Professor Belinda Chiera

Professor UniSA STEM

City West Campus (Y3-50)
tel +61 8 830 20449

email Belinda.Chiera@unisa.edu.au

Available for media comment
Research Degree Supervisor

About me

AI Ethics and Human-Centred Governance
Modelling and Analytics for Complex Systems
Operational AI in Defence, Space and Intelligence
Data-Driven Strategy and Decision-Making
AI-Augmented Language Learning

Professor Belinda Chiera is the Deputy Director of the UniSA Industrial AI Research Centre and a Professor of Statistics (STEM). Belinda is also an adjunct faculty member at Johns Hopkins University (Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts & Sciences, Advanced Academics Programs).

Her expertise spans a wide range of applications in highly complex real-world systems. Her work focuses on pattern recognition, anomaly detection, early warning systems, network modelling, contextual visualisation, data-driven decision-making, linguistics and the development of ethical frameworks for the responsible use of artificial intelligence in operational environments.

Belinda’s recent projects include applying advanced modelling and data... Read more

UniSA STEM

Harnessing connections across science, technology, engineering and mathematics, UniSA STEM creates innovative solutions and groundbreaking developments across teaching, learning and research.

Other UniSA associations

Tweets by @UniversitySA

About me

Belinda’s recent projects include applying advanced modelling and data analytics to Defence, space, and intelligence domains, supporting decision-making in critical and emerging technologies. She is motivated by inventive problem-solving, developing custom models and tools that combine established theory with the latest advances in real-world data analytics and systems modelling.

Translation of her research is found in environmental applications including monitoring of air quality affected by vehicle and industrial pollutants, counterintelligence operations to combat terrorism, social network and social media analysis, resource management across distributed high-dimensional networks, hospital treatment programs, the Australian Football League and Defence innovation projects.

Belinda has supervised numerous postdoctoral researchers and Ph.D. students in these areas, and has had a wonderful time sharing her research interests with others. She is also a passionate teacher; her focus is on taking mathematics and statistics out of the classroom and into the real world and she believes that with the right teaching approach, anyone can understand and excel in these topics. She is driven to help her students make connections between classroom material and their own worlds and tries to keep teaching light, enjoyable, and above all, relevant to industry. According to her students, she has not only made mathematics and statistics relatable to the real world, but she even manages to make it fun from time to time.

As co-lead with LtGen (ret) Rick Burr AO DSC MVO (University of Adelaide) of the Defence and National Security Signature Research Theme, Belinda is working to shape research for the new Adelaide University: https://adelaideuni.edu.au/research/.

About me

In the media

Date	Title
17/04/2016	Cat Tracker Project (Discovery Circle) - lots of media coverage!, http://www.discoverycircle.org.au/projects/cat-tracker/
01/08/2013	Terrorists are just like you and me. Except they’re not., http://www.unisa.edu.au/IT-Engineering-and-the-Environment/Blog/Terrorists/#.V3uGZpOF7GI

Research

Research focus

Psychology
Cognitive Sciences
Specialist Studies in Education
Applied Mathematics
Curriculum and Pedagogy

Highlights

AI Ethics and Governance Frameworks

Development of operational AI ethics frameworks
Human-centred and accountable AI system design
Responsible AI deployment in Defence and national security
Embedding discernment and integrity into AI governance
Strategic alignment of AI use with ethical and societal values

Pattern Recognition

Network modelling
Social networks & social media
Latent information analytics
Event modelling
Sports fatigue prediction

Anomaly Detection

Clustering
Simulation analysis and uncertainty quantification
Counter-intelligence
Detecting and characterising radiation events in space
Security threat identification and response
Undersea surveillance for maritime security

Big Data &... Read more

Research

Outputs

Research outputs for the last seven years are shown below. Some long-standing staff members may have older outputs included. To see earlier years visit ORCID or Scopus

Open access indicates that an output is open access.

