The Scholars Podcast - Conversations with Inspiring Leaders

On today’s episode, Justin interviews 2020 Chairman Circle’s John Monash Scholar, Eva Mackinley about the story behind why she founded The Last Straw, her biggest learnings from starting a global campaign, what it was like speaking at TedX, and her future career plans. Eva has worked in campaigning for social change across her professional career so far, starting initiatives in areas like internat...

On today’s episode, Justin speaks with 2017 Helen and Michael Gannon John Monash Scholar, Dr Ida Whiteman about how she got into medicine, her experience travelling all over the world, her time living in Darwin, why she chose to transition to paediatric medicine, and how she became a runner over lockdown. Ida holds an MBBS with honours from Monash University, a Diploma in Child Health from the Uni...

In this episode, Justin speaks with 2017 Australian Universities' John Monash Scholar, Zulpha Styer about what drew her to a career in public policy, what it was like studying a Masters of Public Administration at Columbia University, how she abruptly had to leave the US earlier this year because of COVID-19. Zulpha has a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of New South Wal...

On today’s episode, Justin speaks with 2017 Roth/Segal John Monash Harvard Scholar, Hannah Barber about how she got into childhood development, what it's like working at Harvard University, how Australia's public health measures in this space compare globally, and the potential impacts COVID-19 is having on young kids. Hannah holds a BA in Politics and International Studies, a Master of Teaching f...

On today’s episode, Justin speaks with 2015 Australian Cultural (Tim Fairfax AC and Australia Council of the Arts) John Monash Scholar and New York based filmmaker and composer, Alies Sluiter about how she got into filmmaking and composing, what it was like studying at Columbia University, and her advice for other aspiring filmmakers. Alies has recently received her Master of Fine Arts in Film fro...

On today’s episode, Justin speaks with 2007 John Monash Scholar, Dr Gemma Sharp about her academic journey, work in oncology and developing a first body image focussed chat-bot. Dr Gemma Sharp completed her MSc in the Department of Oncology at Cambridge University in 2010. Her research focused on identifying the cellular origin of the various types of breast cancers, and the tumour-initiating mech...

In this episode, Justin speaks with 2006 John Monash Scholar, Tim Trudgian about his academic journey work in mathematics, beliefs in work life balance and passion for cricket. Originally from Brisbane, Tim Trudgian obtained a DPhil in mathematics from Oxford in 2010. He returned to Canberra in 2012, after a two-year post-doc in Canada, as an ARC Early Career Research Fellow. He is currently an AR...

In this episode, Justin speaks with 2013 BHP John Monash Scholar, Jillian Kilby about her academic journey work in infrastructure advisory and passion for rural communities. Jillian has a Bachelor of Civil Engineering with First Class Honours, who was the Australian Young Professional Engineer of the Year and Sydney University's Young Alumni of the Year. She established her boutique infrastructure...

In this episode, Justin speaks with 2015 ANZAC Centenary John Monash Scholar, Dr Phoebe Williams about her work in paediatric and infectious diseases, interest in global health inequality and social determinants of health. Phoebe has an MBBS (Hons) from the University of Sydney, a BCom and BSci from the ANU, and Masters in Global Health Science with Distinction from Oxford. She was the founder of...

In this episode, Justin speaks with 2017 David Turner John Monash Scholar, Arlie McCarthy about her doctoral research addressing the potential risks posed by marine invasive species currently establishing in Antarctica. Arlie completed a Bachelor of Science (Zoology) and a Diploma in Languages (German) at the University of Melbourne and by final year was taking as many marine biology courses as po...

In this episode, Justin speaks with 2010 John Monash Scholar, Dr Sam Wills about working at the World Bank, being a government advisor and his academic journey. Sam is a research associate in the School of Economics at the University of Sydney; the Oxford Centre for the Analysis of Resource Rich Economies (OxCarre) at the University of Oxford; and the Centre for Applied Macroeconomic Analysis (CAM...

On today's episode, Justin Kelly speaks with 2016 Zelman Cowen John Monash Scholar, Michael Grebla about what life in New York lockdown is like, his academic background in engineering and music, his passion for composing and how he stays creative during a global pandemic. Michael is an international award-winning emerging composer from Western Australia based in New York City. With a deep convicti...