Bid Director, Regenerative Regions CRC (previously: Portfolio Lead CRC Food Agility)
Stephen works at the intersection of agriculture, sustainability and innovation. He helps turn good ideas into practical outcomes that improve resilience, productivity and long-term value for farms, regions and the ag sector. Stephen is leading the bid for the Regenerative Regions CRC, a new initiative that aims to do what no single organisation or industry can – tackling regional Australia’s complex and interconnected challenges and unlocking unrealised potential with integrated, cross-sector solutions.
With a background in law, science and environmental management, Stephen brings experience from across sectors and countries — from climate adaptation in Latin America to coastal and catchment management in Australia. He’s worked with communities, startups and all levels of government to support sustainability transitions and policy development. He’s also served on advisory committees, taught ethics, mentored in climate tech, and contributed to published work on Indigenous and environmental justice. His focus is on helping agriculture stay profitable, resilient and ready for what’s next.
Stephen has been awarded the John B. Fairfax Innovation in Agriculture Scholarship to participate in the Australian Rural Leadership Program - supporting work to address critical challenges and drive positive change in rural, regional and remote Australia through practical, innovative action.
Current Research Interest
Dr. Toe is currently working as a postdoctoral research associate working on heterogeneous photocatalysis and photoelectrocatalysis. Her doctoral research is the studies of copper-based photocatalysts with well-defined morphologies for photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical applications, while her current research interests are as below:
- Simultaneous production of hydrogen and value-added organic from photocatalytic reforming of organic waste.
- Photoelectrochemical selective organic oxidation and CO2 reduction reactions.
- Machine learning for photocatalyst discovery
Research and Teaching Experience
2018-present: Research Associate/Senior Research Associate, Particles and Catalysis Research Group, UNSW
2019: Guest Lecturer (School of Chemical Engineering, UNSW)
2015-2018: Tutor and Assessor (School of Chemical Engineering, UNSW)
2017: Visiting Researcher, Institute of Solar Fuel, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB), Germany
Education
2014-2018: PhD in Chemical Engineering, Particles and Catalysis Research Group, UNSW
2010-2014: Bachelor's Degree in Chemical Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering, University Sains Malaysia (USM)
Award
- Seed Funding for Early Career Academics as Primary Investigator by Division of Equity, Diversity & Inclusion and Early Career Academic Network, Faculty of Engineering, UNSW.
- Small Seeding Grant Scheme as Co-Investigator by Early Career Academic Network, Faculty of Science, UNSW.
- Australia Synchrotron Access Program (2020) as Chief Investigator to study the dynamic evolution of copper species during electrochemical CO2 reduction using synchrotron powder diffraction spectroscopy,
by Australian Nuclear Science & Technology Organisation (ANSTO) - by Australian Nuclear Science & Technology Organisation (ANSTO)
- Future Women Leaders Conference Award (2019) by Monash University
- Small Equipment Grant of $19,500 (2019) by School of Chemical Engineering, UNSW
- ANSTO Powder Diffraction Data Analysis Workshop (funding recipient) by ANSTO
- Postgraduate Research Student Support (PRSS) Scheme (2017) by UNSW
- Higher Degree Research Tuition Fee Scholarship (2014) by UNSW
Selected Publications
- Lu, X., Hart, J.N., Yao, Y., Toe, C. Y., Scott, J. and Ng, Y. H., Cu2O photocatalyst: Activity enhancement driven by concave surface. Materials Today Energy 2020, 16, 100422.
- Ma, Z., Tsounis, C., Kumar, P. V., Han, Z., Wong, R. J., Toe, C. Y., Zhou, S., Bedford, N. M., Thomsen, L., Ng, Y. H. and Amal, R., Enhanced Electrochemical CO2 Reduction of Cu@ CuxO Nanoparticles Decorated on 3D Vertical Graphene with Intrinsic sp3‐type Defect. Advanced Functional Materials 2020, p.1910118.
- Lu, X.; Toe, C. Y.; Ji, F.; Chen, W.; Wen, X.; Wong, R. J.; Seidel, J.; Scott, J.; Hart, J. N.; Ng, Y. H., light-induced formation of MoOxSy clusters on CdS nanorods as cocatalyst for enhanced hydrogen evolution. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces 2020, 12 (7), 8324-8332.
- Wu, X.; Toe, C. Y.; Su, C.; Ng, Y. H.; Amal, R.; Scott, J., Preparation of Bi-based photocatalysts in the form of powdered particles and thin films: a review. Journal of Materials Chemistry A 2020, 8, 15302-15318.
- Wu, H.; Tan, H. L.; Toe, C. Y.; Scott, J.; Wang, L.; Amal, R.; Ng, Y. H., Photocatalytic and Photoelectrochemical Systems: Similarities and Differences. Advanced Materials 2020, 32 (18), 1904717.
- Masood, H.#; Toe, C. Y.#; Teoh, W. Y.; Sethu, V.; Amal, R., Machine Learning for Accelerated Discovery of Solar Photocatalysts. ACS Catalysis 2019, 9, 11774-11787.
- Toe, C. Y.; Scott, J.; Amal, R.; Ng, Y. H., Recent Advances in Suppressing the Photocorrosion of Cuprous Oxide for Photocatalytic and Photoelectrochemical Energy Conversion. Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology C: Photochemistry Reviews 2019, 40, 191-211.
- Toe, C. Y.; Zheng, Z.; Wu, H.; Scott, J.; Amal, R.; Ng, Y. H., Photocorrosion of Cuprous Oxide in Hydrogen Production: Rationalising Self‐Oxidation or Self‐Reduction. Angewandte Chemie International Edition 2018, 130 (41), 13801-13805.
- Toe, C. Y.; Zheng, Z.; Wu, H.; Scott, J.; Amal, R.; Ng, Y. H., Transformation of cuprous oxide into hollow cubic copper sulphide photocatalyst. Journal of Physical Chemistry C 2018, 122 (25), 14072-14081.
- Toe, C. Y.; Tan, H. L.; Boyer, C.; Rawal, A.; Thickett, S. C.; Scott, J.; Amal, R.; Ng, Y. H., Photo-driven synthesis of polymer-coated platinized ZnO nanoparticles with enhanced photoelectrochemical charge transportation. Journal of Materials Chemistry A 2017, 5 (9), 4568-4575.
Please refer here (https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=8GEJTFEAAAAJ&hl=en) for other publications.
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