Chapters

Year	Output
2021	Chiera, B, Korolkiewicz, M & Schultz, L 2021, 'Learning from learning analytics: how much do we know about patterns of student engagement?', in T Prodromou (ed.), Big Data in Education: Pedagogy and Research. Policy Implications of Research in Education, Springer, Switzerland, ch. 8, pp. 163-197. Open access
2017	Chiera, B & Korolkiewicz, M 2017, 'Teaching visualisation in the age of big data: adopting old approaches to address new challenges', in T Prodromou (ed.), Data visualization and statistical literacy for open and big data, IGI Global, US, ch. 5, pp. 103-125. 2
2017	Chiera, BA & Korolkiewicz, MW 2017, 'Visualizing big data: everything old is new again', in FPG Márquez & B Lev (eds), Big data management, Springer, Netherlands, ch. 1, pp. 1-27. 3
2014	Korolkiewicz, MW & Chiera, BA 2014, 'The golden arches: an approach to teaching statistics in a first-year university service course', in H MacGillivray, B Phillips & M Martin (eds), Topics from Australian Conferences on Teaching Statistics: OZCOTS 2008-2012, Springer, US, ch. 9, pp. 149-165.
2010	Chiera, BA, Filar, JA, Zachary, DS & Gordon, AH 2010, 'Comparative forecasting and a test for persistence in the EI Ni˜no Southern Ascillation', in JA Filar (ed.), Uncertainty and environmental decision making : a handbook of research and best practice, Springer, US, pp. 253-272. 3 1

Journal Articles

Year	Output
2024	Wallwork, S, Braithwaite, FA, O'Keefe, M, Travers, MJ, Summers, SJ, Lange, B, Hince, DA, Costa, LO, Costa, LdC, Chiera, B & Moseley, GL 2024, 'The clinical course of acute, subacute and persistent low back pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis', Canadian Medical Association Journal, vol. 196, no. 2, pp. E29-E46. Open access 25 21 369
2023	Stallman, HM, Dodd, N, Warren-James, M & Chiera, B 2023, 'Workplace sense of belonging and paramedic wellbeing using network analysis: a cross-sectional study', Australasian Emergency Care, vol. 26, no. 3, pp. 254-263. 3 2 1
2022	Madakkatel, I, Chiera, B & McDonnell, M 2022, 'Can personal budget management services improve debt repayments? A study using budget data', Financial Planning Research Journal, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 10-25. Open access
2019	Richardson, A, King, S, Olds, T, Parfitt, G & Chiera, B 2019, 'Study and life: how first year university students use their time', Student Success, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 17-31. Open access 11 14
2019	Stallman, HM, Ohan, JL & Chiera, B 2019, 'Reducing distress in university students: a randomised control trial of two online interventions', Australian Psychologist, vol. 54, no. 2, pp. 125-131. 22 18 9
2018	Pollard, G, Roetman, P, Ward, J, Chiera, B & Mantzioris, E 2018, 'Beyond productivity: considering the health, social value and happiness of home and community food gardens', Urban Science, vol. 2, no. 4, pp. 1-16. Open access 15 4
2018	Stallman, HM, Ohan, JL & Chiera, B 2018, 'The role of social support, being present, and self-kindness in university student psychological distress', Australian Psychologist, vol. 53, no. 1, pp. 52-59. 37 30 9
2018	Stallman, Hm, Ohan, JL & Chiera, B 2018, 'The role of social support, being present and self-kindness in university student well-being', British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, vol. 46, no. 4, pp. 365-374. Open access 24 21 36
2017	Litchfield, CA, Quinton, G, Tindle, H, Chiera, B, Kikillus, KH & Roetman, P 2017, 'The 'Feline Five': An exploration of personality in pet cats (Felis catus)', PLoS One, vol. 12, no. 8, article no. e0183455, pp. 1-17. Open access 53 48 300
2017	Parvazian, S, Gill, J & Chiera, B 2017, 'Higher education, women, and sociocultural change: a closer look at the statistics', Sage Open, vol. 7 no. 2, pp. 1-12. Open access 27 17
2016	Schultz, LJ, Shah, P, Giandomenico, E & Chiera, B 2016, 'Mean vehicle speed distributions for the spatiotemporal estimation of exhaust emissions', Environmental Modeling and Assessment, vol. 21, no. 2, pp. 169-179. 4 3
2016	Suparmi, S, Chiera, BA & Pradono, J 2016, 'Low birth weights and risk of neonatal mortality in Indonesia', Health Science Journal of Indonesia, vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 113-117. Open access
2014	Cropley, DH, Kaufman, JC, White, AE & Chiera, BA 2014, 'Layperson perceptions of malevolent creativity: the good, the bad, and the ambiguous', Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, vol. 8, no. 4, pp. 400-412. 62 44
2014	Graham, C, Richardson, AJ, King, S, Chiera, B & Olds, T 2014, 'An initial exploration of the association between psychological distress and sedentary behaviour in first year undergraduates. A practice report', The International Journal of the First Year in Higher Education, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 95-101. Open access
2013	Cropley, DH, Cropley, AJ, Chiera, BA & Kaufman, JC 2013, 'Diagnosing organizational innovation : measuring the capacity for innovation', Creativity Research Journal, vol. 25, no. 4, pp. 388-396. Open access 20 14
2008	Chiera, BA & White, LB 2008, 'Application of model-free LQG subspace predictive control to TCP congestion control', International Journal of Adaptive Control and Signal Processing, vol. 22, no. 6, pp. 551-568. 4 4

