Media Experts
 Dr Michael Wesley - Executive Director
Expertise: Australia-Asia relations, Asia regional relations, Australia foreign policy, Energy security issues
Michael Wesley is the Executive Director of the Lowy Institute for International Policy. Previously he was Professor of International Relations and Director of the Griffith Asia Institute at Griffith University. Prior to this, he was the Assistant Director-General for Transnational Issues at the Office of National Assessments, and a Senior Lecturer in International Relations at the University of New South Wales. Dr Wesley is a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution
Contact: director@lowyinstitute.org
 Martine Letts - Deputy Director
Expertise: Australian nuclear policy, Nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, Multilateralism, International humanitarian law
Martine Letts joined as Deputy Director of the Lowy Institute for International Policy in January 2005 following 4 years as the Secretary General (CEO) of Australian Red Cross and a 17-year career with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. In her career at DFAT, Martine served as Australian Ambassador to Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. She has also served as the Deputy Head of Mission and as the Australian Deputy Permanent Representative to the IAEA in Vienna, specialising in arms control and disarmament on postings in Geneva and Vienna.
Contact: mletts@lowyinstitute.org
 Linda Jakobson - Program Director, East Asia
Expertise: China: foreign and security policy, China’s domestic stability/politics, Regional security in North East Asia, China-US relations, Japan/Korea foreign policy relations
Prior to joining the Lowy Institute, Linda served as Director of the China and Global Security Programme and Senior Researcher at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). From 1998 to 2009 she worked as the Director of the China Program and Senior Researcher at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA). Linda is a Mandarin speaker and has lived and worked in China for close to 20 years. She has published six books on Chinese and East Asian Society.
Contact: ljakobson@lowyinstitute.org
 Dr Michael Fullilove - Program Director, Global Issues
Expertise: Australian foreign policy, US foreign policy and politics, the Obama administration, United Nations
Previously, Michael worked as a lawyer and an adviser to Prime Minister Paul Keating. Michael graduated in international relations and law from the Universities of Sydney and New South Wales, with dual university medals. He also studied as a Rhodes Scholar at the University of Oxford, where he took a master's degree in international relations and wrote his doctorate on Franklin D. Roosevelt's foreign policy. Michael is a Non Resident Senior Fellow in Foreign Policy at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC.
Contact/Social Media: mfullilove@lowyinstitute.org, twitter: @mfullilove
 Mark Thirlwell - Program Director, International Economy
Expertise: International macro economics – world economy, Financial institutions – G-20, IMF, WTO, International financial crises, Rise of Brazil and China, Trade
Mark began his career as an economist in the Bank of England's international divisions, where he focused mainly on emerging market issues. He subsequently joined JP Morgan, where he was a vice president in the economic research department with responsibility for Central and Eastern Europe. Before joining the Lowy Institute, Mark was senior economist at the Australian Export Finance and Insurance Corporation from 1999 to 2003, where he worked on country risk issues, with a particular emphasis on East Asia. Mark is a graduate of Cambridge University and has an MPhil degree in economics from Oxford.
Contact: mthirlwell@lowyinstitute.org
 Rory Medcalf - Program Director, International Security
Expertise: Asian security and Indo-Pacific maritime security, Indian foreign policy, Australia–India and China-India relations, nuclear arms control, Australian foreign/defence/security policy.
Rory’s professional background spans intelligence analysis, journalism and diplomacy. He has worked as a senior strategic analyst and Asia specialist with the Office of National Assessments. His experience as an Australian diplomat included a posting to New Delhi, a secondment to Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and truce monitoring on the Pacific island of Bougainville. He has contributed to three landmark reports on nuclear arms control including the Canberra Commission. He closely follows Australia’s relations with India and convenes high-level ‘track 1.5’ dialogues between the two countries. His work on Asian maritime security tensions has received wide international interest from governments and media.
Contact/Social Media: rmedcalf@lowyinstitute.org, twitter: @Rory_Medcalf
 Jenny Hayward-Jones - Program Director, The Myer Foundation Melanesia Program
Expertise: Politics in the Pacific, Australian foreign policy in the Pacific, Economic developments in Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Fiji and Vanuatu, Fijian politics
Jenny was an officer in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for thirteen years, serving in the Australian missions in Port Vila and in Ankara, where she was Deputy Head of Mission from 2004 to 2007. She worked as Policy Adviser to the Special Coordinator of the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands from its inception in July 2003 and in 2004 and was a member of the election monitoring delegation in Solomon Islands in 2001. Jenny holds a BA (Hons) in political science from Macquarie University; her Masters thesis for Monash University focused on governance and political change in Vanuatu.
