PRIME Research Team
Each PRIME researh team includes several members chosen from among our regular staff members (led by John, Thomas, Gabrielle, and Seila) supported by international and local research assistants, adjunct researchers (listed below), and sometimes also members of our intern alumni.
Research Fellows
John Humphreys is the Executive Director at PRIME, chief economist at the Future Forum, Visiting Lecturer of Economics at the University of Queensland (Australia), and the Deputy Director of the Australian Taxpayers Alliance. He has worked previously for the Australian Treasury, Centre for International Economics, Centre for Independent Studies, and has consulted for the World Bank, ASEAN, QUT Creative Industries, Rural Industries R&D Corporation, and many other clients.
Thomas Pearson is the Deputy Director at PRIME and also works as a Program Director and Lecturer at the Royal University of Law and Economics (RULE), and an occasional actor with the Phnom Penh Players. Tom has a Doctor of Law (JD) from George Mason Univeresity and has worked previously as a lawyer both in America and Cambodia, and as a researcher for the Competitive Enterprise Institute and the Cato Institute.
Gabrielle Ward is the Research Director at PRIME, an occasional Lecturer at the University of Management and Economics (UME) in Kampong Cham, and freelance reporter. She holds a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Queensland, and has worked previously for an Aboriginal Land Rights organisation in Brisbane (Australia) and the United Nations Environment Programme in Indigenous Peoples’ engagement (Kenya).
Prum Seila is a Research Fellow at PRIME, consultant advisor for Kon Khmer Koun Khmer film group, and freelance translator. Seila earned his Bachelor in Media Management from the Royal University of Phnom Penh and then his Masters in Development Communications from the Univeristy of the Philippines.
Adjunct Researchers
Jason Potts is a Professor of Economics at RMIT (Melbourne, Australia), Principal Research Fellow at the ARC Centre of Excellence in Creative Industries, recipient of the ARC Future Fellowship (2012-16), and a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Public Affairs. He has published six books and dozens of articles, mostly relating to evolutionary economics and innovation.
Phorn Bopha is an award winning journalist who worked at The Cambodia Daily, where she covered delicate and controversial topics that earned her the Courage in Journalism Award in 2013. She currently works as a lecturer of media at Pannasastra University of Cambodia and a freelance journalist at Voice of America.
Ben O’Neill is a Lecturer of Statistics at the University of New South Wales (ADFA campus, Australia), an Adjunct Fellow at the Mises Institute (USA), and an Associate Editor of the Journal of Prices and Markets.
Kalyan Ky is the founder and President of the Cambodia Australia New Zealand Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Innovation (CACCII), Regional Council Member of the Victorian Multicultural Commission, Youth Ambassador at the International Human Rights Council, and founder of The Silk Exchange.
Aleks Atrens is a Lecturer of Engineering (teaching thermodynamics, numerical methods, project management) at the University of Queensland (Australia) and was the founding secretary for the UQ Association of Postgraduate Students. He has authored ~20 journal or conference papers and is co-inventor of a hybrid solar/geothermal power generator.
H.E. Muon Veasna is the finance director at CMAC, the chairman (and largest shareholder) of the University of Management and Economics (UME) in Kampong Cham, and the manager of the CMAC football team that currently plays in the national premier league.
Rachel Connor has a Masters of Development Economics from the University of Queensland and is the secretary of the Human Capital Project. She has worked previously for the United Nations in New Delhi (India), the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) in Phnom Penh, and currently works as a researcher for the Asia Foundation in Mongolia.
Khem Panha received his Bachelor of Economics from Kobe University and Masters of Economics from Waseda University in Japan, and has experience working in education and banking. He is the founder and manager of a private school in Kampot, in the south of Cambodia.
Mark Hornshaw is a Lecturer of Economics at Notre Dame University (Australia) with a focus on entrepreneurship and civil society, is the founder of several businesses and the winner of the People's Choice Award at the Westpac Sustainable Business Awards. He has an MBA from the University of Western Sydney.