Conferences

Year	Output
2023	ChatGPT C-LARA-Instance, Chiera, B, Chua, C, Raheb, C, Rayner, M, Simonsen, A, Xiang, Z & Zviel-Girshin, R 2023, 'Using C-LARA to evaluate GPT-4's multilingual processing∗', in S Muresan et al. (eds), 21st Annual Workshop of the Australasian Language Technology Association, ALTA 2023, Australasian Language Technology Association, vol. 2, pp. 20-29. Open access
2023	Chiera, B, Chua, C, Raheb, C, Rayner, M, Simonsen, A, Xiang, Z & Zviel-Girshin, R 2023, 'Using C-LARA to evaluate GPT-4's multilingual processing', 21st Annual Workshop of the Australasian Language Technology Association, Australasian Language Technology Association, pp. 20-29. Open access
2023	Tiong, J, Bogomolov, T & Chiera, B 2023, 'Markov chain modelling of causality in anomalous and non-anomalous combat event series', 25th International Congress on Modelling and Simulation, Modelling and Simulation Society of Australia and New Zealand, pp. 953-959. Open access
2022	Bedi, B, Chiera, B, Chua, C, Eyjolfsson, B, Rayner, M, Orian Weiss, C & Zviel Girshin, R 2022, 'Using LARA to create annotated manuscripts and inscriptions for museums:an initial feasibility study', in B Arnbjornsdottir et al. (eds), 2022 EUROCALL conference, Research-publishing, pp. 18-23. Open access
2022	Bédi, B, Beedar, H, Chiera, B, Ivanova, N, Maizonniaux, C, Ní Chiaráin, N, Rayner, M, Sloan, J & Zuckermann, G 2022, 'Using LARA to create image-based and phonetically annotated multimodal texts for endangered languages', Fifth Workshop on the Use of Computational Methods in the Study of Endangered Languages, Association for Computational Linguistics, pp. 68-77. Open access
2022	Chiera, B, Bedi, B & Zviel Girshin, R 2022, 'Using learner data from Duolingo to detect micro- and macroscopic granularity through machine learning methods to capture the language learning journey', in B Arnbjornsdottir et al. (eds), 2022 EUROCALL conference, Research-publishing, pp. 58-64. Open access
2022	Rayner, M, Chiera, B & Chua, C 2022, 'Using public domain resources and off-the-shelf tools to produce high-quality multimedia texts', ALTA 2022 The 20th Annual Workshop of the Australasian Language Technology Association, Australasian Language Technology Association, pp. 1-10. Open access
2021	Garces, L, Bogomolov, T & Chiera, B 2021, 'Regression-based approaches for simulation meta-modelling in the presence of heterogeneity and correlation', 24th International Congress on Modelling and Simulation, MODSIM 2021, Modelling and Simulation Society of Australia and New Zealand, pp. 827-833. Open access
2021	Tiong, J & Chiera, B 2021, 'Causality modelling of simulated temporally indexed events to construct a combat narrative', 24th International Congress on Modelling and Simulation, MODSIM 2021, Modelling and Simulation Society of Australia and New Zealand, pp. 897-903. Open access
2019	Madakkatel, I, Chiera, B & McDonnell, MD 2019, 'Predicting financial well-being using observable features and gradient boosting', 32nd Australasian Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence, AI 2019, Springer, pp. 228-239. 2
2017	Fewster-Young, N, Chiera, B & Schultz, L 2017, 'A personalised feedback mechanism in quantitative service courses to increase engagement and improve performance', Australian Learning Analytics Summer Institute, University of Queensland, pp. 1-8.
2017	Schultz, L, Boland, J, Shah, P & Chiera, B 2017, 'A fuzzy optimisation model with applications to air pollution exposure mitigation', in G Syme, D Hatton MacDonald, B Fulton, & J Piantadosi (eds), 22nd International Congress on Modelling and Simulation (MODSIM), Modelling and Simulation Society of Australia and New Zealand, pp. 99-105. Open access
