Dr Nazanin Zadeh-Cummings
Associate Director, Research
Nazanin teaches in the Master’s of Humanitarian Assistance. Nazanin received her PhD from the City University of Hong Kong in 2018. Nazanin’s research interests include disaster management, humanitarian aid, humanitarian access, human rights, civil society, and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Dr Phil Connors
Centre Co-Founder, Course Director Graduate Certificate of Humanitarian Leadership
Dr Phil Connors is co-founder of the Centre for Humanitarian Leadership. Phil works across all the Centre’s educational programmes and is the course director for the Graduate Certificate of Humanitarian Leadership the Master of Humanitarian Assistance.
Sonia Brockington
Course Director Graduate Certificate of Humanitarian Health
A dietitian by background, Sonia started her career in clinical settings in Australia and the UK. She lectured at Deakin University in nutrition and dietetics for five years and has also completed missions as a nutritionist to South Darfur and East Timor.
Daniel McAvoy
Lecturer
Daniel lectures in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Deakin and teaches a range of core and elective units within the Masters of Humanitarian Assistance. Daniel brings over 20 years’ experience working and researching in humanitarian aid and international development, and joined Deakin after 6 years lecturing at the School of International Development at the University of East Anglia in the UK.
Elizabeth Irvine
Research Fellow
Elizabeth Irvine is a researcher in the Centre’s humanitarian health team with interests in climate change, global health security, emerging trends in global disease burdens and how these impact the provision of health care in emergency and low resource environments. Elizabeth is an occasional lecturer in the Master of Humanitarian Assistance programme.
Melanie Book
Humanitarian Strategic Foresight Research Analyst
Melanie joined the humanitarian sector in 2010, responding to emergencies throughout Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Most recently, she has played leadership roles in Save the Children’s responses to the Rohingya crisis, the Syrian crisis and Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.
Liz Thompson
Coordinator, Partnerships and Events
Liz leads the coordination of the Centre’s biennial Humanitarian Leadership Conference and other major events; and coordinates partnerships. Liz also provides high-level support for the Centre’s Research programs and is a member of the editorial team for the Humanitarian Leader, the Centre’s working paper series.
Nicole Muir
Communications Adviser
Nicole Muir is the Centre’s Communications Adviser. Nicole has over fifteen years’ experience in communications, media, and publishing, and has a speciality interest in managing social media channels, generating digital and print content and managing organisation brand identity.
Lois Meier
Learning Liaison Officer
Lois Meier is the Learning Liaison Officer for the Graduate Certificate of Humanitarian Leadership Francophone course. Lois is also the main point of contact for GCHL and GCHLF alumni in the Centre and is involved in creating and supervising an alumni engagement and mentoring strategy for GCHL/GCHLF graduates.
Wouter Schulten
Administration Officer
Holding a bachelor degree in Social Work, Wouter gained invaluable experience through his participation in several international humanitarian projects in Suriname, Haiti, Indonesia and India. His role provides high-level administrative support to the Centre, with a strong focus on documentation, engagement and communication.
Jamie Jaworski
Finance Manager
Jamie, a Chartered Accountant, provides strategic finance support to the finance and leadership teams. Prior to joining the Centre of Humanitarian Leadership, Jamie had been a Senior Auditor at PwC, then entered the humanitarian space as Senior Accountant at World Vision Australia.
