Helps students see the value in learning.
Makes learning exciting and meaningful.
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Encourages students to think independently.
Always positive and enthusiastic in class.
Great Professor!
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Professor Karen Blackmore is Head of the School of Information and Physical Sciences in the College of Engineering, Science and Environment at the University of Newcastle, Australia. She earned a PhD in Spatial Information Systems and a Bachelor of Information Technology (Distinction) from Charles Sturt University. Throughout her career, she has held key leadership positions including Deputy President of the Academic Senate, Assistant Dean for Work Integrated Learning, Deputy Chair of the University Research Committee, and earlier roles as Research Fellow at Macquarie University, Postdoctoral Fellow in Climate Science at the University of Newcastle, and Lecturer at Charles Sturt University. As founding Director of the Centre for Applied and Responsible AI (CARA) appointed in 2025 and co-lead of the university's 'Life-Ready Graduates' strategic pillar, she spearheads cross-disciplinary efforts in defence, healthcare, education, and logistics. Her leadership extends to fostering industry partnerships, work-integrated learning, and regional STEM initiatives such as the HunterWiSE program, which promotes gender equity in science and technology.
Professor Blackmore's research specializations encompass human-computer interaction, serious games, simulation and AR/VR training environments, AI-assisted decision-making, cognitive performance optimisation, agent-based modelling, data mining, game design, and virtual reality. She has secured over $3.3 million in funded projects and authored more than 70 peer-reviewed publications, including highly cited works such as 'Cybersickness provoked by head-mounted display affects cutaneous vascular tone, heart rate and reaction time' (Nalivaiko et al., 2015), 'Profiling subjective symptoms and autonomic changes associated with cybersickness' (Gavgani et al., 2017), 'Correlating reaction time and nausea measures with traditional measures of cybersickness' (Nesbitt et al., 2017), 'STEM initiatives matter: Results from a systematic review of secondary school interventions for girls' (Prieto-Rodriguez et al., 2020), and 'Recent trends in academic journal growth' (Gu and Blackmore, 2016). She contributes to national and international committees including Standards Australia and ISO working groups on metaverse safety, augmented reality, and digital health, serves as an executive member of the Australian Council for Senior Academic Leaders in Digital Health, and delivers keynote addresses across Australia and Southeast Asia. Her achievements have earned awards such as the Vice-Chancellor's Excellence Award for Leadership Excellence (2021), College of Engineering, Science and Environment Leadership Excellence Awards (2021, 2023), Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Award (2023, 2019), and finalist honours in the Women in Defence Awards (2023) and Australian Defence Industry Awards (2020).
Dive into career opportunities, salaries, benefits, and culture at the School of Information and Physical Sciences (SIPS) at University of Newcastle. Explore lecturer roles, research positions, and professional growth in computing, data science, and mathematics.
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