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Meet the team

Behind SCU's TeachLab

Meet the Team

Professor Karen Skilling

TeachLab Research Leader; Professor of Educational Leadership & Chair of Discipline (Teacher Professional Learning)

Karen Skilling is Professor of Educational Leadership at Southern Cross University, Gold Coast. She previously led the Post Graduate Certificate of Education (Secondary) at King’s College London and was Associate Professor at Oxford, leading PGCE Mathematics and doctoral research. Her research focuses on student engagement in maths, teacher practices, STEM education, and vignette methods. She is an editor for TEJ and RME and serves on BSRLM’s Executive Committee.

Associate Professor David Turner

Associate Professor and TeachLab Research Projects Manager

David Turner is QASSP’s Director of Professional Learning. He has enjoyed a diverse career in school leadership working in small rural schools through to large complex urban schools. Teaching in Victoria and in British Columbia, Canada and spending over three years working in the tertiary sector as Head of Campus and Head of School, he has also worked on research projects related to initial teacher education, teaching staff capability through coaching, mentoring, feedback and blended learning.

Professor Erin Mackenzie

Associate Dean Education

Erin Mackenzie, PhD, is Professor of Education and Associate Dean (Education) at Southern Cross University. Her research examines adolescent wellbeing in school contexts, focusing on psychological, social, and contextual influences on support-seeking and motivation. Drawing on expertise in educational psychology and STEM education, she investigates individual and systemic factors shaping girls’ wellbeing, participation, and persistence in STEM pathways.

Dr Lana McCarthy

Senior Lecturer

Dr Lana McCarthy is a Senior Lecturer in Teacher Education (PDHPE), in the Faculty of Education, located on the Gold Coast Campus. She has extensive experience teaching HPE at Secondary School and Tertiary level in both New Zealand and Australia. Her doctoral research focussed on team culture, leadership and coaching approaches, and how captains and coaches constructed the culture within the New Zealand Silver Ferns netball team.

Dr Mel Green

Lecturer

Dr Mel (Mellie) Green has been a primary school teacher for over 25 years, with 20 of those in the classroom and teacher-librarianship, and five in curriculum leadership. She completed her PhD in 2021. Her doctoral research explored student engagement in reading for enjoyment in the upper primary years. Her areas of research passion are: use of children’s literature in the primary classroom, reading instruction, curriculum and pedagogy.

Dr Nayalin Pinho Feller

Lecturer

Nayalin is a Lecturer in Early Childhood at the Gold Coast campus. With extensive experience across Brazil, the US, Portugal, Mexico, Maldives, and Australia, her areas of expertise centre around the teaching of units in both Early Childhood and Primary Teacher Education. Her research spans teacher education, multilingual pedagogy, curriculum design, translanguaging, and the diverse knowledge future teachers bring, with a strong commitment to inclusive and culturally responsive teaching.

Dr Christos Markopoulos

Acting Director of Higher Degree Research; Acting Doctor of Education Course Coordinator; Chair of Education Faculty Board; TeachLab Project Leader

Christos Markopoulos has extensive experience in teaching mathematics discipline as well as mathematics education for undergraduate and postgraduate education students. He has developed and taught Mathematical Content Knowledge units for pre-service teachers.

Dr Lewes Peddell

Senior Lecturer

Lewes Peddell is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Education with a focus on Mathematics Education. Prior to coming to Southern Cross in 2018, he was Director of Research, Learning and Enterprise at Canterbury College (QLD) where he also served as Director of Arts Academy, Acting Director of Curriculum and taught Music and Mathematics.

Dr Carla Valério

Lecturer

Carla is a PDHPE Lecturer and researcher with special interest in Physical Education Teacher Education innovative strategies of Teacher Professional Development. In the past few years, her research focus has been related to Social Learning Strategies and Student-centred Approaches.

Associate Professor Myrto Mavilidi

Associate Professor

Associate Professor Myrto Mavilidi is an ARC Discovery Early Career Research Award (DECRA) Fellow in Educational Psychology. Myrto's research focuses on designing school-based physical activity interventions for children and adolescents to enhance cognitive, learning, and psychosocial outcomes.

Dr Declan Forrester

Lecturer

Declan Forrester is a lecturer in educational psychology whose research investigates colour-emotion associations and how perceptual and contextual factors shape judgement and learning. He teaches in education and psychology, drawing on cognitive psychology to explain how attention, memory, and the brain work, and how teachers can apply these principles to create effective learning environments.

Associate Professor Belinda Davis

Associate Professor

I am an Associate Professor in Early Childhood Education. My research advocates for children’s rights from birth through equitable access to high quality education and care. I specialise in pre-service teacher education and infant–toddler pedagogy, focusing on transitions, reflective practice and supporting young children’s learning and development.

Dr Hoi Vo

Senior Research Fellow

Hoi Vo is a Vice-Chancellor Senior Research Fellow in the Faculty of Education. His research focuses on teaching and learning improvement, student engagement and motivation, and technology mediated learning. Hoi is passionate about applying quantitative methods in educational research. He currently serves as an Associate Editor for Current Psychology.

Dr David Ellis

Adjunct Senior Lecturer

David Ellis, Adjunct Senior Lecturer and Secondary Education Course Coordinator at Southern Cross University, has extensive secondary teaching experience and a PhD on technology teacher professional learning. His research focuses on social impact, teacher knowledge ecosystems, and communities of practice in Technologies, STEM, and Maker Education, driving innovative and collaborative approaches to education.

