My journey actually started back in 2018, when I joined the Matilda Centre as a Research Program Officer. I stayed on to do a PhD with Profs Cath Chapman, Nicola Newton and Matthew Sunderland. My PhD focused on the structure and development of adolescent psychopathology and associations with personality – essentially, trying to understand how personality contributes to mental health and substance use problems as young people grow up, and how we can leverage these links for prevention. 

After finishing my PhD, I headed to Canada for a postdoctoral role at the Université de Montréal with Prof Patricia Conrod, and I've now come full circle, returning to the Matilda Centre as a Research Fellow. It’s so nice to return somewhere that feels familiar, while also getting to work with new people at the Centre and develop the next stage of my research.  

I had an awesome experience in Canada and learned a huge amount, both professionally and personally. But I had always imagined eventually coming back to Australia. After surviving three Canadian winters, it felt like a pretty good time to come home. I was missing family and friends, and – if I’m being honest – good coffee!  

Professionally, I was also really excited to bring everything I'd learned in Canada back to the Matilda Centre, and to keep building on the collaborations I'd developed while I was away.  

I'm going to switch this one out — Canadian geese versus bin chickens is the real contest. And honestly, Canadian geese win (or lose, depending how you look at it). They're bigger, angrier, and genuinely look like they could take you in a fight. Our bin chickens are cheeky, but at least they're not squaring up to you on the footpath. 

I'm really excited to build the next stage of my research program, particularly around personalised prevention and early intervention for youth mental health. I'll be working with Cath Chapman and Tim Slade on some fun psychiatric epidemiology projects and continuing to collaborate with colleagues in Canada on the C-PIP Reference Cohort (protocol paper coming soon!) and on a self-guided, AI-assisted prevention program for anxiety and related mental health problems.  

Outside of work, I’m looking forward to being closer to family and friends (and pugs), decent coffee, and not having to mentally prepare myself to leave the house when it’s -25°C.