Dr Carolyn Huston

Carolyn Huston is a senior research consultant at CSIRO with a background in statistics who enjoys applying statistical thinking from data design, modelling, reporting on uncertainty etc. to real life problems where results and methods will be used. She has led multiple projects related to bushfire resilience planning, particularly in the domain of improving electrical network safety. Key achievements include involvement with the Victorian Government Powerline Bushfire Safety Program (PBSP), contributing to numerical methods that guided $750 million of government investment. This investment resulted in an estimated 60% bushfire safety improvement across electrical distribution networks, and improved statistically supported regulation to support operation of new technologies. Continued work in this area has led to deep expertise in understanding the factors that cause bushfires; prevent or slow bushfires; and understanding and reporting on different aspects of bushfire consequence.

In addition to bushfire commercial work, Carolyn is currently contributing to the strategic development of a number of natural hazards models and emulators, as well as programs to identify efficiency opportunities in manufacturing and supply chain processes.

Altogether her work requires a keen interest in understanding how to improve uptake and effectiveness of AI (as a complex model) in real-life decision making. As a consequence of these interests, Carolyn is currently performing more formal research in responsible innovation and operationalisation, and dissemination of equitable AI tools in a trusted and defensible way. She is also an Officer and Chair of the Data61 Diversity Inclusion and Belonging (DIB) committee, and the Analytics and Decision Sciences (ADS) representative for Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) activities and reporting.

Carolyn has a PhD in statistics from Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada; and MSc. in Biostatistics from the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada; and a BSc. in Biology (major Ecology, minor philosophy) from the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.