Our Staff

Associate Professor Michelle Barrett is a GP and Head of Clinical Skills at the ANU School of Medicine and Psychology, where she teaches Clinical Skills to 1st year medical students, with a particular interest in the art of eliciting the patient’s medical history. She has also been the principal of her suburban general practice for 23 years. For all of that time there have been medical students coming to learn at the practice.

Michelle is also a regular fly-in, fly-out, primary care physician for the Royal Flying Doctors Service, based out of Broken Hill. In the distant past she was medical officer in the Australian Army.

As Head of Scholars House, Michelle is supported by a terrific team of professional and academic staff to deliver an enriching and rewarding program for our Tuckwell Scholars, and to ensure our Program goes from strength to strength.

In her spare time she loves international travel and to catch up with her (grown up) children who live in Sydney.

Dr Fiona Scotney GAICD FATEM is the Director of the Tuckwell Scholarship Program. Fiona has worked as a secondary teacher and university tutor, and held management and leadership roles the public and tertiary sectors. She has a specific interest in learning and development, capability and leadership development, and scholarship programs. Fiona holds a Bachelor of Arts, Graduate Diploma in Learning and Teaching (Secondary), Master of Arts (English Studies), Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in the field of English, and Graduate Certificate in Business (Public Sector Management).

Fiona enjoys visiting art galleries and museums, modernist design and architecture, and reading Australian literature.

Lois Carlton is the Tuckwell Program Coordinator. Lois has worked as a secondary school teacher, taught at TAFE and has over twenty years' experience in student recruitment at both TAFE and The University of Melbourne. Her last role at the university was managing the development program in the Hansen Scholarship Program. One of the joys of her time at university was the opportunity to work closely with tertiary students. She is excited to be in Tuckwell Program as it will keep her in contact with bright young minds and amazing young people. Lois has relocated to Canberra to be closer to her family and her beautiful granddaughter. In her spare time, she likes to sew clothes for her and spends a lot of time reading the same book over and over again to her.

Kate Hutchison is the Tuckwell Alumni Coordinator, with a background in education that includes a Bachelor of Science and a Diploma of Education from Melbourne University. With nearly twenty years of experience in secondary education, she finds joy in helping students achieve their goals, particularly in Psychology and student management.

Kate is inspired by her students' successes and looks forward to collaborating with the Alumni group to support their aspirations. A former competitive rower, she represented Australia at the Under 23 World Championships, gaining a deep appreciation for hard work and perseverance, values she shares with the Tuckwell Program.

When not coordinating Alumni activities, Kate enjoys cheering for her two energetic boys at soccer fields and basketball stadiums across Canberra, celebrating both family life and community involvement.

Gita Raikar is the Communications and Engagement Officer of the Tuckwell Scholarship Program. 
Gita has held marketing and communications positions in the private and not for profit sectors in Brisbane and Canberra and has gained extensive experience in managing campaigns, projects and events, and loves to make connections and build relationships.

In her spare time Gita enjoys long walks with her family, taking her two children on bike rides on sunny Canberra days, and will never say no to a trip to the beach.

Associate Professor Mark Ellison is originally from Perth where he studied chemistry at The University of Western Australia and Murdoch University. He also did his PhD in Science Communication through the Centre for the Public Awareness of Science at The Australian National University. He was awarded the Pearson/RACI Centenary of Federation Educator of the year in 2011. Mark was awarded a 2012 citation for outstanding contributions to student learning as part of the Australian Government awards for University Teaching. 

In 1996 Mark won a Vice-Chancellor’s Excellence in Teaching Award at Murdoch University, and in 1999 was short listed in the Physical Sciences Category of the Australian Awards for University Teaching. From 2002-2004 Mark was Head of Science at Radford College, a coeducational independent Anglican School in Canberra. Mark is currently senior lecturer and First-Year Chemistry coordinator in the RSC at The Australian National University, as well as the Deptuy Associate Director (Education).

Emma Aisbett is an Associate Professor at the ANU School of Law and Associate Director (Research) for the ANU's Zero-Carbon Energy for the Asia-Pacific initiative.  She holds a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering (UNSW), Master of Environmental Change and Management (Oxon.) and PhD in Economics (UC Berkeley). Emma’s research spans economic globalisation, environmental policy, developing countries, and political economy. 

Her work on international investment agreements has influenced both policy and international debate and was recognised with the John Jackson Prize for advancing understanding of international economic law. On this topic Emma has been an invited expert at both the OECD and the UN Commission on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

Dr Maryna Bilokur is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Research School of Physics at the Australian National University, where she conducts research in the experimental plasma physics group. Having grown up in Ukraine, Maryna embarked on her PhD journey in Physics at the University of Technology Sydney in Australia in 2015, which paved the way for exciting interdisciplinary research opportunities around the globe at TU Ilmenau in Germany (visiting DAAD scholar), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), and the University of New South Wales. 

During her tenure at LBNL, Maryna served as a Berkley Lab Science Ambassador, where she engaged with local teachers to empower high school students from underrepresented communities and help them to excel in STEM subjects. 

Beyond her research commitments, Maryna is passionate about traveling, scuba diving, skiing, and jazz music.  

Dr Asilata Bapat is a Senior Lecturer, in the ANU Mathematical Sciences Institute. The School of Mathematical Sciences was established in 1989 with the aim of unifying activities in the mathematical sciences across The Australian National University. It was renamed the Mathematical Sciences Institute (MSI) in 2002. In June 2018, MSI moved into it's new, purpose built facility, the Hanna Neumann Building. Asilata received a PhD in June 2016 from the University of Chicago. Before coming to ANU, and was a postdoc at the University of Georgia. 

Her research interests are focused on problems in representation theory and algebraic geometry. Asilata is also most interested in the topology and geometry of algebraic varieties arising from representation theory. Specific topics of interest include perverse sheaves, quiver varieties, equivariant cohomology, and Bernstein-Sato polynomials.

The Program is grateful for the support provided by staff across ANU and supporters around the nation, many of whom contribute to our community by attending events or participating in our scholar selection process.

We are grateful to call former ANU Vice-Chancellor Professor Brian P. Schmidt AC FAA FRS an honorary alum of the program, due to his ongoing engagement and long association with the Tuckwell Scholarship Program.  

We'd like to acknowledge Associate Professor Ryan Goss, for his years of service and dedication to the Program. Ryan was the Head of Scholars House for the Tuckwell Scholarship Program between 2019-2024. 

Ryan is an Associate Professor at the ANU Law School.  At the Law School, Ryan writes and teaches about constitutional law and human rights law. Ryan came to the ANU after undergraduate degrees at the University of Queensland and postgrad at the University of Oxford, where he studied with the support of a Rhodes Scholarship. 

Alongside his ANU work, Ryan takes a great interest in the Brisbane Broncos, history and politics, far too many podcasts, and entertaining his two young children.