Invited speakers Keynote presenters Louise Ainscough, University of Queensland Dr Louise Ainscough is a teaching-focused senior lecturer in the School of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Queensland. She teaches physiology to a wide range of allied health students. Her dedication to teaching has been recognised through multiple teaching awards, including School of Biomedical Science Awards for Highest Course Evaluation, Medicine Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning, and the Faculty of Medicine Award for Teaching Excellence. Louise also engages in education research, including supervision of biomedical science honours and undergraduate research students. Her research is particularly focused on enhancing self-regulated learning and developing effective study strategies for first-year students. Louise’s research has been published in high impact journals including CBE-Life Sciences Education, Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, and Studies in Higher Education. Andrew Leigh, Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury, and Federal Member for Fenner in the ACT Andrew Leigh is the Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury, and Federal Member for Fenner in the ACT. Prior to being elected in 2010, Andrew was a professor of economics at the Australian National University. He holds a PhD in Public Policy from Harvard, having graduated from the University of Sydney with first class honours in Andrew Arts and Law. Andrew is a past recipient of the Economic Society of Australia’s Young Economist Award and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Social Sciences. His books include Disconnected (2010), Battlers and Billionaires: The Story of Inequality in Australia (2013), The Economics of Just About Everything (2014), The Luck of Politics (2015), Choosing Openness: Why Global Engagement is Best for Australia (2017), Randomistas: How Radical Researchers Changed Our World (2018), Innovation + Equality: How to Create a Future That Is More Star Trek Than Terminator (with Joshua Gans) (2019), Reconnected: A Community Builder’s Handbook (with Nick Terrell) (2020), What’s the Worst That Could Happen? Existential Risk and Extreme Politics (2021) and Fair Game: Lessons From Sport for a Fairer Society & a Stronger Economy (2022). Shannan Maisey, University of New South Wales Dr. Shannan Maisey is an Education Focused Academic at UNSW and the Associate Dean of Academic Programs in the Faculty of Science. Known for her innovative approach to academic program design and assessment, Dr. Maisey completed her PhD in Atmospheric Chemistry at UWA and her Masters of Higher Education at UNSW. Dr. Maisey specialises in empowering students’ personal and professional development, with a particular focus on programmatic assessment and competency-based learning in Science, especially Chemistry. As the First Year Director in Chemistry, she is dedicated to systems thinking and competency-based assessments, which enhance students’ abilities to meet the challenges of both the scientific and professional worlds. Her work is characterised by a commitment to improving educational practices and fostering student success. Sam Pazicni, University of Wisconsin–Madison Sam received BA degrees in Chemistry and Music from Washington and Jefferson College, MS and PhD degrees in Inorganic Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin–Madison (with Judith Burstyn), and performed post-doctoral research in Biophysics (with Jim Penner-Hahn) and Chemistry Education (with Brian Coppola) at the University of Michigan. In 2009, Sam began his independent career at the University of New Hampshire, receiving tenure in 2015. After ten years at New Hampshire, Sam returned to his alma mater to serve on the faculty of the UW–Madison, where he currently teaches General Chemistry and Inorganic Chemistry at the undergraduate level and co-directs the UW Bridge to the Chemistry Doctorate Program. Sam is a member of the American Chemical Society, and serves on the Society’s Committee on Education (currently chair of the Supporting Excellence in Higher Education subgroup and vice-chair of the Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Scholars Advisory Board). Sam regularly leads workshops on assessment, course design, equity in teaching, and graduate programs in chemistry in venues associated with the American Chemical Society and the Cottrell Scholars Collaborative. He has been involved with the Advanced Placement Chemistry program as a 2022 AP Chemistry Visiting Fellow and a member of the AP Chemistry Development Committee. Sam also recently served as the lead author for the Center for Curriculum Redesign‘s General Chemistry Learning Outcomes project, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Outside of the lab, Sam enjoys music and theatre, cooking extravagant things, and exploring the world. Sam Pazicni is co-sponsored to present at ACSME in 2024 by the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI), The University of Sydney, The University of Melbourne and The University of New South Wales.
