Class Notes 2011–2015
Alexandra ‘Alix’ Biggs (2013–2015)
Updated Summer 2024
Alexandra ‘Alix’ Biggs works with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), leading their human rights monitoring and analysis in the West Bank. This follows 15 months in Ukraine and two years in Iraq managing humanitarian programmes advancing the protection of civilians with the United Nations and the Norwegian Refugee Council. After graduating from ANU with a Bachelor of Arts (First Class Honours), Alix went on to complete a Masters in Migration Studies at the University of Oxford before starting her international career in Egypt.
Oliver ‘Ollie’ George-Brown (2015–2018)
A former Burgmann Sports Rep (2017) and BRA President (2018), Ollie moved to the United States after graduating from the ANU, where he is now completing a PhD in Integrated Composition, Improvisation & Technology at the University of California, Irvine. His creative work blends new media performance, acoustic ecology, and site-specific art, including an ongoing project in the Mojave Desert exploring sonic feedback through native timber, and a recent performance in Canberra at New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME) 2025, an ‘international conference about new musical interfaces, their artistic use and the technologies involved in building them’.
Ollie and his musical collaborator performed their site-specific project Xylocyclos at NIME2025 [pictured], using foraged timber interfaces from Galambary, or Black Mountain, on Ngunnawal country. They performed with bark and branches from various gum trees, and ‘a particularly exciting follicle cone of Wallum Banksia (Banksia aemula)’.
Ollie’s studies have taken him around the world, with performances across Australia, the USA, Canada, and Europe. He encourages current Burgmann residents to step beyond their comfort zones, both academically and socially, saying that enroling in courses outside his department helped spark new ideas and lasting connections.
‘I think my reflection on my time at Burgmann would be that I found the College to be an amazing springboard into other opportunities,’ said Ollie. ‘I'd encourage ressies to get involved both at College and beyond, since ANU offers such a huge range of students and student activities. I’d encourage ressies to push themselves beyond their program and their regular College life.
‘I tried to take one class outside my department every semester as a way of meeting new faces and ideas, and I have carried that through to my graduate studies. Even as a grad student, I try to enrol in one course each semester in a totally different department as a way of meeting new faces and hearing new ideas. Even when I'm totally out of my depth, it forces me to think in different and unexpected ways.’
Hope Dyson (2013–2015)
Hope moved to the USA for the year and worked as a ski instructor, before returning to Australia to work in the marketing and events department of a ski resort. Hope went back to study to complete a Master of Marketing Management at ANU and after graduating, joined Burgmann College at the end of 2020 as Advancement Support Officer to assist with the 50th anniversary celebrations.
Jessica Elliott (2014–2016)
Updated Summer 2024
Since leaving Burgmann and graduating the ANU, I have worked as a lawyer across the justice system: from being a Judicial Clerk in the Courts, to a Solicitor Advocate in Moree for the Aboriginal Legal Service, to an International Lawyer for the Department of Foreign Affairs.
I recently graduated from Harvard Law School with a Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree. I was honoured to receive the Morgan and Helen Chu Prize for the top two LL.M. students. I am very grateful for the support of the Harvard Club of Australia, the Lionel Murphy Foundation (ANU College of Law) and all those who made such an incredible year possible. Snippets of my year (and some of my inspiring classmates) are featured in this Harvard Law School publication.
I am currently living in London with my fiancé Sam Saunders (2014–2016), where we have enjoyed reconnecting with the many other Burgies based here. I represent victims of the Fundão dam collapse in Brazil suing BHP, and I am busy planning our upcoming wedding!
Angus Hamilton (2013–2015)
Angus recently had a film selected for the Wildlife Conservation Film Festival, based out of New York. The film, titled 'Flight of the Helmeted Honeyeater' celebrates the incredible story of the Helmeted Honeyeater, Victoria's state faunal emblem, and the people who have been devoting their time to saving this critically endangered bird.
Chanel Irvine (2015–2016)
Following her Bachelor of PPE at ANU, Chanel moved to London in June 2018 to complete a Masters of Professional Photography. Chanel currently teaches at a primary school in London, and recently published a photography book 'An English Summer' with publishers Hoxton Mini Press.
“There is a particular magic - and a fragility - to an English summer. During the colder months we long for lazy hot days; when they arrive, they feel all too momentary. This exquisite collection of images by Chanel Irvine - taken between 2019 and 2021 against the tumultuous backdrop of Brexit and the pandemic - captures the unique, tender mood of a time when so many of us rediscovered the gentle beauty of England’s landscape. From Kent to Devon, from Cornwall to Shropshire, Chanel traversed the country encountering all-too-familiar things, yet somehow seeing them afresh.”
Her beautiful coffee table book is available to purchase online, or can be ordered through your local bookshop!
Daniel McKay (2011–2013)
Updated Winter 2024
Have just finished a PhD in History at the University of Cambridge and published a much more silly book Whimwondery: An Alphabetarium of Useful Nonsense Inventions (Triglyph Books, 2024).
Dr Siddharth Rajput (2013–2014)
After completing his Masters in Neurosciences from JCSMR, Siddharth finished his qualifying Australian Medical Council exams to obtain his medical licence to practice as a Doctor. After competing rotations in ICU, General and Vascular Surgery, he was selected on the General Surgery SET program and subsequently on the Vascular Surgery SET program as rank 1 across ANZ. Siddharth is currently SET 3 of 5 in the Vascular Surgery program and is working at the Canberra Hospital.
Siddharth’s interest in aerospace medicine with a focus on surgical capabilities in zero gravity earned him the coveted Sir Ross and Keith Smith scholarship (worth 9000 AUD) to attend the Southern Hemisphere Space Studies Program offered by The International Space University, France, and University of South Australia. Siddharth has five international presentations, a review paper and a team project report on the topic. His other research efforts have culminated in over 30 international presentations and publications, including book chapters.
As a Lecturer in Faculty of Medicine at Griffith University for the last 4 years, Siddharth enjoys teaching medical and para medical staff. He has also served as an examiner for final year MBBS with the University of New South Wales.
