People

Associate Professor Robyn McConchie, Director
Robyn was appointed Acting Director of RIAP in November 2006, and permanent Director in December 2007. She is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources at the University of Sydney. She has led research and capacity building projects in Vietnam, Tonga, Laos and China. She has a Bachelor of Science from London University, a Masters of Education from Macquarie University and a PhD from Louisiana State University.

Philipp Ivanov, Training Development Manager
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. He 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 (Consortium of Macquarie University, La Trobe University, the University of Tasmania, Flinders University and the NMIT, delivering offshore education programs in partnership with Chinese universities).

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.

Emma Walters, Research Development Manager
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. Prior to working with RIAP, Emma was Projects Director with the International Federation of Journalists Asia-Pacific Office (2002-2007). She has worked in Pakistan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Cambodia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong and Ghana.

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. She has experience training in these fields, along with conflict reporting and train the trainer. She has written several practitioner handbooks and reports on these topics.

Prior to the IFJ, Emma was Events and Member Services Manager at Macquarie University Union Limited (1999-2002). Before this, she worked in various positions at the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (1994-1999) including Industrial Officer and Manager of the Walkley Awards for Excellence in Journalism. During her time at the Media Alliance, Emma conducted capacity-building workshops with journalists in Ghana and the Philippines.

She 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.

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.

Rachel Nolan, International Project Manager
Rachel manages the implementation of RIAP's executive training programs for Senior Executive Officers from the People's Republic of China and around the region, in addition to RIAP's Inside Australia study tour programs and student leadership programs. She also manages RIAP's internship program and website. Rachel has lived and studied in Jakarta for eight years, developing a strong interest and understanding of the Indonesian culture, society and current affairs.

Prior to moving to Sydney in 2004, Rachel studied and worked in the UK for six years. She has a BA (Hons) in English Studies and Philosophy, and a Masters degree in International Studies: Asia Pacific Region from the University of Nottingham, UK. She has a particular interest in Indonesian politics, primarily in those issues surrounding the processes of democratisation following the fall of the New Order. Rachel speaks conversational Bahasa Indonesia.

Lili Yin, International Project Manager
Lili manages RIAP long-term executive training programs for Senior Executive Officers from the People's Republic of China. She has worked closely with academic staff, government officials and various professional people in Australia and China in developing many training programs in various areas. Lili has also coordinated international capacity building training programs funded by international agencies such as UNESCO. Lili has over ten years experience working in China as a university lecturer heading a teaching unit, and in Australia as a translator, researcher and language teacher. She has received in-depth English training from Beijing Second University of Foreign Languages and holds Australian accreditation in professional translating, interpreting and workplace training. Lili holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics from a Chinese University 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.

Thomas Soem, International Project Manager
Thomas coordinates RIAP's executive education programs for senior executive officers from the People's Republic of China.Since joining the institute in August 2006, Thomas has supported the development of RIAP's UNDP-funded programs on agriculture and rural development in China and co-designed executive programs in areas such as hospital management, public sector management and urban planning.

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 Chinese executive programs, Asian Development Bank short courses, public affairs events such as the International Forum on APEC's Economic Challenges held in June 2007, and student study tours, in particular the Australia-Korea Internship Program. She joined RIAP in July 2006 while undertaking a Bachelor of Social Sciences degree at the University of Sydney with majors in Asian Studies, Government and International Relations and History. Angela also speaks conversational Tagalog (Filipino).

Ryan Neelam, International Project Coordinator
Ryan is involved in the coordination of RIAP's international education programs from the Peoples; Republic of China, Taiwan, and Japan. He has co-designed programs for senior executives in the fields of enterprise management, agriculture and rural development, and university administration, and has assisted in the delivery of projects funded by the United Nations Development Program, the Asia Development Bank, the Australia-Korea Foundation and the Chinese Central Government. Ryan has also worked on cooperative programs with RIAP's major university partners including Tsinghua University, China; Tokyo University, Japan; and Chienkuo Technology University, Taiwan.

Ryan holds a Bachelor of Economics and Social Sciences from the University of Sydney with an extended major in Government and International Relations and a major in Political Economy. As part of this degree he studied Law and Public Administration at Leiden University, The Netherlands and is currently completing an Honours dissertation on development and conflict.

Megan Brewer, International Project Coordinator
Megan joined RIAP as an intern in December 2006, and now assists in the coordination of RIAP's programs such as Inside Australia study tours for overseas students, and executive training programs.

Megan graduated from the University of Sydney in 2007 with an Arts degree in International Relations and Japanese Studies and a Diploma of Social Sciences in Sociology. In 2007, Megan attended Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo on an exchange scholarship from the University of Sydney. Due to her interest in international development, she is currently undertaking a Masters in International Law at Sydney Law School. She speaks Japanese at an intermediate level.

Sabrina Wu, International Project Coordinator
Sabrina assists in the coordination of RIAP’s international leadership training programs and executive education programs for senior executive officers from the People’s Republic of China, in areas such as enterprise management, public sector management, agriculture and rural development, hospital management and pharmaceutical administration.

Sabrina holds a Bachelor of Economics degree from a Chinese university. She joined RIAP in November 2007 while completing her Masters degree in Industrial Economics as an exchange student at the University of Sydney, and is currently undertaking a second Masters degree in Commerce with a major in Finance.

Karen McLaren, Administration Officer
Karen joined RIAP in March 2008 as the Administration Officer assisting in the running of the office and as a Personal Assistant to the Director. Karen was born in Christchurch, New Zealand and moved to Sydney in early 2008. Prior to moving to Sydney she lived in Western Australia for three years. Karen gained two years experience as a Personal Assistant while working in a leasing company called Easifleet Management in Perth.