2016	Chiera, B & Korolkiewicz, M 2016, 'Teaching visualisation in the age of big data: lessons from the past', 9th Australian Conference on Teaching Statistics (OZCOTS), Statistical Society of Australia, pp. 172-177. Open access
2014	Rogers, TJ, Colvin, CM & Chiera, BA 2014, 'Modest analytics: using the index method to identify students at risk of failure', in M Pistilli, J Willis & D Koch (eds), International conference on learning analytics and knowledge, ACM - Association for Computing Machinery Inc, pp. 118-122. 14
2013	Bogomolov, T & Chiera, BA 2013, 'A first approach to resolving ambiguity in hidden terrorist group detection in communications networks', in J Piantadosi, RS Anderssen & J Boland (eds), 20th International Congress on Modelling and Simulation on Adapting to Change: the multiple roles of modelling, Modelling and Simulation Society of Australia and New Zealand Inc., pp. 120-126. Open access
2013	Schultz, L, Chiera, B, Shah, P & Boland, J 2013, 'Modelling motor vehicle emissions and population exposure in South Australia', in J Piantadosi, RS Anderssen & J Boland (eds), 20th International Congress on Modelling and Simulation, Modelling and Simulation Society of Australia and New Zealand, pp. 71-77. Open access
2013	Schultz, L, Chiera, B, Shah, P & Boland, J 2013, 'Modelling motor vehicle exhaust emissions and pollutant dispersion analysis', 21st International Clean Air and Environment Conference (CASANZ 2013), Clean Air Society of Australia and New Zealand, pp. 1-6. Open access
2013	Zachary, D, Chiera, B & Boland, J 2013, 'Air quality forecasting in Europe using statistical persistence', in J Piantadosi, RS Anderssen & J Boland (eds), 20th International Congress on Modelling and Simulation, Modelling and Simulation Society of Australia and New Zealand, pp. 1889-1895. Open access
2012	Korolkiewicz, MW & Chiera, BA 2012, 'The golden arches: a student-centred approach to teaching statistics in a first year Australian university service course', The Eighth Australian Conference on Teaching Statistics, Statistical Society of Australia, pp. 1-6.
2011	Chiera, BA 2011, 'On the detection of hidden terrorist cells immersed in peer-to-peer networks', 2011 International Cyber Resilience Conference, SECAU - Security Research Centre, pp. 7-19. Open access
2011	Chiera, BA 2011, 'Towards the localisation and detection of hidden terrorist networks : a group-based social networks analysis', Recent Advances in National Security Technology and Research 2011, Australia Security Research Centre, pp. 5-20. Open access
2010	Chiera, BA 2010, 'Group-based social network characterisation of hidden terrorist networks', in C Valli (ed.), 1st International Cyber Resilience Conference, Edith Cowan University, Perth Western Australia, 23rd August 2010, Edith Cowan University, pp. 11-21. Open access
2008	Arvidsson, A, Krzesinki, A, Taylor, P & Chiera, BA 2008, 'A distribution scheme for value-based bandwith reconfiguration'.
2008	Chiera, BA, Bean, N, Flavel, A, Roughan, M & Maennel, O 2008, 'CleanBGP: Verifying the Consistency of BGP Data'.
2008	Chiera, BA, Taylor, P, Krzesinki, A & Arvidsson, A 2008, 'A Distributed Scheme for Value-Based Bandwith Reconfiguration'.
2008	Flavel, A, Maennel, O, Chiera, BA, Roughan, M & Bean, N 2008, 'CleanBGP: Verifying the consistency of the BGP data', IEEE Internet Network Management Workshop, INM 2008, IEEE, article no. 4660327, pp. 1-6. Open access 4

