Chris Skinner is an Associate Professor and Chair Professional and Personal Development at the Medical School, Notre Dame University where he is responsible for the development and coordination of professional programmes and research. He has extensive qualifications in the fields of education, psychology, and health management and in 2002 completed his doctoral studies. Chris has worked in a wide range of educational and health positions, clinical, educational and managerial capacities. Chris has worked extensively at the national and international levels with seminars and workshops being conducted in New South Wales, Tasmania, Canada, Malaysia, Indonesia and the United Kingdom. Chris became a Fellow Association Medical Education in Europe (AMEE) in 2017, and is currently Regional Director Australia, International Society of Emotional Intelligence (ISEI). His main research and applied interests are in the link between emotional intelligence and health leadership behaviour and effectiveness, the transition of individuals in the work context and the evaluation and impact of management development programmes.
Nigel Gribble is a Senior Lecturer and Researcher in the School of Allied Health (Occupational Therapy) at Curtin University in Western Australia. Since 1993, he has worked as an occupational therapist across Australia and in the USA. He completed a PhD in 2019 that focused on the impact of fieldwork placements on the emotional intelligence of occupational therapy, speech pathology, and physiotherapy students. He completed an MBA in 2007 where he discovered the concept of emotional intelligence and has been passionate about the applications of EI in healthcare and business ever since. Nigel has delivered EI training to 100s of participants in business, healthcare, and the higher education sector. His research interests are emotional intelligence, fieldwork placements, simulations, and higher education.
Annette Watkins has 20 years experience in the Oil and Gas sector. She has worked on several large reform projects in Australia, the United Kingdom, Asia and the United States of America. The reforms led by Annette include the South Australian and Western Australian gas deregulation reform project which included the establishment of the Gas Industry Ombudsman. She has held several Non-Executive Director Board positions in the sector. Throughout her career, Annette had a great interest in business communication and wellbeing, which has led her to her academic career. Annette is a member of the Asia Pacific Association of Business Communication, International Association of Business Communication. Australian Institution of Company Directors, and Australian Institute of Management.
Laurel is currently a Clinical Facilitator, sessional lecturer and tutor within the School of Nursing and Midwifery at the University Notre Dame Fremantle. Laurel has worked as a nurse in a variety of settings; metropolitan and country WA, Northern Territory, and Zimbabwe. As a researcher, she has worked at the University of Western Australia and the University of Notre Dame. Her interests have always been neuroscience, stress, and the lived experience of the undergraduate student nurse. Since working closely with students across both the clinical and university settings Laurel has become aware of reduced resilience, and increased stress and anxiety, leading to reduced coping in undergraduate students. To understand and address this need, Laurel did a PhD on the enhancement of Emotional Intelligence in undergraduate nursing students. Her PhD included an educational intervention and new assessment tools aimed at measuring EI in nursing students, based on the Mayer and Salovey Ability Model of EI.
Cindy is a registered Counsellor, Clinical Supervisor, Group Facilitator, Educator and Author. She has a number of years’ experience in Women’s health and wellbeing issues and has a special interest in maternal and paternal PNDA (Perinatal Depression and Anxiety). Cindy has a professional private practice where she offers clinical supervision for allied health professionals and counselling to individuals, couples and families. Cindy uses an eclectic approach and is trained in a number of theories including: EFT (Emotion Focused Therapy), ACT (Acceptance Commitment Therapy) and Compassion Focused Therapies. She has presented her research and findings on Self-compassion at a number of conferences and professional development seminars. Cindy is the author of “Self-compassionate Motherhood”.
Kirsty holds an Honours degree in Bachelor of Science Occupational Therapy from Curtin University, where her interest for emotional intelligence was sparked. She completed her honours thesis on the topic of the importance and use of emotional intelligence in occupational therapy professional practice. Kirsty currently works as an Occupational Therapist in a private practice where she supports children and families to understand their emotions and promote self-regulation. Her passion lies within the link between emotions, movement and the body. This passion has driven Kirsty to pursue further advanced training in Somatic and Dance Movement Therapy. At the core of Kirsty’s practice are principles of compassion, enthusiasm, and delight. She is dedicated to making emotional intelligence a topic that is easily understood and used by individuals of all ages.
EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE SOCIETY OF AUSTRALIA
Ambassadors of the Emotional Intelligence Society of Australia
The Board of the Emotional Intelligence Society of Australia (EISA) has selected Professor Neal Ashkanasy (University of Queensland Business School) and Mark Sparvell (Microsoft – Director Marketing Education) as the society’s Ambassadors.
Neal and Mark provide their perspectives on the importance of emotional intelligence in the 21st century in these videos.
Neal Ashkanasy
University of Queensland Business School
Mark Sparvell
Microsoft – Director Marketing Education
