The Scholars podcast is a show featuring scholars from the General Sir John Monash Foundation. Hosted by CEO of Mojo Media, Justin Kelly, he interviews the best, brightest, boldest and bravest across all fields of academia, business, science, humanities, and the arts.
Episode 1: 2016 Zelman Cowen John Monash Scholar Michael Grebla
Born in Perth, Michael is an international freelance composer based primarily in Manhattan. He focuses principally on concert music, working chamber music groups internationally and filmmakers. His music endeavours to create meaningful and inclusive cultural experiences, drawing influences from tradition and the present with an emphasis on audience engagement.
Michael is a curious composer with interests also in Mechanical Engineering and Acoustics in which he holds a bachelor degree as well as photography – each have inspired previous compositions. His first solo concert/exhibition titled “Portraits of UWA” was a mix-media event exploring historical landscapes, sculptures and wildlife through both photography and musical portraits. His work “Euler’s Music” with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra’ Chamber Orchestra explored the mechanical principals of gyroscopic precession. In 2018, he premiered a work for the Australian Youth Orchestra in Adelaide and his first string-quartet at the Zodiac Festival in Nice, France where he was awarded the Composition Prize. In 2019 he was awarded runner up in the New York Composer’s Circle John Eaton Memorial competition and also completed his first two featuring appearances in Connecticut Summerfest, Atlantic Music Festival and Charlotte New Music Festival. In May 2020 he will be writing for the Borromeo String Quartet at Alba Music Festival, Italy.
Michael recently completed a Master of Music with Honours at the New England Conservatory where he studied with Kati Agocs with the support of the General Sir John Monash Foundation. Prior, he completed a Bachelor of Music at the University of Western Australia with First Class Honours studying with Christopher Tonkin and James Ledger and was award the University’s Matilda Prize for Cultural Excellence. While in Perth, he founded and directed Music at St George's College, a chamber music organization that put on some 55 concerts to 13,500 audience members and raised significant support for scholarships, endowments and instruments for promising young artists.
Episode 2: 2010 John Monash Scholar Dr Sam Wills
Sam is a research associate in the School of Economics at the University of Sydney; the Oxford Centre for the Analysis of Resource Rich Economies (OxCarre) at the University of Oxford; and the Centre for Applied Macroeconomic Analysis (CAMA) at ANU. From 2016-17 Sam was an Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Sydney, and from 2013-16 he was the principal investigator of an ESRC Future Research Leaders grant at the University of Oxford, where he held positions in the Department of Economics and Pembroke College. From 2017 he has also been an Economist at Rokos Capital Management, London. Sam has advised the World Bank on natural resource policy in Iraq, Libya and Uganda and has also worked with the IMF, the Bank of England, the International Growth Centre, the Australian Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority. In the private sector he has worked with Taylor Fry Actuaries, Westpac Bank and McKinsey and Co. Sam completed a D.Phil (Ph.D) in Economics (Oxford) in 2014 as a John Monash Scholar, and was awarded the David Walton award for the top candidate in macroeconomics or finance. He also completed an M.Phil in Economics (Oxford) as a Commonwealth Scholar, and a B.Com in Actuarial Studies and Finance (UNSW) as a Co-Op Scholar, graduating with a High Distinction average, the University Medal and the Investec Prize for the top all-round student.
Episode 3: 2017 Commonwealth Bank John Monash Scholar Arlie McCarthy
Arlie’s doctoral research addresses the potential risks posed by marine invasive species establishing in Antarctica. Warming oceans and reductions in sea ice caused by climate change, combined with increasing human activity within the Southern Ocean, will likely increase the chance of non-native species establishing in the Antarctic region. Arlie’s research investigates factors that affect both the transport of non-indigenous species to Antarctic coastlines and the capacity of such species to establish populations, both now and in the future.
In her home town of Melbourne, Australia, Arlie completed a Bachelor of Science (Zoology) and a Diploma in Languages (German) at the University of Melbourne and by final year was taking as many marine biology courses as possible. She then moved to Hobart to complete a Masters in Marine and Antarctic Science at the University of Tasmania. Arlie’s work has resulted in several academic papers and advice to governments in Australia and the UK. Arlie’s research has taken her around the world, including Costa Rica, Mexico and several remote islands around Australia. As part of her masters, she completed two courses at the University Centre in Svalbard, where she discovered that benthic ecology, marine invertebrates and polar regions are especially interesting.