Meet the Australia Faculty

Faculty in Residence

Each quarter, one Stanford professor serves as Faculty in Residence in each of the BOSP program locations. These faculty teach classes in their own disciplines, developing courses that incorporate unique features of the local culture and environment or that provide comparative perspectives on a particular topic. View a list of current and future faculty.

Local Faculty

Professor Kevin Arrigo

“As a biological oceanographer, my principal interest has been in the role marine microalgae play in biogeochemical cycling, with particular emphasis on the scales of temporal and spatial variability of microalgal biomass and productivity."

Associate Professor Ian Tibbetts

A marine biologist by trade, Ian is the founding Director of the International Programs Unit at the University of Queensland and oversees the direction of the Stanford Australia Program. Ian has considerable experience in program development and enjoys engaging with students in field research activities and following the development of their careers. With an extensive marine science background, Ian has published in diverse fields reflecting his general curiosity about marine life and in particular, the dynamic between evolution and action, addressing challenges to extant paradigms that his extensive field research has prompted. Ian coordinates the Coastal Ecosystem’s course taught on North Stradbroke Island at UQ’s Moreton Bay Research Station.

Dr. Selina Ward

Selina is a coral reef biologist who specializes in the ecology and physiology of coral reefs, in particular the stress responses of corals. Selina is the UQ Academic Program Coordinator of Stanford in Australia. Along with Kevin Arrigo, she coordinates the Coral Reef Ecology course on this program taught at Heron Island, as well as the Individual Research Project course. Selina is the Academic Director of the Herron Island Research Station, owned and operated by the University of Queensland (UQ). Selina relishes the opportunities presented by teaching at UQ’s great field stations, particularly Heron Island on the Great Barrier Reef.

Dr. Chris Salisbury

Chris is the coordinator of the Australian Studies: Society, History and Culture Down Under course on the program. Chris’ research interests include Australian, US and European history; state and federal politics and election campaigns; government policy-making; and political leadership. Chris’ teaching areas at UQ have included applied history, Australian history and politics, and Russian history. He has published research on Queensland politics, Australian social history, and the twentieth-century US and Polish history. He regularly provides media commentary on Australian politics and elections.

Dr Tobias Smith

Tobias (Toby) is the coordinator for the Terrestrial Ecology course taught on K’gari/Fraser Island. Toby is a passionate ecologist and educator, having completed his PhD on tropical bees at the University of Queensland, undertaking research in both Northern Australia and Central America. Toby’s research mostly focuses on one particularly fascinating group of bees, the stingless honeybees, found in tropical and subtropical parts of the world. Toby has a passion for bee-related teaching and science communication, running bee workshops for Schools and Universities, and has published a series of user-friendly taxonomic keys to make Australian bee identification more accessible to non-experts.