Bio of Professor Jacqueline Lo

Professor Jacqueline Lo is Director of the Indo-Pacific Research Centre at Murdoch University. An internationally recognised Humanities scholar and pioneer of Asian Australian Studies, her work on multiculturalism, diaspora and public policy has influenced academic and policy sectors in Europe and North America. Jacqueline is the Founding Chair of the Asian Australian Studies Research Network. She is currently serving as a Ministerial appointment to the Australian Higher Education Standards Panel. She was awarded the Chevalier l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques by the French government in 2014.

Bio of Associate Professor Rochelle Spencer

As an applied anthropologist, Associate Professor Rochelle Spencer is interested in development encounters and how development discourses and practices shape the everyday lives of people facing disadvantage — both positively and negatively. Rochelle is Associate Professor of Development Studies. Through her research and teaching, she seeks to facilitate participatory approaches that enhance cross-cultural perspectives within development processes. She has researched with many NGOs including Australian Red Cross, Oxfam Australia, Global Exchange in Cuba, CARE Vietnam, Catholic Relief Services Southern Africa, and Nuwul Indigenous social enterprise in northeast Arnhem Land. She is co-founder and principal fellow of the Indo-Pacific Research Centre and the Development Studies Association of Australia (DSAA), as well as co-director of Research for Development Impact Network and the Australian Doctors for Africa, an d Deputy Editor of Development in Practice.

Bio of Dr Ian Wilson

Dr Ian Wilson is a co-founder and principal fellow of the Indo-Pacific Research Centre, and Academic chair of politics and security Studies at Murdoch University. His research focuses upon contemporary Indonesian politics and society. A central theme has been the relationship between power, violence and representation, pursued through two interrelated research agendas. The first has been on political gangsterism, militias and the role of the streets in political change. The second has entailed critical engagement with the politics and policy of urban poverty in Indonesia. He has collaborated with NGOs such as Indonesian Corruption Watch, Transparency International and Rujak Urban Studies Centre, and provided political economy analysis for DFAT. He is currently part of an Australian-Indonesian research consortium examining the socio-economic impacts of climate change on disadvantaged urban and rural communities.

Singapore Launch of Murdoch University's new Indo-Pacific Research Centre