Contact: jhayward-jones@lowyinstitute.org
 Anthony Bubalo - Program Director, West Asia
Expertise: Australian policy in the Middle East, Islamism, China-Middle East connections, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Israel and Palestinian territories
Before joining the Lowy Institute Anthony was an officer in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) for thirteen years. He has served in Australian diplomatic missions in Saudi Arabia and Israel and was Senior Middle East Analyst with the Office of National Assessments from 1996 to 1998. From 2002-2003 he was director of the Policy and Coordination Unit of the Australian government's Iraq Task Force, and immediately prior to joining the Lowy Institute Anthony was DFAT's Senior Speechwriter.
Contact: abubalo@lowyinstitute.org
 Sam Roggeveen - Fellow and Editor of The Interpreter
Expertise: US politics and foreign policy, liberalism and conservatism, online political debate, Australian defence policy, ballistic missile defence.
Sam is founding editor of the Lowy Institute’s influential international policy blog, The Interpreter, and he closely follows online political debate in the United States and around the Asia Pacific.
Sam was a senior strategic analyst in Australia's peak intelligence agency, the Office of National Assessments, where his work dealt mainly with nuclear strategy and arms control, ballistic-missile defence, North Asian strategic affairs and WMD terrorism. Sam also worked on arms control policy in Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs, and as an intelligence analyst in the Defence Intelligence Organisation.
Contact: sroggeveen@lowyinstitute.org, blog: www.lowyinterpreter.org
 Fergus Hanson - Director of polling and research fellow
Expertise: China in the Pacific, Polling, E-diplomacy, War crimes, Indonesia-Australian relations, DFAT reform
Fergus has a Masters in International Law from the University of Sydney and his published thesis focused on regional stability in the Pacific. Fergus worked for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) from 2004 to 2007. From 2005 to 2007 he served at the Australian Embassy in The Hague where he was responsible for Australia’s relations with five international legal organisations and domestic political issues. In 2011, he was awarded a 2011 Professional Fulbright scholarship to pursue research on e-diplomacy and the use of opinion polling by foreign ministries.
Contact/Social Media: fhanson@lowyinstitute.org, twitter: @FergusHanson
 Annmaree O’Keeffe - Research Fellow
Expertise: International development and aid, Public diplomacy and international broadcasting, PNG and The Pacific, International health issues (HIV/AIDS), International issues affecting indigenous peoples, Arctic
Annmaree is a research fellow at the Lowy Institute. She previously worked with AusAID from 1986 to 2009; her various positions included Deputy Director General and Ambassador for HIV/AIDS. She has served as Australia’s Ambassador to Nepal and was Minister-Counsellor for Development Assistance in Papua New Guinea. Before joining AusAID, Annmaree worked for the International Committee of the Red Cross as their international editor based in Geneva.
Contact: aokeffee@lowyinstitute.org
 Alex Oliver - Research Fellow
Expertise: Resourcing and structure of Australia’s diplomacy; public diplomacy & consular affairs in Australia and internationally; pathways to leadership in the Pacific (East Timor, Samoa and Papua New Guinea); international broadcasting – the Australian Network
Alex has bachelor degrees in Law and Science and the University Medal in Law from the University of New South Wales. Alex was a solicitor for ten years before joining the Institute in 2007. Alex recently co-authored the study Diplomatic Disrepair, a major review of Australia’s diplomatic infrastructure. Alex is also currently conducting the Institute's research on leadership and has been awarded an Australian Research Council grant in conjunction with Griffith University and Yale University.
Contact: aoliver@lowyinstitute.org
 James Brown - Military Associate
Expertise: Australian Defence Force, Defence policy and operations, Afghanistan, Iraq, Solomon Islands, Regional militaries
James Brown served as an officer in the Australian Army prior to joining the Lowy Institute. He commanded a cavalry troop in Iraq, was attached to Special Forces in Afghanistan, and received a commendation for his work in the Solomon Islands. He also served as an instructor at the Army’s Combat Arms Training Centre and as an operational planner at the Australian Defence Force Headquarters Joint Operations Command. James studied economics at the University of Sydney and completed graduate studies in strategy at the University of New South Wales.
Contact/Social Media: jbrown@lowyinstitute.org, twitter: @captaincubes
For general media queries please contact:
Stephanie Dunstan
Tel: +61 2 8238 9040
Email: sdunstan@lowyinstitute.org |
