Stephen joined UTS in 2010 as a Lecturer in the School of Mathematical Sciences. Prior to this, he was a Research Associate at the University of Glasgow and also worked in private sector consultancy/analysis in London. In addition, he is now an Associate Member of the Climate Change Cluster (C3) at UTS.
His primary research interests lie in the application of mathematical models to describe biological and ecological systems. The main motivation behind his work is a drive to develop readily implemented solutions and models for pressing real-world problems in the biological and environmental sciences. As such, he works primarily in multidisciplinary teams alongside marine biologists, microbial ecologists and environmental engineers.
His research projects have covered a vast range of applications from improving the design and efficiency of wastewater treatment systems to understanding and modelling the growth of biofilms on riverbeds. Current research topics include modelling the biogeography around the Great Barrier Reef, calibrating and interpreting data from marine fluorescence meters and examining the effect of habitat loss upon fish behaviour in marine parks.
Stephen is a keen and committed teacher and has co-ordinated and taught subjects from the first year undergraduate level through to Honours. He has supervised research students at both the Honours and PhD level. Additional to his main duties at UTS, he is a frequent and enthusiastic contributor to High School outreach programs and widening participation schemes.
Stephen holds a PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of Glasgow (2007) and a MMath in Mathematics from the University of Oxford (2003).