Lecturers to inspire you
Dr Flavia Marcello
Lecturer,
School of Architecture and Built Environment
Dr Flavia Marcello teaches in the areas of design, and architectural history and theory. She comes to Deakin University along a varied path that includes living and working in Rome, working in curriculum development for higher education, and managing professional development programs for practicing architects.
She is an expert on Rome’s architectural and urban development and other areas of interest include spatial practices within architecture both as ephemera and as an integral element of urban space, and relationships between education and sustainable practice.
Professor John Endler
Chair in Sensory Ecology
School of Life and Environmental Sciences
Professor John Endler is a founding member of the Centre for Integrative Ecology and a fellow of
the Australian Academy of Sciences.
He has broad research interests at the interface between evolution, ecology, animal behaviour and neuroethology and likes to use knowledge from these fields to make and test predictions about the direction of evolution under changed environmental conditions.
Prof. Endler has written several books and many papers on these subjects. He and his research group work with freshwater fishes, lizards and birds, and former members have also worked with insects and spiders. His work on visual illusions used by Great Bowerbirds was ranked one of the 100 best world discoveries of 2010 by Discover Magazine, and recent work shows that these illusions promote mating success.
In addition to field work on Australian Bowerbirds, Prof. Endler is also running two long term mesocosm experiments on the joint evolution of colour patterns, mate choice behaviour, and colour vision in guppies to investigate the effects of changed environments of these three suites of genetically unrelated traits.
He welcomes PhD students who are both curious about natural phenomena and motivated to test the resulting hypotheses in innovative ways.
Dr Simone Leao
Lecturer in urban technologies,
School of Architecture and Built Environment
Dr Simone Leao is a lecturer in urban technologies in Deakin’s School of Architecture and Built Environment. She has a Bachelor of Science in engineering with emphasis on environmental pollution (BSc, Brazil, 1994), a Master of Science in urban and regional planning with emphasis on urban-environmental planning (MSc, Brazil, 1997) and a Doctorate in Geomatic Engineering with emphasis on spatial computer simulation for urban and environmental planning (PhD, The University of Melbourne, 2002).
Throughout her 18-year career these three distinct fields have been interwoven having the city as the linking element. Her expertise lies in the intersection of these three areas, which can be briefly described as urban-environmental engineering applied to planning, policy and decision-making.
Through her work in South America, Europe, Africa and Oceania she has been exposed to diverse types of urban and environmental issues related to different socio-economic, cultural, political and geographical contexts.
Dr Leao’s main research interest is in better understanding the interdependencies between built and natural environments (i.e. cities as urban ecosystems). With this as her goal she works on developing knowledge and methodologies to assist in the generation of new or regeneration of existing urban areas with awareness and consideration of the challenges faced by urban and environmental planning. Some of these challenges include sustainable development, climate change processes, high urbanisation rates, the need for environmental justice and participatory planning processes.
Dr Leao’s career combines extensive experience in academic research and teaching in higher education with professional opportunities
Associate Professor Jo Coldwell-Neilson
Associate Head of School (Teaching and Learning)
School of Information Technology
Associate Professor Jo Coldwell-Neilson is Associate Head of School at Deakin’s School of Information Technology (IT).
After completing an undergraduate degree in applied science at the University of Wales Institute of Science and Technology in Cardiff, Assoc. Prof. Coldwell-Neilson completed a Master of Science program in computer science at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh where she gained an ‘excellent grounding in all things computing’ including programming, database and operating systems.
‘The breadth of the program prepared me well for a varied career in both industry and academia,’ she says.
Starting work as trainee programmer, Assoc. Prof. Coldwell-Neilson was soon promoted to a junior programmer and within the first year her job title had changed to systems analyst. Soon, she was leading a project team with responsibilities for a number of financial and stock control systems.
Returning to work after having two daughters and moving to Australia, Assoc. Prof. Coldwell-Neilson began tutoring at Monash University and was soon enrolled in a PhD program. After a stint at the University of Newcastle (where she completed her PhD) she came to Deakin. Although employed as an academic member of the School of IT, Assoc. Prof. Coldwell-Neilson has held a number of roles at Deakin including eLearning Manager for the Faculty of Science, Engineering and Built Environment (2004-2007) and in 2008 she was appointed to her current role as Associate Head of School (Teaching and Learning).
‘In 2002 I was seconded to the Deakin Online project for two years which led to my ongoing interests in online and blended learning. My research area focuses on the engagement of students in and with IT. This includes the use of technology to support teaching and to support students,’ she says.
Assoc. Prof. Coldwell-Neilson is also interested in the gender issues associated with the IT industry.
‘Having had a long, varied and enjoyable career in industry and academia through IT, I am at a loss to understand why girls are so hesitant to engage with such a vibrant, innovative discipline and industry. Hopefully my research will lead to a better understanding of the issues and lead to improved engagement of girls with and in IT.’
Associate Professor Richard Tucker
Associate Head of School (Research)
School of Architecture and Built Environment
Associate Professor Richard Tucker has taught design to architectural students and interdisciplinary collaborative groups at both Deakin University and The University of Bath, UK. He has led four Strategic Teaching and Learning Grant Scheme (STALGS) funded projects at Deakin (funding totalling $110 000): ‘Establishing Best Practice Principles for the Teaching of Group Design Projects’ in 2005; ‘Enhancing Independent Experiential Learning for International Undergraduate Students’ in 2006; ‘Fair Assessment and Reflective Learning: A Cross-Faculty Online Self-And-Peer-Assessment Tool For Teamwork Assignments Piloted in Architecture and Business Communications’ in 2007; and ‘Negotiating Flexible Learning: A Tool for Matching Learners’ and Teachers’ Perceptions and Expectations of Flexible Pedagogies’ in 2009.
Assoc. Prof. Tucker has been awarded a Deakin Teaching Excellence Award, a Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Distinguished Teaching and the top teaching award at Deakin - the WJC Banks Award for Distinguished Contributions to Teaching and Learning (effectively the Deakin University teacher of the year). In 2007, Assoc. Prof. Tucker’s teaching scholarship was recognised nationally by a Carrick Institute Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning. In 2010, he was also awarded the national F E Crowle Hansen and Yunken Australian Institute of Building Award for Excellence in Teaching – the top award for teachers in the construction management discipline. Assoc. Prof. Tucker recently became only the second teacher in the discipline of architecture to be awarded the prestigious ALTC Award for Teaching Excellence.
He is currently project leader of the Australian Learning and Teaching Council funded project ‘Enhancing and Assessing Group and Team Learning in Architecture and Related Design Contexts,’ and has authored a long list of publications on higher education.
Assoc. Prof. Tucker’s teaching focuses on sustainable design.
Dr Alireza Asgari
Lecturer, School of Engineering
Geelong Waurn Ponds Campus
‘Being able to combine cutting-edge research with teaching is the most rewarding part for me. Because my teaching is related to my research, I draw on up-to-date information, relevant examples and projects that matter the most to our society.
It is great to see our students find jobs in industry or continue with postgraduate studies after graduation.’
