Bridging the gap | Kieran Gibson

VIRGINIA CORDINGLEY Alumni and Archives Officer Old Scholar, Kieran Gibson (2015), has gone on to achieve outstanding results in further studies and continued his love of academics to become the youngest staff member at the University of Queensland in the Economics Department. Since graduating from St Peters, Kieran furthered his education at The University of Queensland (UQ) where he studied a Bachelor of Maths and Bachelor of Economics. Once completing his double degree, he continued with his Economics path to complete his Honours in 2020. Kieran reached one of the University's highest honours when he received a University Medal for Academic Excellence and the Microeconomics Honours Prize for his coursework and thesis at the end of 2021. He is currently working on his PhD in Economics and is also the youngest lecturer and course coordinator in the School of Economics at UQ. We wanted to know what inspired him to pursue this field of study and what the future holds for one of our high achieving academic Old Scholars. When asked what attracted Kieran to this area of study, the answer was simple. “Mathematics and people! I find them so interesting, and, in my field, I spend a lot of time working with them both," he said. "In my research, I formalise human behaviour by analysing decision-making in experiments and theory. Although the behaviour is typically a simple action, the analysis behind it is usually complex. Having a good understanding of people and mathematics helps me to bridge the gap of knowledge between the two. In a way similar to my research, I am to 'bridge the gap' of knowledge between mathematics and people in my teaching as well. But in this context, I’m working from a different angle, starting with the mathematics and then presenting it to people in a way that is intuitive." It is not surprising that Kieran has brought these two elements together in his previous roles teaching at UQ and his current position as a lecturer and course coordinator. “I find mentoring students particularly rewarding. They often come to me for advice about their studies, asking me to help them pick subjects, supervisors, degree programs, et cetera. It’s a privilege to be trusted with decisions that are significant to these students, and I try to help them where I can. I’m very appreciative of my own mentors and the impact they have had on my career. I hope I play a similar role for my students,” he said. With people like Kieran supporting our tertiary students the future looks bright. Once he finishes his PhD he hopes to remain part of the academic community in a full time position, and with all of his knowledge and expertise we hope he does too!