Meet our researchers, visiting scholars and honorary appointments at the Institute for Learning Sciences and Teacher Education, as well as current Higher Degree Research students.

ILSTE hosts a team of eminent researchers and international scholars, research students and professional staff working with a range of discipline expertise in support of our research.

Meet our Director

Professor Claire Wyatt-Smith

Meet our research teams

Honorary appointments

Adjunct Professor

  • Associate Professor Mary Macken-Horarik - awarded to 10 September 2024 – in recognition of her international reputation and scholarly expertise in the field of Senior Secondary English Curriculum.

Honorary Professor

  • Professor Joy Cumming – awarded to 31 December 2024 – in recognition of her contribution as a leader in the field of education, and support of ILSTE through the supervision of doctoral students.
  • Professor Harry Daniels - awarded to 24 March 2025 - in recognition of his reputation as an internationally-renowned expert educational researcher and his willingness to provide research mentorship and raise the profile of ACU in international research communities.
  • Professor Gabriele Kaiser – awarded to 24 March 2025 – in recognition of her reputation as a world leading researcher in the field of Mathematics Education, with specialisations in mathematical modelling, teacher competencies and teacher noticing.
  • Professor Theo van Leeuwen - awarded to 31 December 2023 - in recognition of his leadership in the field of social semiotics, in particular his development of social semiotics theories and methods for the analysis of multimodal communication.
  • Dr Graham Maxwell - awarded to 31 May 2024 - in recognition of his national and international reputation as a leader in the area of educational assessment.
  • Dr Lee-Anne Perry AM - awarded to 1 May 2024 - in recognition of her reputation as a leader in the field of education and acknowledges her willingness to collaborate with ACU in partnership building, developing excellent teacher education programs and in building enhanced capacity in Catholic schools through collaborative professional development and policy formation.
  • Professor Peter Renshaw – awarded to 20 March 2025 – in recognition of his world-leading expertise in sociocultural theories and educational research which addresses issues, such as student diversity, educational disadvantage and equity.
  • Professor Rudolf Straesser - awarded to 31 July 2023 - in recognition of his publication record in Mathematics Education, his preparedness to provide strategic advice about publication and project application opportunities and willingness to participate in joint research projects with Australian Catholic University.

Research and support staff

  • Jacinta Bartlett, Senior Research Project Officer
  • Alinta Brown, Research Assistant
  • Alexander Chen, Senior Scientific Officer
  • Dr Jen Cope, Senior Project Officer
  • Dr Chantelle Day, Research Partnerships Manager
  • Jo Macri, Senior Project Officer
  • Dr Andrew Smith, Senior Research Project Manager
  • Dr Melanie Spallek, Senior Data Analyst
  • Famena Staley, Executive and Project Officer (ext 6081)
  • Belinda Snell, Institute Coordinator (ext 6247)

ILSTE Final

Get in touch

Cathedral House
Level 4, 229 Elizabeth Street, Brisbane, Qld, 4000
(GPO Box 2587, Brisbane, Qld, 4001)

Connect with us

Chat to our team via social media.