Our Team
The postgraduates and early career researchers from the SHAPS Engagement Team create and curate content for Forum, including writing articles, interviewing our guests, updating the site, and researching new stories.
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Carmelina Contarino is an Honours student in the History & Philosophy of Science program. Her thesis explores scientific methodology through understanding researcher’s perceptions of exploratory research. Carmelina is interested in how perception of exploratory modes forms part of the research cycle, its impact on epistemic iteration and the self-correcting nature of science. Carmelina is also […]
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Madeline (she/her) is communications professional and emerging conservator currently completing the Master of Cultural Materials Conservation at the Grimwade Centre. In 2019 she completed a BA at Monash University with a double major in Media and Communications, and Film and Screen Studies, and in 2021 completed the Executive Master of Arts at the University of […]
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Rachelle Madden is an undergraduate student studying History and Philosophy of Science. With 30 years of experience in advertising and marketing, Rachelle recently returned to university to pursue her love of all things science through the HPS Program.
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Leo Palmer is graduate researcher in the field of Classics. His current thesis examines fifth-century Athenian democracy in its social, political and religious context, and makes the case for a complex, gradual evolution of Greek democracy, rather than viewing it as a product of revolution. Leo’s Honours thesis investigated the social functions and origins of […]
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Seka Binaramali Seneviratne is a PhD candidate at the Grimwade Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation at the University of Melbourne, where she is building her PhD research project based on ‘Biodeterioration Methodologies and Their Effect on Painting Surfaces in the Asia Pacific Region’. Her research focuses on understanding the positive and challenging effects of microbial […]
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Noah Wellington is a PhD candidate in Classics & Archaeology. His current research focuses on a tradition of women’s subversive discourse in ancient Greek literature from the Archaic through Hellenistic periods. Noah’s Honours thesis explored liminal gender identities in Athenian male youth and their repercussion on Athenian literature and politics and was a winner of […]
Previous Team Members
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Coming from Denmark, Christian holds a BA in History, an MA in Ancient History, and is presently a PhD Candidate in Classics & Archaeology. Christian’s research focuses on elite senatorial women in the Late Roman Republic (c133–27 BCE) and their perceived and real influence on the socio-political environment in the times of civil wars, political […]
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Becky Clifton completed her PhD in Classics and Archaeology at the University of Melbourne in 2019. Her research centred diverse expressions of identity in the art and literature of the Amarna Period in Egypt and she has a particular interest in how modern Western cultural expectations surrounding gender and sexuality impact the histories we write […]
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Nicole Davis received her PhD from the University of Melbourne in 2023. Her thesis examined the social history of the shopping arcade in nineteenth-century Australia from a transnational perspective. She is a member of the Melbourne History Workshop based at the university, and a Research Fellow in history and sociology of education and qualitative data […]
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Henry Dobson is a current PhD candidate in Philosophy. After completing his Master’s degree at Monash University in 2016, he moved to the UK where he lived for two years while working in the technology industry. It was during this time that he learnt about the increasing concerns with AI technology and the possible negative […]
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Hailing from Lancaster, UK, Ash Finn completed both a BA and an MA in Manchester before relocating to Melbourne to start a PhD in 2019. Approaching legal history through social history, Ash’s thesis examines Roman social attitudes towards violence and revenge, and how these influenced the development of the penal system: arenas, lions, beatings and […]
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Samara Greenwood is a PhD candidate in the History and Philosophy of Science program. Her thesis explores how changes in social context affect scientific work. The project involves analysing varied historical episodes to establish the multiple ways contextual changes have come to impact science. In particular, Samara is interested in how the rising social status […]
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Elena Heran is a PhD Candidate in Classics & Archaeology. Her thesis centres around the treatment of male and female characters in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, examining the ways in which the poet’s fascination with Roman male anxieties, such as fatherhood, desire, reputation, and the transition from boy to man, leads to the oversimplification and marginalisation of […]
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James is a PhD student in History, with his thesis examining Australian anti-fascism from the 1920s into the post World War Two period. He is currently treasurer of the History Postgraduate Association (2021–present), editor of the Melbourne Historical Journal and volunteer at the New International Bookstore.
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Tom is an PhD candidate in archaeology researching the applications of digital representations of heritage in fostering public engagement with the past. He works as a practicing commercial archaeologist and photogrammetrist in Victoria, with experience on research projects in Italy and Israel. He has worked as a research assistant with the Melbourne-based VR heritage creator […]
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Nayree’s research concerns twentieth-century Middle Eastern and US diplomatic history. Post-war Lebanon is also a subject of interest, especially memory and reconciliation practices that have occurred since the end of the country’s second civil war (1975–1990). Nayree’s MA focused specifically on apologies given for civil war atrocities in Lebanon and she has published issues concerning […]
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Hailing from Narbolia (Italy), Laura Pisanu completed her BA, MA, and Scuola di Specializzazione in Beni Archeologici (8 level in the European Qualification Framework) at the University of Cagliari before starting a PhD in Melbourne in 2021. Focusing on the Bronze and Iron Age, Laura’s thesis examines factors that might have influenced the human occupation […]
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Henry Reese is a historian and musician based in Melbourne. He completed his PhD at the University of Melbourne in 2019. He is currently writing the first cultural history of sound recording in Australia and working as a tutor and research assistant at various universities. Henry produces and mixes the audio, and writes the original […]
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Samantha Rogers is a student of the Grimwade Centre’s Master of Cultural Materials Conservation. She has an interest in paper and object conservation and community heritage advocacy and engagement. She has a Master of Ancient History from Macquarie University and a BA (Hons) in History from Monash University. Samantha is a qualified secondary teacher specialising […]
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Carl Joseph Sciglitano is a graduate student in the History & Philosophy of Science program. After completing his Master’s degree in Science (Astronomy) at Swinburne University in 2018, Carl became interested in how scientists extend their epistemic gaze through technology, be it a telescope or a complex computer algorithm. It is this broad area that […]
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Gen is an emerging conservator studying at the Grimwade Centre. She has an interest in the application of conservation to archaeology and studies of provenance and is currently writing her thesis on the investigation of metrology within the University of Melbourne’s Middle Eastern Manuscript Collection. By understanding how and with what units of measurements these […]
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Jonathan is a PhD student in History, researching the role of militarised student organisations in the development of post-independence Indonesia. He is interested in histories of student activism and the role of youth in national development, within both militarised and non-militarised settings. Jonathan is also a current member of the Melbourne Historical Journal collective.