Computer Science Researcher and Educator

Chelsea was motivated to pursue her PhD overseas after enjoying a semester exchange in Scotland while completing her undergraduate degree.  

‘It was an incredible experience—having the independence to explore a new country, learn about a different culture, and meet people from all over the world,’ Chelsea said. 

‘I was always hoping to spend at least part of my early career overseas after that initial experience—and hopefully in a slightly more permanent capacity than a few months abroad! As it worked out, a PhD turned out to be a great opportunity to do just that.’ 

As Cambridge is a collegiate university, meaning students must be part of a college to be a member, Chelsea attended Darwin College, a postgraduate-only college, becoming president of the college Students' Association in her last year. 

‘Darwin College is undoubtedly where many of my best memories are from, thus far; from Tuesday salsa classes, to formal dinners, night punting, or even just sitting in the gardens on New Year’s Eve with friends!  

‘Beyond college, I (was) also quite active in the music scene—something I first fell in love with thanks to our brilliant Instrumental Music department at Girls Grammar. I play the violin in the graduate orchestra and also am in the university Ceilidh band—playing at a folk music session in a pub after rehearsal on a Thursday night is always an amazing way to de-stress after a busy week.’ 

Learning to balance a passion for hard science with a deep appreciation of music and creative pursuits is an outlook Chelsea says she is grateful to have learned at Girls Grammar.

Before moving to the UK, Chelsea was Australia-Pacific Executive Officer for Robogals, an international student-run organisation that strives to bring more young women into STEM. 

‘Robogals was a huge part of my life for many years, combining my interest in education and engineering with my passion for diversity in STEM. The work I did in local communities with Robogals helped me discover my passion for STEM education which, 10 years later, I hope will be a large part of my career.’ 

Now that she has completed her PhD, Chelsea works as a postdoctoral Research Associate in Verification at The University of Sheffield, working on the COVERT project to develop verification tools and models for reasoning on the security of programs running on advanced architectures.  

`I'm incredibly grateful for the support of many excellent teachers at Grammar, which now inspires me to be the best teacher I can be for my own students alongside my research career.'