Reports

Year	Output
2017	Kikillus, H, Woods, L, Roetman, P, Tindle, H, Litchfield, C, Chiera, B, Quinton, G, Perkins, T & Kays, R 2017, Cat tracker New Zealand: understanding pet cats through citizen science, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. Open access
2017	Roetman, P, Tindle, H, Litchfield, C, Chiera, B, Quinton, G, Kikillus, H, Bruce, D & Kays, R 2017, Cat Tracker South Australia: understanding pet cats through citizen science, Discovery Circle, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia. Open access 104

Other outputs

Chiera, B.A., Kraetzl, M., Roughan, M. and L.B. White, 2007, Use of a Cepstral Information Norm for Anomaly Detection in a BGP-inferred Internet, Proc. 7th Australian Communications Theory Workshop, Adelaide Feb. 5-7.

White, L.B. and B.A. Chiera, 2006, An Adaptive LQG TCP Congestion Controller for the Internet, Special Issue of Journal of Telecommunications and Information Technology (JTIT) 1:30-37.

Chiera, B.A. and White L.B., 2006, End-to End versus Cross-Layer Congestion Control for Wireless Networks, Proceedings of ACoRN-Newcom Workshop, Vienna, September.

Kurowicka, D., Cooke, R and B. Chiera, 2006, Uncertainty Analysis with High Dimensional Dependence Modelling, (book chapter), John Wiley and Sons Inc., Great Britain, 284 pages.

Chiera, B.A. and L.B. White, 2005, Model-Free End-to-End TCP Congestion Control, IEEE Workshop on the Internet, Telecommunications and Signal Processing. Noosa 19-21, December.

Chiera, B.A., Krzesinski, A.E. and P.G. Taylor, 2005, Some Properties of the Capacity Value Function, SIAM Journal on Applied Mathematics, 65(4): 1407-1419.

Chiera, BA and L.B. White, 2005, A Subspace Predictive Controller for End-to-End TCP Congestion Control, Proc. 6th Aust. Communications Theory Workshop, Brisbane, Australia, Feb. 2005:39--45.

White, L.B. and B.A. Chiera, 2004, LQG Congestion Control for TCP, IEEE Workshop on the Internet, Telecommunications and Signal Processing, Adelaide 20-22 December 2004:70--75.

Chiera, B.A., Krieg M.R., Parrott J. and P.G. Taylor, 2004, Dynamic Reallocation of Capacity in Logically Fully-Connected Networks, International Journal of Network Management, 14:9-18.

Krzesinski AE, K.E. Mueller, B.A. Chiera and P.G. Taylor, 2003, A Simulation of a Bandwidth Market. Proceedings of the 6th Southern African Telecommunication Networks and Applications Conference (SATNAC), Sept., South Africa pp 295-300.

Chiera, B.A. and P.G. Taylor, 2002, What is a Unit of Capacity Worth?, Probability in the Engineering and Informational Sciences, 16:513-522.

Henderson, S.G., Chiera, B.A. and R.M. Cooke, 2000, Generating "Dependent" Quasi-Random Numbers, Proceedings of the 2000 Winter Simulation Conference, Orlando Florida, 10-13 December, 527-536.

Chiera, B.A. and R.M. Cooke, 2000, Dependent Quasirandom Numbers, in Cottam, M.P., Harvey, D.W., Paper, R.P. and J. Tait (eds), Foresight and Precaution, Proceedings of ESREL 2000, Edinburgh, 15-17 May, 1519-1523.

