The following profiles showcase the diverse expertise and current projects of our researchers.
Research Narrative: Morgan’s research examines the ethics of emerging technologies. This includes: the ethics of virtual actions, exploring how moral judgments apply to wrongdoing in digital environments; the ethical implications of advanced artificial intelligence, including questions about autonomy, governance, and human–AI relations; and, professional responsibilities in the face of emerging technologies such as workplace surveillance.
Representative publications:
Collaborators: Steve Clarke (CSU); Will Tuckwell (CSU); Chris Bartel (Appalachian State); Thomas Montifore (CSU, Macquarie); Daniel Cohen (CSU)
Research Narrative: Emma is an applied ethicist specialising in interdisciplinary collaboration with social work, health and human services.
Representative publications:
Current Grants: With CSU colleague Dr Monica Short, Emma was a chief investigator on Addressing the need for effective recruitment, retention, and wellbeing of non-government organisation rural mental health staff: A pilot study ($34,995 - July 2024-June 2025), funded by NSW Health through The Peregrine Centre as part of the Rural Mental Health Partnership Grant​. Outputs for industry (research translation) include:
Collaborators: Monica Short, Ella Dixon, Nicola Ivory, Rohena Duncombe, Sarah Redshaw, Elizabeth Wulff, Larissa Bamberry, Katrina Gersbach, Debbie Clatworthy, Andrew Prevett
Research Narrative: Steve is Professor of Philosophy in the School of Social Work and Arts and Director of the Master of Ethics and Legal Studies. He is also a Research Associate of the Uehiro Oxford Institute, University of Oxford. He is currently a lead investigator on an ARC-funded grant on ‘The Ethics of Voluntary Assisted Dying: Promoting Constructive Debate’. He works on a broad range of topics in practical philosophy, applied ethics and bioethics.
Representative publications:
Current Grants: Australian Research Council Discovery Grant, DP240102614: ‘The Ethics of Voluntary Assisted Dying: Promoting Constructive Debate’. Clarke, S., Savulescu, J., Kennett, J. and Symons X. $553,139 (2024-2027).
Collaborators: Jeanette Kennett (Macquarie), Morgan Luck (CSU), Justin Oakley (Monash), Jonathan Pugh (Oxford), Julian Savulescu (NUS), Xavier Symons (Notre Dame), Will Tuckwell (CSU), Dominic Wilkinson (Oxford), Tessa Holzman (CSU)
Project Narrative: Daniel's research focuses on moral responsibility theory and applied ethics, with particular emphasis on agency, free will, and the intersection of philosophical theory with real-world policy challenges. His work spans foundational questions about responsibility and blame, empirical philosophy investigating the psychology of moral judgment, and applied ethics addressing contemporary issues including intoxication and criminal responsibility, academic integrity, and population ethics. He collaborates extensively across disciplines, particularly with psychology colleagues, to bridge theoretical insights with practical applications.
Representative publications:
Collaborators: Lauren Saling (RMIT), Mary Walker (La Trobe), Morgan Luck (CSU), Will Tuckwell (CSU), Wylie Breckenridge (UNSW)
William Tuckwell
PhD, University of Melbourne, 2021
Research Narrative: Will is a Lecturer in philosophy at Charles Sturt University (CSU). Before becoming a lecturer, he was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Future of the Professions Research Group at CSU. Prior to joining CSU he was a Society for Applied Philosophy Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne. He completed his PhD at the University of Melbourne in December 2021 where he wrote a thesis about the relationship between epistemic contextualism and power. His primary research interests are in applied ethics (especially ethics in the university), epistemology, and social and political philosophy.
