Meet the team behind ELSA
Our team includes STEM-education specialists, researchers, learning scientists, developmental psychologists, data scientists and digital content experts.
Professor Tom Lowrie
Founder, Pedagogy Expert
Tom Lowrie started his career as a primary school classroom teacher and is now an internationally acclaimed mathematics and STEM education researcher. Tom is also the co-creator of the much-loved Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF).
His significant body of work spans 20+ years— focussing on the extent to which primary-aged students use spatial reasoning and visual imagery to solve mathematics problems, and the role and nature of graphics in mathematics assessment. More recently, he has investigated students’ use of digital tools and dynamic imagery to solve problems, and developed spatial curriculum for primary and secondary classrooms.
Tom’s research project funding in the past five years is in excess of $19 million. This has included five ARC Discovery Grants, the Early Learning STEM Australia (ELSA) project and a Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Government Partnerships for Development Grant. Tom also works closely with key industry partners, such the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), the World Bank, The Pearson Foundation and a number of education jurisdictions in Australia and overseas.
Dr Tracy Logan
Co-founder, Pedagogy Expert
Tracy specialises in mathematics education at the University of Canberra where she teaches mathematics education and STEM education to undergraduate early childhood and primary pre-service teachers.
Tracy’s research focuses on mathematics education. Her work investigates how students’ spatial reasoning is critical for success in mathematics (particularly in digital environments), and how spatial reasoning skills can be improved through targeted teaching.
Tracy undertook her PhD at the University of Canberra. Her thesis utilised a sophisticated framework to analyse both quantitative and qualitative data in order to investigate sustaining mathematics educational research through secondary data analysis.
Tracy is also a lecturer, teaching mathematics education and STEM education to undergraduate pre-service teachers.
Dr Victor Pantano
Board Chair
Victor Pantano was most recently Chief Executive Officer of the Digital Health Cooperative Research Centre – one of the largest CRCs in Australia.
Prior to this, Victor was Associate Vice President, Innovation and Strategy at the University of Canberra, General Manager at FEI Company, Chief Operating Officer at Lithicon AS, Chief Executive Officer at Digitalcore Pty Ltd, Director of Commercialisation at the Australian National University and Investment Director at ANU Connect Ventures.
Victor is currently founding director of Liquid Instruments Inc and formerly director of the Canberra Innovation Network and Epicorp Venture Fund Limited. Victor has over 20 years’ experience in business development, transformation and growth at the intersection of research and industry.
Professor Sandie Wong
Board Member
Sandie Wong is a Professor in early childhood education at Macquarie University.
Sandie conducts collaborative research with academics, early childhood organisations and practitioners, and governments, on early childhood practices, workforce issues and educator well-being.
Dr Ursula Stephens
Board Member
Ursula Stephens supports a number of social enterprises and community initiatives to promote life-long learning. She is the CEO of Australian Catholic Safeguarding Limited, and a Director of the Australian Centre for Non-Profit Studies at QUT.
Ursula mentors social entrepreneurs and changemakers in areas of human capital development.
Dr Kevin Larkin
Pedagogy Expert
Kevin Larkin started his career as a primary classroom teacher and spent 14 years as deputy principal. He now inspires the next generation of preschool and primary teachers as an Associate Professor (Mathematics Education) at Griffith University. He is a member of a number of research teams investigating: STEM education in early years education; mathematics education in primary and middle school contexts; and pre-service teacher mathematics education.
Kevin has published widely in national and international publications in the areas of mathematics education, digital technologies, early years STEM, higher education, and Activity Theory. He is a former editor of the Mathematics Education Research Journal (MERJ) and former Chief Editor of the International Journal for Mathematics Teaching and Learning (IJMTL). He is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Senior Fellow of the Griffith Learning and Teaching Academy, and a full member of the International Federation of National Teaching Fellows (INFTF).
Kevin has received numerous awards for his teaching including Griffith University Teacher of the Year in 2016, a National Citation for Inspiring Learning in 2017, and the Australian University Teacher of the Year Award in 2018.
Dr Ilyse Resnick
Pedagogy Expert
Ilyse undertook her PhD in Brain and Cognitive Sciences at Temple University, USA, within the Spatial Intelligence and Learning Center. Following this, Ilyse completed a highly competitive Institute of Education Sciences Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at the University of Delaware, USA, investigating cognitive development and applications in educational settings.
Ilyse’s program of research identifies and characterises the fundamental cognitive processes required in complex spatial and numerical reasoning. This involves her characterising when certain spatial and numerical skills emerge, how they develop, and what specific STEM tasks they support, in order to advance targeted, timely, and empirically driven STEM interventions.
A key research area is investigating how people reason about magnitudes and phenomenon outside of direct human experience (e.g. geologic time, nanoseconds).
Mr Matt Bacon
Associate Director – Operations
Matt is a qualified Industrial Designer and has more than 19 years’ experience in higher education. His work includes technology-enhanced learning, educational design, user experience design and curriculum development.
Matt obtained his Master of New Media Arts from the University of Canberra (UC). He also completed a Bachelor of Industrial Design at UC.
Matt has worked on and led research and development projects in augmented reality, virtual and mixed reality, learning spaces, design thinking and mobile learning.
Matt is also an experienced Project Manager, specialising in stakeholder engagement and management.
Ross Hope
Communications Manager
Ross specialises in all manner of digital content creation and editing. His skill set includes web content, search engine optimisation (SEO), writing and editing publications, social media campaigns, and working with visual media including videos and photos.
Ross completed a Master of Arts (by research) at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT). He also obtained a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Film and Television Production from QUT.
Ross has worked as a Programs Educator at QUT International College, a Web Content Editor for the Queensland Government, a travel writer for Flight Centre, a website creator for clients such as Powderfinger, and a copyright licencing assistant for the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA|AMCOS).
Our Values and Principals
Focus on wellbeing
We have the knowledge, experience and programs we need to make a genuine difference to the wellbeing of young children. We spark a child’s curiosity and passion for STEM, so they are better prepared for jobs of the future. We place teachers and educators at the centre of what we do, so they can foster a love of lifelong learning – for themselves and the children they teach. We prioritise the wellbeing of our team. The decisions we make allow our people to grow, thrive and feel empowered.
Make an impact on equity locally and globally
We work with partners to make quality STEM education accessible to all children. We commit to codesign with these partners so that children can see and apply their own culture and environment to STEM learnings. We know this is the number one driver for education success and make it central to all our programs.
Commit to excellence
We are proud to be world-leaders in the development and delivery of quality STEM education. We strive to maintain this position through best practice in teaching and learning, ongoing research, continuous improvement and program innovation.
Be collaborative
We know that respectful relationships are key. We understand that our programs only work if a team of passionate people come together to make it happen. Our expert team works collaboratively with our partners to develop high-impact programs that are effective across a range of learning environments.
Show empathy and care
We are empathetic in all that we do and welcome differences in opinion and points of view. We show genuine care for teachers, educators, partners and those within our team.