East. In these roles he was involved in managing the design concept, documentation, construction and supervision of residential and commercial developments from inception through to completion, including planning, estimating, client/consultant/contractor interactions and site inspection services.

Dr Nowar Raad	Research Fellow, Griffith University, Australia
Dr Chris Boulton	Research Fellow, Griffith University, Australia	Chris is an Early Career Researcher and Sessional Academic with the Environmental Planning and Management discipline in Griffith University's School of Environment and Science and Cities Research Institute. Chris has expertise in municipal government, urban greenspace management, landscape architecture, environmental planning and crime prevention.
Dr Joanne Dolley	Executive Officer and Research Fellow, Griffith University, Australia	Joanne continues to work with Griffith University as an Executive Officer in the School of Arts, Education and Law and is taking on research work within the university as well.
Dr Jian Zhang	Researcher, Atmospheric Environment Research Centre, Griffith University, Australia	Jian is working in the areas of sustainable architecture, thermal comfort and urban sustainability. His recently co-authored article titled The impact of sky view factor on thermal environments in urban parks in a subtropical coastal city of Australia, has been published in the Urban Forestry and Urban Greening Journal.
Dr Quynh Holland	Lecturer and Researcher, Ho Chi MIn University of Finance and Marketing. Research Assistant, Housing, Griffith University,Australia	Quynh states 'I have been lecturing and researching at my University of Finance & Marketing, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (before and after my PhD at GU). Currently, I’m working with my supervisors Prof. Eduardo Roca and Dr. Benjamim Liu on their Housing projects.'
Dr Yuan Xu	Lecturer, Structural Analysis, Griffith University, Australia	Yuan's research interest lies in Steel Structures and Steel-concrete Composite Structures, Earthquake Prevention and Reduction, as well as Prefabrication. He has been working with Griffith University as a tutor for the last four years, mainly in Structural Analysis and Mechanics of Materials.
Dr Muhammad Atif	Lecturer in Accounting, Griffith University, Australia	Atif is working as lecturer in Accounting at the Essex Business School, University of Essex, UK. He has obtained his PhD from Griffith Business School, Griffith University, Australia. Atif's research interests lie in corporate governance, sustainability, and climate change.
Dr Emiliya Suprun	Research Fellow, Sessional Lecturer, School of Engineering and Built Environment, Griffith University, Australia	Dr Emiliya Suprun is a Research Fellow at the Cities Research Institute and a Sessional Lecturer at the School of Engineering & Built Environment, Griffith University, Queensland, Australia. She is currently involved in a research project devoted to developing a digital asset information model framework for water sector. Her research interests include modelling and simulation using coupled system dynamics modelling, structural analysis and operational research methods. She has worked on numerous research projects with a range of interdisciplinary teams including transport management, environmental management and architectural researchers. Her PhD research was focused on modelling an innovation system in the context of the construction industry.
Dr Hadi Zamanifard	Research Assistant, Cities Research Institute, Griffith University, Australia	Hadi has worked as an architect, urban designer, urban design project manager, and educator/researcher in urbanism for more than ten years. He has abiding passion for sustainable urban design and planning and his PhD focuses on the implications of the governance in public spaces for users’ experiential qualities. Hadi bridges research and practice in his work and his professional and academic skills span spatial analysis, master-planning, project management, built environment users' behaviour and perception analysis, writing, problem-solving, and course design.
Dr Liese Coulter	Science Policy Fellow at BC Ministry of Agriculture, Innovation and Adaptation Service Branch, Victoria BC, Canada	After being awarded her PhD in August, Liese started a Mitacs Science Policy Fellowship with the Ministry of Agriculture in British Columbia, in September this year. She has been invited by the Center for International Climate Research (CICERO) to participate in a workshop in Oslo Norway, 24-26 April, 2019. Funded through an EU-COST action: Understanding and modeling compound climate and weather events, the workshop will develop a perspective on best-practice approaches to link physical modeling and narratives of high-impact extreme and compound events and associated risks under climate change.
Dr Rukuh Setiadi	Senior Lecturer Dept of Urban and Regional Planning, Diponegoro University Semarang, Indonesia	Rukuh is a senior lecturer at Urban and Regional Planning Department at Diponegoro University (Indonesia). He is interested in both theory and practice of the intellectual space between urban environmental planning and governance.
Dr Andres Pazmino Jaramillo	Director of Operations, University San Francisco de Quito (USFQ), Galapagos	Andre's responsibilities include teaching and coordinating the 23 international programs in the Galapagos campus. He is also in charge of the campus operations, and inter-institutional relationships between the USFQ and governmental and non-governmental institutions.
