It’s a question many early career researchers grapple with: academia or industry?  For Professor Roslyn Hickson, the answer is simple: why choose?

Roslyn is an applied mathematician with a joint appointment at CSIRO and James Cook University, where she serves as Science Leader for Emerging Infectious Diseases.

Her career has taken her across academia, the military, government and industry, before arriving at her current role bridging research and real-world application.

In this episode, Roslyn reflects on the career decisions that shaped her journey, the different cultures she’s experienced across sectors, and the lessons she’s learned along the way.

Earlier this year, Roslyn was awarded the inaugural K.A. Landman Medal by ANZIAM, recognising her outstanding contributions to industrial and applied mathematics. She shares why the award is particularly meaningful to her and what it says about the growing importance of mathematics beyond the university setting.

Our host for this episode is Dr Sophie Raynor, a lecturer in mathematics at James Cook University.

Subscribe and listen to the podcast for free on Apple Podcasts, in Spotify, or on your Android device.

The 2026 K.A. Landman Medal: https://www.anziam.org.au/The+2026+KA+Landman+Medal

Mask wearing during COVID-19 work:

• SAfE Transport: wearing face masks significantly reduces the spread of COVID-19 on trains (BMC Infectious Diseases, 2022): https://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-022-07664-0
• Transport for NSW – SAfE Transport research project: https://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/data-and-research/research-hub/research-and-evaluation-projects/transport-employee-research/safe
• ITS Australia Award: https://www.itsinternational.com/its8/news/its-australia-recognises-award-winners

IBM Health Corps with Taiwan CDC: https://ibmhealthcorpsblog.wordpress.com/2016/11/

National climate risk assessment work:

• NCRA Technical Report 21 – Air Quality and Communicable Diseases: https://www.acs.gov.au/documents/536dad59fec14b4cb38dc4db954577af/about
• JEV and climate paper: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoinf.2026.103899

Embedding human behaviours into transmission models: https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2024.0038