External engagement & recognition

Collaborations

External engagement & recognition

Collaborations

Organisation	Country
Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies	ICELAND
California State University	UNITED STATES
Communication Centre for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing	ICELAND
CRP Henri Tudor	LUXEMBOURG
Defence Science and Technology Group	AUSTRALIA
Flinders University	AUSTRALIA
Independent Scholar	CANADA
Ministry of Health Jakarta	INDONESIA
National Centre for Vocational Education	AUSTRALIA
National University of Rosario	ARGENTINA
North Carolina State University - Raleigh	UNITED STATES
Private Individual	UNITED KINGDOM
Public Research Centre Henri Tudor	LUXEMBOURG
Queensland University of Technology	AUSTRALIA
RMIT University	AUSTRALIA
Ruppin Academic Center	ISRAEL
San Francisco State University	UNITED STATES
South Australian Environment Protection Authority	AUSTRALIA
The University of Notre Dame Australia	AUSTRALIA
Trinity College Dublin	IRELAND
Universidade Cidade de So Paulo	BRAZIL
University of Adelaide	AUSTRALIA
University of Connecticut	UNITED STATES
University of Geneva	SWITZERLAND
University of Guilan	IRAN
University of Hamburg	GERMANY
University of Iceland	ICELAND
University of Melbourne	AUSTRALIA
University of South Australia	AUSTRALIA
University of Sydney	AUSTRALIA
University of the Sunshine Coast	AUSTRALIA
University of Western Australia	AUSTRALIA
Victoria University of Wellington	NEW ZEALAND

External engagement & recognition

Engagement/recognition	Year
Member Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, South Australia Section	2017
Member Women in Innovation and Technology, WIT, SA	2017
Member Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)	2017

Teaching & student supervision

Teaching strengths

Business Intelligence
Social Media Analytics
Data Science
Multivariate Statistics
R and Python

Highlights

I currently teach Business Intelligence into Business and bring a strong focus on connecting statistics to real-world contexts.

I believe that effective teaching should not only speak to a student's program area, but also meet them at their current stage of life. I draw inspiration from everyday sources — news stories, advertisements, online reviews, and even chocolate — to show how statistics is already embedded in the world around us.

Statistics lives and breathes in the world around us. My aim is to help students discover how statistics shows up in their own lives, gain a new appreciation for the world around them, and learn to make data-driven decisions that support strategic thinking.

Teaching & student supervision

Research degree supervision

Supervisions from 2010 shown

Thesis title	Student status
111578 -Building Robotic Hand Simulations for Satellite Repairs in Space	Current
An automated method of detecting, characterising and responding to radiation events in space	Current
Authorship attribution in social media: a focus on binary n-gram analysis introducing novel approaches	Current
Determining the casual relationshop between competing elements of military options	Current
Increasing the robustness of multi-modal object classification models against adversarial machine learning	Current
Modelling of the dispersion of lead in air, subsequent deposition and estimating recontamination rates in a community with an operational lead smelter	Current
Real-time data-driven decision making in the Australian Football League	Current
Reliable forecasting of the utility-scale solar farm power outpit	Current
Sample efficient hierarchical reinforcement learning for simulation	Current
Identity and participation in citizen science	Completed
Input-output analysis on relationships between Australian economic system and waste management	Completed
Machine learning for predictive modelling and risk factor discovery in health and wealth	Completed
Mathematical modelling of bacterial metabolism	Completed
Socio-demographic and time-use predictors of first-year university student success: ATAR and beyond	Completed
Traffic-related air pollution: modelling emissions and optimal control for exposure mitigation	Completed
Women and globalization : implications of increasing access to higher education	Completed

Professor Belinda Chiera

About me

About me

UniSA STEM

Other UniSA associations

About me

Professional Associations

In the media

Experience

Qualifications

Research

Research focus

Highlights

Projects

Outputs

Chapters

Journal Articles

Conferences

Reports

Other outputs

Current research & highlights

External engagement & recognition

Collaborations

Collaborations

External engagement & recognition

Member

Member

Member

Teaching & student supervision

Teaching strengths

Highlights

Courses and programs

Courses I teach

Research degree supervision

Gallery