Our people

• Prof Richard Eccleston

Richard is a political scientist specialising in tax and budget politics. He is the founding Director of the Institute for the Study of Social Change.

• Dr Meredith Nash

Meredith Nash is a feminist sociologist who studies the depth and character of gender-based inequalities. She is Deputy Director of the Institute for the Study of Social Change.

• Prof Elaine Stratford

Elaine is an internationally renowned scholar in the fields of human geography and island studies, working at the interface of the social sciences and geohumanities. She is a researcher with the Institute for the Study of Social Change.

• Dr Lisa Denny

Lisa is a research fellow with the Institute for the Study of Social Change. As a demographer and quantitative researcher, Lisa provides independent demographic analysis at a state, regional and local level using multiple social and economic variables.

• Dr Kim Jose

Kim Jose is a research fellow with the Institute for the Study of Social Change and the Institute's Evaluation Manager. She is also a Post Doctoral Research Fellow at the Menzies Institute for Medical Research with an interest in the prevention and management of chronic disease.

• Dr Theresa Doherty

Theresa Doherty is a research fellow with the Institute for the Study of Social Change. She has extensive experience in the public and academic sectors and as a private consultant in policy analysis, research and program evaluation.

• Dr Susan Banks

Susan Banks is a senior research fellow with the Institute for the Study of Social Change, and a lecturer in the School of Social Sciences. An expert on the aged care sector, Susan also collaborates with researchers in the Menzies Institute for Medical Research, the College of Health and Medicine and the School of Law at the University of Tasmania.

• Sarah Hyslop

Sarah Hyslop is a project manager with the Institute for the Study of Social Change, who oversees the delivery of contract research programs related to topics including social services, health and tourism. Sarah’s background is in policy research and she is currently undertaking a Masters degree in Public Policy.

• Lachlan Johnson

Lachlan is the inaugural recipient of a joint PhD scholarship awarded by the University of Tasmania and the Department of Premier and Cabinet for research that addresses policy challenges affecting the state.

• Dr Julia Verdouw

Julia is a research fellow in the Housing and Community Research Unit (HACRU) in the School of Social Sciences. She brings a sociological lens to her work in housing research, which has focused on access to housing for marginalised groups including remote Indigenous tenants, people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, and social housing tenants.