Patrick Bruck

Lecturer

Patrick Bruck is an Lecturer at Southern Cross University, Faculty of Education, Australia. He is enrolled in a Doctor of Education (EdD) at Southern Cross University with a focus on the teaching of proportional reasoning in Australian schools. Patrick has held numerous roles in Australia’s education sector, including as a teacher, Head of Department, Deputy Principal and Principal in high schools, predominantly in Queensland. He has also taught internationally in Asia and Europe.

Associate Professor Stacey Campbell

Associate Professor; Education Campus Coordinator (Brisbane Campus)

Stacey Campbell is a researcher specialising in literacy, language and teaching professional practice. Her interests include phonics, phonological and phonemic awareness, and oral language in early reading and writing development, as well as family-teacher partnerships. A registered Queensland primary teacher, Stacey has extensive experience in early childhood and primary education, and university pre-service teacher training.

Dr Reshma Musofer

Senior Lecturer in Education (Professional Experience)

Dr Reshma Musofer is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Education at the Gold Coast campus. Her research examines curriculum enactment and the contextual factors shaping classroom practice. With a background in secondary science teaching, she also researches science education in high schools. Her work focuses on students’ agentic engagement and inquiry learning, drawing on Bourdieu’s concepts of field, habitus and capital.

Dr Vanessa Miller

Lecturer

Dr Vanessa Miller, Lecturer in Education at Southern Cross University, specialises in classroom management and inclusive learning. With 30+ years’ experience across all education sectors, her research bridges theory and practice, focusing on wellbeing, teacher identity, participatory design, and innovative school-embedded teacher education models. Her doctoral work drew on Reggio Emilia principles to enhance student engagement and wellbeing.

Dr Sandy Nicoll

Lecturer

Dr Sandy Nicoll, Lecturer in Primary Education (English) at SCU, has 30+ years' experience in teaching, research, and mentoring. Her work focuses on social justice and inclusive education, supporting preservice and early career Teachers ' self-efficacy and diverse learners. She’s lectured internationally and researches how theory translates into classroom practice.

Dr Rose Mutuota

Lecturer

Rose Mutuota is a Lecturer in Inclusive and Special Education with extensive teaching experience from schools in both Australia & internationally. Her interdisciplinary research focuses on inclusive and special education, culturally responsive teaching, Indigenous methodologies and knowledges, Southern perspectives in research, and decolonising the curriculum. Her current research project explores issues of identity and belonging among marginalised groups within Australian academia.

Lee-Ann Ewing

Lecturer

Lee-Ann is a lecturer in the Faculty of Education at SCU. Before joining Monash in 2019, she was a primary school teacher, having taught for many years in two countries and four states. Lee-Ann holds an M. Ed from UWA and a B.A. from the University of South Africa.

Dr Alice Cranney

Acting Course Coordinator Undergraduate Secondary Education; Lecturer

Alice is a Lecturer in the Faculty of Education. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (Languages)(Hons) from the University of Sydney and a master’s and PhD in Education from UNSW. She has worked in secondary schools as a History, Spanish and English teacher in both NSW and QLD. Alice’s research focuses on the transformative nature of effective learning and the alteration of identity and perception that occur due to transnational experiences, intercultural communication, cultural and language learning.

Cathy Lembke

Associate Lecturer

Cathy Lembke is currently researching in the area of the impact of short-term immersion programs on the cultural competence of pre-service teachers, as part of a prospective PhD thesis. Cathy has recently been working on the North Coast Initiative for School Improvement.

Dr Anne Bellert

Adjunct Senior Lecturer

Anne Bellert is a teacher and researcher who is committed to achieving sustainable learning - Learning for all, teaching that matters, learning that lasts.

Adjunct Professor Bruce Knight

Adjunct Professor

Professor Knight has completed a great deal of study in teaching and learning, undertaking high impact applied research that leads to sustainable benefits for all students. He is a specialist in learning design and pedagogy to enhance participant outcomes across all forms of education and mental health. Professor Knight has successfully supervised 27 doctoral candidates and his areas of research have resulted in more than 200 peer-reviewed publications and completion of large research projects.

Adjunct Professor Richard Light

Adjunct Professor

Richard Light is Professor Emeritus at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, Adjunct Professor at Southern Cross University and a Visiting Professor at Waseda University, Japan. Professor Light has a teaching and coaching background in Australia and Japan and is well known for his innovative work on athlete centred coaching grounded in practice, such as his development of Positive Pedagogy for sports coaching. He is a leader in research on sport and physical education pedagogy.

Adjunct Professor Anthony Mackay

Adjunct Professor

Professor Mackay Anthony Mackay AM is Board Co‐Chair and immediate past CEO & President of the National Center on Education and the Economy, Washington DC.

Adjunct Associate Professor Jake Madden

Adjunct Associate Professor

Dr Jake Madden is an experienced school principal. With a leadership career over the last thirty years he has been building teacher capacity through the development of learning in the contemporary world, the promotion of flexible learning spaces to meet the needs of the 21st century learner and curriculum for global mindedness. As a proponent for teacher action research, Jake is widely published in this area, authoring books and journal articles showcasing his experiences and research.

Adjunct Professor Richard Smith

Adjunct Professor

Richard Smith has extensive experience in school and higher education education administration and governance and the development of innovations. He has a distinguished record in research, publication, postgraduate supervision and academic journal creation and editorship. His current academic and applied interests lie in the development of effective pedagogical practice and governance for uncertain times.

Adjunct Associate Professor Tony Yeigh

Adjunct Associate Professor

Tony Yeigh is an Adjunct Associate Professor (Faculty of Education) with a PhD in Educational Psychology. He has received numerous awards for his teaching and research, including a $10,000 DEST award for his PhD research design 2018, 2018 Teacher of the Year Award, and a 2020 Emerald Literati Award for outstanding research paper. He is skilled in intercultural communication, multi-modal research design, project supervision and applied pedagogy.