Representative publications:
Recent Grants: 2022 Society for Applied Philosophy Postdoctoral Scholarship
Collaborators: Mark Alfano (Macquarie) Steve Clarke (CSU), Daniel Cohen (CSU), Holly Lawford-Smith (University of Melbourne), Paul-Mikhail Catapang Podosky (Macquarie), Shang Long Yeo (NUS)
Research narrative: Tessa’s research is focused around end-of-life ethics, with a particular emphasis on ethical debate surrounding voluntary assisted dying. She is currently working with Steve Clarke on the project “The Ethics of Voluntary Assisted Dying: Promoting Constructive Debate”. Tessa has previously also been involved in projects focusing on the ethics of mitochondrial donation, and research involving stemcell-based embryo models.
Representative publications:
Collaborators: Steve Clarke (CSU), Julian Savulescu (NUS), Madeleine Archer (QUT), Julian Koplin (Monash), Neera Bhatia (Deakin)
Research narrative: Tom’s research focuses on ethical issues concerning emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), synthetic meat, virtual reality, video games and social robots. Tom is currently a postdoctoral fellow at both Charles Sturt University (CSU), working on AI ethics, and Macquarie University, working on an ARC-funded grant investigating AI and creativity. Tom is also a team member on a project funded by Meta Platforms investigating the ethics of facial tracking technology in virtual reality applications, and a member of the Macquarie University Ethics and Agency Research Centre, through which he has been funded to empirically investigate moral attitudes regarding the consumption of synthetic human meat.
Representative Publications:
Recent Grants: Tom is currently a CI on a Macquarie University Ethics and Agency Research Centre grant - Empirically Investigating the Ethics of Lab-Grown Food and Drinks
Collaborators: Morgan Luck (CSU); Paul Formosa (Macquarie); Paul-Mikhail Catapang Podosky (Macquarie); Chris Bartel (Appalachian State); Vince Polito (Macquarie); John Goris (Macquarie)
Michael Shepanski
PhD, University of Sydney, 1992
Research narrative: Michael’s research is in epistemology, the philosophy of W. V. Quine, and the intersection of zetetic epistemology with decision theory. He works on these topics as an adjunct lecturer at Charles Sturt University (CSU), and his current project is a paper on Quine’s doctrine of the inscrutability of reference, for a forthcoming volume, The Quinean Mind (Gary Kemp and Andrew Lugg, eds., Routledge).
Representative Publications:
Research Narrative: Suzanne is Adjunct Professor of Philosophy in the School of Social Work and Arts. Her research addresses topics in applied philosophy, moral and political philosophy, and philosophy of law. Suzanne has worked in philosophy departments in Australia and England and has held research fellowships at the University of St. Andrews, Harvard University, and the University of Stirling. She has served as Chief Editor of the Journal of Applied Philosophy and is currently a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Applied Philosophy and the Journal of Medical Ethics.
Representative publications:
Collaborator: David Archard (Queen’s University Belfast)
Research Narrative: Graeme is an Adjunct Research Fellow in the School of Social Work and Arts whose work spans epistemology, applied ethics, and philosophy of religion. His current research connects issues in epistemology with questions concerning the justification of theistic belief.
Representative publications:
Christopher Bartel
PhD, King's College London, 2007
Research Narrative: Chris is an Adjunct Research Fellow in the School of Social Work and Arts working in aesthetics, philosophy of art, and ethics, with particular focus on video games and digital media. His research examines the ethical dimensions of virtual actions, the aesthetic properties of digital art forms, and questions about violence and moral responsibility in interactive media.
Representative publications:
Collaborators: Morgan Luck (CSU); Thomas Montefiore (CSU, Macquarie)
Tamara Kayali Browne
PhD, University of Cambridge, 2013
Research Narrative: Tamara is an Adjunct Research Fellow in the School of Social Work and Arts specializing in health ethics, feminist bioethics, and philosophy of psychiatry. Her research examines psychiatric classification systems, reproductive autonomy, and the intersection of gender and mental health. She investigates ethical issues in sex selection, the medicalization of women's experiences, and questions of authenticity in mental health treatment.
Representative publications:
Collaborators: Steve Clarke (CSU); Tereza Hendl (Macquarie); Emma Kendal (Deakin); Christopher Gyngell (Murdoch Children's Research Institute)
