Associate Professor Robyn McConchie, Director

Robyn was appointed Director of RIAP in December 2007. She received her BSc from London University, an MA (Education) from Macquarie University and her PhD from Louisiana State University.  She has been an academic at the University of Sydney since 1998, researching and teaching in the Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources. 

Robyn has a keen interest in sustainability in agricultural ecosystems, with her research focusing on minimising pesticide usage in cropping systems.  Since 2000 Robyn has received over $3 million in research funding for numerous local and international research projects conducted in countries such as China, Laos, Vietnam, Tonga and Australia.  She has extensive experience in research, capacity building and training, specialising in postharvest horticulture, value chains and linking farmers to markets and plant disease management. 

Robyn's Masters focused on experiential approaches to learning, and in all her educational activities she strongly promotes skills that support lifelong learning in adults. 

Emma Walters, Deputy Director

Emma Walters is an experienced grant writer, project manager and trainer who joined RIAP as a Development Manager in April 2007. Her role is to identify, develop and secure international research and consultancy grants for the University and its staff.  Emma has had a long-standing commitment international development work, focusing particularly on capacity-building. She also has expertise in media issues surrounding reporting HIV/AIDS, gender and media and criminal defamation, with experience training in these fields, along with conflict reporting and train the trainer. She has written several practitioner handbooks and reports on these topics. 

Emma graduated with a Bachelor of Arts with Honours First Class in Industrial Relations from the University of Sydney in 1994, and has postgraduate qualifications in Community Management from UTS. Prior to working with RIAP, Emma was Projects Director with the International Federation of Journalists Asia-Pacific Office (IFJ), and has worked in Pakistan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Cambodia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong and Ghana.

Philipp Ivanov, Senior International Development Manager (Education and Training)

Philipp joined RIAP in March 2007 as a Research and Training Development Manager. He is responsible for the development and management of RIAP training programs and consulting projects, and also oversees international communication and marketing of the Institute. 

Before joining the University of Sydney, Philipp was an International Development Manager at La Trobe University where he managed the university's international development activities in Vietnam, Thailand and the Middle East. Prior to that, Philipp spent 7 years in China working first as an education development consultant in rural school reform projects in Liaoning province and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and later as a lecturer and program coordinator at the International Education Network.

Philipp graduated with Bachelor of Chinese Studies (Hons) from the Far Eastern National University, Russia, and has a Master of Educational Leadership and Management from RMIT University, Australia. He speaks fluent Mandarin and Russian.

Thomas Chau, Finance Manager

Thomas joined the Office of DVC International and RIAP (part of the International Portfolio of the University of Sydney) as Finance Manager in July 2006. His role is to provide strategic financial management in order to ensure effective management decisions can be made as well as to ensure that the daily financial operation is consistent with University finance and accounting standards. Thomas graduated with a Masters in Business Administration and Masters in Professional Accounting. He completed the CPA Program and is a CPA, a full member of the CPA Australia.

Kristi Maroc, Media and Communications Manager

Kristi has an extensive background within media, PR, communications, marketing and events.  She has a Masters of Journalism, and a Bachelor of Arts (Communications & Marketing), and has also studied with the Australian Film, Television and Radio School.  She has worked with a number of large media companies, including as a Radio Producer with the ABC, a Researcher with Havas Media in London, and a Production Assistant at Channel Ten TV. In recent years, she has specialised in media relations and strategic communications, as the National Marketing & Communications Manager for Special Olympics Australia, and prior to that as the Communications & Events Manager for Australian Science Innovations at the ANU.

An adventurous nature and insatiable passion for travel and learning about other cultures has seen Kristi independently visit over thirty countries worldwide. She took off on her first round-the-world adventure on her own at eighteen, and has since completed five round-the-world journeys varying between two months and a year and a half in length, as well as many shorter trips. Within the Asia-Pacific region, Kristi has spent time in Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, China, Korea, Fiji, Cook Islands and New Zealand.  

Lili Yin, International Project Manager

Lili joined RIAP as a professional translator and interpreter in 2001. She soon progressed to coordinate, develop and manage China executive training programs. Drawing upon her bilingual skills and extensive work experience in Australia and China, Lili has worked closely with academic staff, government officials and various professionals from both countries in the development and delivery of over 50 training programs. Funded by international organisations and China's central, provincial and municipal governments, these training programs have been conducted in various professional areas, ranging between one week and one year.

Before coming to Australia, Lili had over ten years experience lecturing in a Chinese university.  Her Australian work experience includes teaching, translating and researching. She holds Australian accreditation in professional translating, interpreting and workplace training. Lili holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics from China and a Master's degree in International Studies from the University of Sydney.

Heather Patterson, International Project Manager

Heather has had much experience coordinating various training and education programs in the specialty of nuclear medicine, particularly for developing countries which has involved extensive travel throughoutAsia. She is a co-developer of the Distance Assisted Training program for Nuclear Medicine Technologists which was initiated in Australia and directed under the auspices of the International Atomic Energy Agency, (IAEA) Vienna. The objective of the project is to provide countries with teaching resources for the development of technologist training which encourages adoption of a distance learning approach that can be conducted in the participating countries on a sustainable basis. This training program is active in many countries in Asia with growing interest and activities globally.

Heather joined RIAP, University of Sydney in September 2007 and continues to develop new strategies for training and education in nuclear medicine as the imaging technology advances rapidly but adequate training opportunities remain limited. She has worked in this field for over 25 years mainly based within a teaching hospital environment.

