Petra is the Associate Science Director for University Engagement in Data61 and works on a wide range of applied problems requiring a StatML solution. She has a PhD in applied statistics, focussing more recently on the development of methods at the intersection between statistics and machine learning to develop more informative predictions for risk based decision-making.
Petra leads the Hybrid Prediction Activity in the Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence Future Science Platform in CSIRO, where the focus is on the development of predictive models that are a hybrid of data driven statistical machine learning and domain knowledge.
Petra has a passion for science communication and developing methodologies that are fit for purpose, have relevance to the problem being solved and can aid in the decision-making process to stakeholders. She is interested in developing data workflows with trusted science outputs and uses visualisations as a medium for communicating outputs from data and models to facilitate decision-making.
Petra currently supervises a range of PhD students and postdoctoral research fellows on topics in visualisation, statistics, computer science and machine learning. She is a Research Integrity Advisor for CSIRO and has a keen interest in providing unique STEM opportunities for women.
Petra has collaborated closely with state agencies and Commonwealth government departments which include the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), Department of Agriculture Water and Energy (DAWE), Department of Industry Science Energy and Resources (DISER) and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA). She has strong international linkages with the Department of Statistics at the University of Missouri, Columbia USA.
