SSA NSW: Early Career and Student Statisticians Career Event 2025

The New South Wales branch of the Statistical Society of Australia warmly invites all undergraduate, postgraduate, and early career statisticians and data scientists to attend our annual Early Career and Student Statisticians event on Thursday, 9 October 2025, from 6:00–8:00 pm

The Bevery Room, Courtyard Restaurant and Bar, University of Sydney

This year, we are delighted to host an inspiring line-up of early and mid-career speakers, spanning academia, government, and industry. They will share what they have learned, achieved, and enjoyed in their careers, as well as the challenges, surprises, and insights that have shaped their journeys.

Each speaker will give a short 5-minute talk, followed by a networking session with catering and drinks provided. This is a unique opportunity to connect with peers and professionals in a relaxed setting.

This event is generously sponsored by the School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences at the University of Technology Sydney. 

Registration

• Free for SSA members.

• $20 for non-members.

• Reminder: non-member students can join SSA NSW for $20 per year, which allows free entry to this event.

Meet our speakers

James holds a PhD in Statistics from UTS, and has held several roles across a number of different fields, including genetics, clinical trials, aerospace, marketing, and HR. His current endeavour is to improve and expand on his people and project management skills, which he hopes will assist with his industry focused career ambitions in the future, whilst continuing to learn about new data and statistical analysis techniques.

Gabriela Nodari – Research Manager, Reserve Bank of Australia

Gabriela leads a small team focused on DSGE modelling to support macroeconomic policy analysis. She holds a PhD in Economics and has a deep passion for understanding the forces that shape the macroeconomy. Gabriela’s work bridges academic research with practical policy applications. Her near-term professional goal is to strengthen the role of economic modelling in evidence-based policy making.

Rhydwyn McGuire – Manager, Advanced Analytics, NSW State Insurance Regulatory Authority

Rhydwyn is a biostatistician who currently leads an analytics team at SIRA. His academic background is in computer science and mathematics, and he has completed a Master of Biostatistics, supported by NSW Health. His professional experience spans infectious diseases, environmental health, and open data, with his current focus on accident epidemiology. He has a particular interest in the development of robust data systems and the advancement of research utilising administrative data. His expertise lies at the intersection of data science and public health analytics.

Nicole Mealing – Statistical Communicator, Senior Biostatistician and Data Coach, Simplify Stats

Following over 15 years of experience as a biostatistician across the public sector, academia and private institutions, Nicole is now an unintentional business owner. She founded Simplify Stats to provide bespoke training, mentoring, and statistical consulting services. Her expertise is in crafting messages for diverse audiences. Prior to this role she worked in the public health field, analysing administrative data and designing studies. She is a passionate educator and has taught at almost every university in Sydney. Nicole has both a PhD and Masters in Biostatistics and a Bachelor of Science (Advanced Mathematics). Nicole’s professional goal is to work on meaningful projects and to have a healthy life-work balance.

Alexandra (Ali) Green – Statistical Consultant, Sydney Informatics Hub, University of Sydney

Ali supports researchers across a wide range of disciplines with study design and statistical analysis. She began her statistical career in 2021, after completing a Bachelor of Animal and Veterinary Bioscience and a PhD in Veterinary Science specialising in bioacoustics. Ali transitioned into applied statistics through a postdoctoral role in veterinary epidemiology and biostatistics. She is also a co-organiser of R-Ladies Sydney, a community that promotes inclusivity in R programming, especially for women and underrepresented groups. Ali is passionate about making statistics approachable and empowering researchers to confidently analyse their own quantitative data.

Mark Youssef – Data Scientist, Qantas

Mark joined Qantas through its graduate program and will transition into a full-time position upon its completion. He completed a Bachelor of Science in Analytics with First

Class Honours at UTS, where he was awarded the IMC Prize for Excellence in Analytics. Mark has also been involved in multiple research projects focused on time series analysis with Bayesian methods, including a research scholarship supported by the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute. He is passionate about applying advanced statistical methods to real-world problems and aspires to continue bridging the gap between research and industry.

Tom is working on research in causal inference for biological data. He received his PhD in Computational Statistics at UTS. Prior to his current position, he was a postdoctoral research fellow at UNSW in Statistics. His research interests include Bayesian time series analysis, spectral analysis, mathematical modelling and causal discovery. Tom is passionate about making a meaningful impact with his research.

Event Sponsors

School of Mathematics and Statistics, UNSW Sydney

For any questions or concerns please contact secretary.nswbranch@statsoc.org.au.

Please note that all our events are governed by the Code of Conduct. This means that we absolutely do not tolerate unacceptable behaviour, including any form of harassment. This applies to both members and non-members. If you have any concerns, please contact Matias (matias.quiroz@uts.edu.au).