Invited speakers for MISG 2010

Philip Broadbridge

Head of School, School of Mathematics and Statistics,
La Trobe University

Phil Broadbridge rejoined La Trobe in 2009 as Head of School of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences. From 2005 to 2009 he was Director of the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute and in that capacity was presented with the 2008 Fast Thinking/ Open Universities National Innovation Award in the category of science innovation.

Phil was previously a professor of applied mathematics for 14 years, including a total of 8 years as department chair at the University of Delaware and at the University of Wollongong, where he was also Deputy Chair of Academic Senate. Having worked also as a secondary teacher and as a CSIRO researcher, he has strong interests in education and in industry outreach.

His PhD was in mathematical physics (University of Adelaide). He has an unusually broad range of research interests, including fundamental physics, applied nonlinear partial differential equations, hydrology, heat and mass transport and population genetics. He has published two books and 100 refereed papers, appearing in 26 different journals. He is a member of the editorial boards of four journals and one book series.

John Boland

Associate Professor in Environmental Mathematics,
School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of South Australia

Seminar title: Double Counting - Ensuring Industry Engagement Includes Academic Output

John Boland is an expert in environmental modelling, specialising in time series, statistical modelling of climate variables and decision making under uncertainty. He has published over 70 scientific articles over many areas of environmental modelling, is on the Editorial Board of Renewable Energy journal plus two others, and is a reviewer for a number of international journals.

John has or presently holds 3 Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Grants and 3 ARC Linkage Grants, in the areas of integration of renewable energy into the electricity supply, water resource management, and reducing food waste. He has led research that has advised state and federal government bodies in Australia on energy supply and demand matters.

John's work for the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has been pivotal in the development of wind energy in Australia. He and colleagues wrote the mathematical algorithms necessary for data quality assurance for the Australian Climatic Database, used as the basis for house thermal performance software calculations. Diffuse radiation models developed by his team are used in the Renewable Energy Atlas of Australia. John has led research teams that have calculated the Ecological Footprint of South Australia, the City of Adelaide, and the Green Village of Lochiel Park, South Australia.

On a personal level, John and his wife Chris Bryant have supplied their own electricity for nine years with PV panels, grow 50 fruit and nut trees on their domestic block in suburban Adelaide and own a 53 hectare private conservation park in semi-arid South Australia.