I am currently a team leader at CSIRO, where we are developing probabilistic and generative machine learning methods for scientific discovery and experimental design. My current work centres on two threads: generative Bayesian optimisation for protein and molecular engineering, and causal inference and discovery from observational data.

On the generative optimisation side, my colleagues and I introduced Variational Search Distributions (VSD), which frames active generation of rare, high-fitness designs as variational inference over a generative prior. We extended this to multi-objective settings with Amortised Active Generation of Pareto Sets, and to a reward-model-free formulation in Generative Bayesian Optimisation, where a generative model itself plays the role of an acquisition function. These methods are being applied to real protein engineering tasks in collaboration with CSIRO’s synthetic biology groups.

On the causal side, I led a series of observational studies for an Australian school jurisdiction, quantifying how aspects of the school system and student well-being affect educational outcomes, including a study linking youth well-being to academic success published in Scientific Reports. More recently my work has moved toward causal discovery — learning causal graph structure from data. CaPE addresses the under-determination of DAG estimation by bringing a domain expert into the loop via Bayesian active learning, and Arrow is a transformer-based foundation model for zero-shot causal discovery that requires no task-specific training.

Earlier work includes large-scale spatial inference for natural-science problems — soil mapping, geochemistry, and depth-to-basement prediction — using the Landshark and Uncover-ML pipelines, and unsupervised probabilistic models for interpreting seafloor imagery collected by autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs).

I finished my PhD in July 2013 with the marine systems group at the Australian Centre for Field Robotics, which is in the University of Sydney. I have a Bachelor of Engineering (Mechatronics, honours 1) and Bachelor of Commerce (Finance), also from the University of Sydney.