Dr Lavinia Poruschi	Research Scientist: Econometric and Spatial Analysis, Land and Water, CSIRO, Australia	Lavinia is currently affiliated with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia’s national science agency. She is working as a Research Economist and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) analyst. She has a demonstrated history of working in national research institutes and the higher education industry in Australia and Japan.
Dr Abraham Leung	Research Fellow, Cities Research Institute, Griffith University, Australia	Abraham is a postdoctoral research fellow and an early career researcher at the Cities Research Institute with research interests on the interrelationship of transport, land use and energy and spatial equity problems of transport, with a strong skillset of spatial analysis and GIS.
Dr Elnaz Torabi	Senior Regional Planner with City of Gold Coast and Adjunct Research Fellow, Cities Research Institute, Griffith University, Australia	As well as working at City of Gold Coast as Planner, Elnaz contributes to CRI research in the field of climate change adaptation and urban resilience from a planning and decision making perspective..
Dr Kirandeep Sandhu	Associate Professor, School of Planning, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, India	Kirandeep is teaching Bachelor and Masters level coursed in urban and regional planning. Kirandeep specialises in Housing and Community Development, Municipal Solid waste Management, Transportation, Urban Governance and Disaster Management
Dr Kimberley Reis	Lecturer, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Australia	Kimberley's research is focused upon the prospects of green infrastructure planning and policy analysis to ameliorate potential disasters and enhance long-term climate change adaptation.
Dr Johanna Nalau	ARC Discovery Early Career Research Fellow 2019-2021, Cities Research Institute Griffith University, Australia	Johanna is a social scientist who researches how people make decisions about climate change adaptation and what role information and leadership play in that process. Dr Nalau is also a Lead Author for the next Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 6^th Assessment Report in Working Group Chapter 15 Small Islands, and also the Managing Editor for the journal Climate Risk Management.
Dr Yan Kuang	Lecturer, Civil Engineering, School of Engineering and Built Environment, Griffith University, Australia	Yan Kuang's research is focused on transport planning, safety, efficiency, equity, and sustainability. He has done comprehensive works with regards to automated vehicles, roundabout design, crash surrogate modelling, and highway operation and management.
Dr Bixia Xu	Senior Project Coordinator, Asia Pacific Agri-Corp (Projects) Pty Ltd, Australia	Bixia is the Senior Project Coordinator at Asia Pacific Agri-Corp (Projects) Pty Ltd. The company is developing a $260 million high-tech abattoir integrating meat processing with solar and hydrogen renewable energy in Queensland’s State Development Area in Gladstone. Queensland’s independent Coordinator-General has approved the development application. Bixia is responsible for coordinating the project’s approvals, schedules, and resources.
Dr Michael Tanko	Post doctorate, Centre for Naval Architecture, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm Sweden
Dr Heather Shearer	Research Fellow, Cities Research Institute, Griffith University, Australia	Heather's interest lies in Tiny Houses and how they are being seen as an innovative and sustainable way to improve urban housing affordability.
Dr Tony Matthews	Lecturer, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Australia	Tony's work focuses on planning better cities with strong environmental credentials. His interests are in adapting cities to climate change, reducing their carbon footprints, renewable energy transitions, green infrastructure uptake, housing policy and design, heritage management, public art and sustainable urban design.
Dr Natalie Osborne	Lecturer, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Australia	Natalie’s work is primarily in the fields of critical human geography and environmental planning. She is focused on social and environmental justice in human settlements and the development of more just, resilient and sustainable futures. Natalie is currently engaged in work on insurgent planning and radical spatial politics with grassroots activist group Right to the City - Brisbane.
Dr Ed Morgan	Research Fellow, Cities Research Institute, Griffith University, Australia	Ed is interested in the interface between science, policy and society with a focus on water, climate change, planning and governance.
Dr Leila Irajifar	Lecturer, RMIT School of Architecture and Urban Design,	Leila is an interdisciplinary academic working at the intersection of urban planning, design and disaster management. Her research tackles the challenges of operationalising urban resilience, post-disaster reconstruction and her recent research focuses on the applications of crowdsourcing in urban resilience planning and developing models to better understand the complexities and interdependencies of urban systems in the face of climate change and other social and environmental hazards.
Dr Rafaello Furlan	Assistant Professor, Qatar University, Department of Architecture and Urban Planning, College of Engineering, State of Qatar	Rafaello is the coordinator of the Master in Urban Design and Planning Program at Qatar University. He teaches Comprehensive Architectural Design to 5th year students and Urban Design to final year master students. Rafaello has been teaching Art History, History of Architecture, Project Management, Urban Design, Architecture Design and Interior Design. His areas of interest include Vernacular Architecture, Architecture and Urban Sociology, Project management, Art History.