Theme: COUNTDOWN

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized (subject to certain rules and regulations).

Manning Clark Hall
153, University Ave, Acton, ACT
Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, 2601
Australia

Ankur Sharma

Lecturer

Ankur Sharma is a ‘Lecturer in Nanomaterial and Systems Engineering’ at the College of Engineering and Computer Science at the Australian National University (ANU). He received his Ph.D. in Photonics and Nanomaterial Engineering from ANU in 2019. His research included developing the first of its kind organic 2D semiconductor for future flexible and biodegradable electronic devices. His research focusses on developing the next generation electronic devices which will be completely biodegradable and preventing electronic waste from harming the environment. Ankur’s work has been published in top tier journals such as Nature and Advanced Materials and research outcomes have been covered by over 300 media outlets around the world. Ankur has been invited by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, City of Sydney council, and other many other organizations to present his work at international trade, business, and environment summits.

Christian Downie

Fellow

Christian Downie is an Australian Research Council DECRA Fellow in the School of Regulation and Global Governance at the Australian National University. He was previously a Vice Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of New South Wales. Christian has worked as a foreign policy advisor to the Australian Government’s Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and a climate policy advisor to the Department of Climate Change. Christian holds a PhD in international relations and political science from the Australian National University, having graduated from the University of Sydney with first class honours in economics. He has spent time teaching or researching at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the London School of Economics and Political Science and the Balsillie School of International Affairs among others. His latest book is Business Battles in the U.S. Energy Sector: Lessons for a clean energy transition

Katerina Teaiwa

Associate Professor

Katerina was born and raised in Fiji and is of Banaban, I-Kiribati (Tabiteueuan), and African American descent. She was founder and convener of the Pacific Studies teaching program at ANU, founder of the ANU Pasifika outreach program, and co-founder and co-chair of the ANU Family Friendly Committee. She is now Associate Professor and Deputy Director Higher Degree Research Training in the School of Culture, History and Language, and Chair of the Oceania Working Party of the Australian Dictionary of Biography. Katerina contributes to public discussion on Pacific regional, cultural and environmental issues including climate change; her writing has been published in the Conversation, Sydney Morning Herald, the Guardian, ABC Drum, Foreign Affairs and Australian Outlook. She has been a consultant with the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, UNESCO and DFAT on cultural policy, gender and sustainable development, and Austraining International.

Robyn Alders

Scientist

Robyn Alders is a Senior Consulting Fellow with the Chatham House Centre for Universal Health, an Honorary Professor with the Development Policy Centre within the Australian National University and an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Infectious Disease and Global Health, School of Veterinary Medicine, Tufts University. For over 30 years, she has worked closely with family farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, SE Asia and Australia as a veterinarian, researcher and colleague, with an emphasis on sustainable food and nutrition security. Robyn’s current research and development interests include domestic and global food and nutrition security, One/Planetary Health, gender equity and Science Communication. She is also the Chair of the Kyeema Foundation and the Upper Lachlan Branch of the NSW Farmers’ Association.

Sarah Milne

Senior Lecturer

Dr Sarah Milne has worked on conservation and development issues for twenty years, both in Northern Australia and Southeast Asia. Although her initial training was in Engineering, she later gained her PhD in Geography from the University of Cambridge (2010). Sarah now specializes in the field of political ecology, which enables her to explore the politics of green intervention in practice, as well as complicated struggles over natural resources – as reflected in her current Australian Research Council funded project on “rupture” with colleagues at the ANU. The bulk of Sarah’s fieldwork has taken place in Cambodia, where global conservation organisations try to conserve forests and biodiversity. In this context, Sarah studies what happens in practice as market mechanisms like REDD+, for reducing emissions through the sale of forest carbon credits, are implemented on the ground.