June Kim, International Project Manager

June has extensive experience in international education program development and coordination. She has over 8 years of direct experience in developing unilateral, bilateral and multilateral international youth programs in collaboration with various governments, educational institutions, non-governmental organizations and related agencies.

June joined RIAP in August 2009 as International Project Manager, responsible for development and management of Inside Australia study tour programs and professional development programs. Prior to joining the University of Sydney, she worked for the Korean Trade and Investment Agency (KOTRA), Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Government Youth Commission in the Office of the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Family Affairs of the Republic of Korea. She travelled extensively especially for youth policy research and program development to countries including Belgium, Brazil, France, Germany, Singapore, Spain, Thailand, United Kingdom and United States of America. June graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Economy and Chinese, has Masters of Policy Studies International and Masters of Commerce in Marketing and Human Resource Management. She speaks Japanese and Korean.

Nicholas Goodwin, International Project Manager

Nicholas joined RIAP in 2009 and is responsible for the development and management of RIAP research and education initiatives. He has worked on international development and public programs for more than 10 years, throughout Asia and in Australia, for universities, federal government, UN agencies, NGOs and the private sector. Nicholas' expertise includes public management, social marketing and capacity building and he has worked on these in the areas of education, health, environment, technology and governance.

Nicholas has an MBA (specialising in public policy) from Deakin University and a first class Honours degree in Asian Studies (Indonesian) from the ANU, which included a year at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. He was a 2008 member of Asialink's Leaders Program for which he was an Ian Potter Foundation Fellow, and is also a member of the Asia Society's Asia21 initiative. He is fluent in Indonesian.

Thomas Soem, Project Coordinator International Research Grants

Thomas supports the development and coordination of RIAP's international research grants. His primary role is to source, manage and research funding opportunities in the Asia Pacific region and to coordinate the implementation of international research and technical assistance projects. Prior to that, Thomas worked as International Projects Manager developing international leadership and professional development programs.    

Thomas holds a Bachelor of Political Science from the University of Oslo, Norway, with majors in Government, Diplomacy and European Union. He is also a graduate of the University of Sydney, where he acquired a Bachelor of Arts degree with First Class Honours in Government and International Relations. At both Universities, he received exchange scholarships for study abroad, enabling him to pursue his keen interest in international relations.

Angela Zaballa, International Project Coordinator

Angela assists in the coordination of international education programs for the People's Republic of China, capacity building short courses for Indonesia, and public affairs events at the University of Sydney. She is involved in the development and delivery of RIAP's Inside Australia programs with student groups from Canada, Hong Kong and Japan, and the Australia-Korea Internship Program. Angela also manages the administration of development projects in the area of obesity prevention amongst adolescents in Vietnam, and human rights in Nepal both of which are funded by AusAID. She initially joined RIAP as an intern in July 2006 and was appointed International Project Coordinator in November that year. 

Angela graduated from the University of Sydney in 2008 with a Bachelor's Degree in Social Sciences and with majors in Government and International Relations, Asian Studies and History. She also speaks Tagalog (Filipino).

Megan Brewer, International Project Coordinator

Megan's work started as a RIAP international project coordinator in late 2006, running Inside Australia study tours for Japanese students. Since this time, Megan has taken on a number of AusAID funded development focused projects, largely in the area of public health in Asia. She also works with RIAP's Research Development Team, identifying, writing and coordinating grants, tenders and proposals. 

Megan is a University of Sydney graduate, holding a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations and Japanese, and a Diploma of Social Sciences in Sociology. She is currently completing her Masters in International Law and speaks Japanese at an intermediate level.

Stephen Brancatisano, Project Coordinator International Research Grants

Stephen works part time researching and sourcing funding opportunities in the Asia-Pacific region, in support of RIAPs international research grants.  Prior to joining RIAP Stephen worked for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for four years, which included a two year diplomatic posting to the Australian High Commission, Papua New Guinea. 

Stephen speaks working-level Tok Pisin (Melanesian Pidgin). Stephen holds a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Sydney and a Bachelor of Media from Macquarie University. He is currently studying Medicine at the University of Sydney. 

Holly Norrie, Assistant International Project Coordinator

Holly assists RIAP's Research Development Team with writing international research and capacity building grants for the University of Sydney, including grants from the European Commission, Commonwealth Government and AusAID. She is also involved in the development, coordination and implementation of RIAP's executive leadership, capacity building and Inside Australia programs for Indonesia, P.R. China, Korea and Hong Kong. These programs have covered public sector governance, environmental management, press freedom and professionalism, international law and higher education management. Holly has written various marketing materials for RIAP and the University of Sydney including capability statements, country activity profiles, newsletters and RIAP's 2008 Annual Report.

After completing a summer internship at the institute, Holly was employed as an International Research Coordinator in February 2008. She holds a Bachelor of Economic and Social Sciences at the University of Sydney with majors in Government and International Relations and Political Economy, and is currently completing a Master of International Law at the Sydney Law School.

Zoe Martin, Administration Officer

Zoe joined RIAP in October 2009 as the Administration Officer and Personal Assistant to the Director. Zoe graduated from the University of Sydney in 2008 with a Bachelor of International Studies, majoring in Government and International Relations. She spent the last six months of her undergraduate degree living in Canberra, studying cross-institutionally at the Australian National University and interning for the National Health and Medical Research Council. She then went on to live and work in Paris for almost a year to further her studies in French which she started learning as part of her undergraduate degree at Sydney University. Zoe is currently undertaking a Masters of International Law at the Sydney Law School. Her areas of interest include international aid, trade and development, particularly in Africa and South East Asia.