I studied both genetics and economics at the Australian National University (ANU), graduated top of my class and was named Young Alumnus of the Year in 2015.

I worked as a research economist in various Australian Government agencies including the Treasury and Productivity Commission.

I then moved to Oxford in the UK to work at the Centre for Effective Altruism, first as Research Director and then Executive Director.

I then became Research Director for 80,000 Hours. In 2015 the project went through Y Combinator, and in 2016 we moved from Oxford to Berkeley, California in order to grow more quickly.

I was the founding board Secretary for Animal Charity Evaluators and a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers Oxford Hub.

Over the years I have been very influenced by the work of Oxford academics like Prof Nick Bostrom, Prof Hilary Greaves, Dr Toby Ord, Dr Will MacAskill, Amanda Askell and Nick Beckstead.

Here's a list of audiobooks I recommend and think influenced, and hopefully improved, my understanding of the world.

I listen to a lot of podcasts. Of course there's my own show. But when I'm not listening to my own voice, some of my favourites are EconTalk, Planet Money, BBC More or Less, StartUp and Serial. Because there are so many, I made a list of of my favourite old EconTalk episodes. I've written up why I think more people should start long-form interview podcasts.

The blog I've read most consistently over the years is Marginal Revolution.

I am sympathetic to effective altruism (EA), which aims to use evidence and analysis to figure out the best ways of making the world a better place.

Some top research interest are:

i) how to prioritise the world's problems in order to figure out how to improve it as much as possible;

ii) reducing the risk of global catastrophes, or even human extinction, especially those caused by new technologies;

iii) how to increase people's general benevolence towards all beings, including those far away from them, non-human animals, and future generations;

iv) efforts to end factory farming through moral advocacy and food technology.

Here are some talks about effective altruism that I've given:

• 'The Art/Science of a High Impact Career ' on the Jolly Swagmen Podcast
• What Matters Most, followed by a panel including Peter Singer, both at Effective Altruism GlobalX Australia 2016
• Making sense of long-term indirect effects - EA Global 2016
• How effective altruism ought best develop as a movement - EA Global 2015
• How might we best help animals? (A bit dated now.)
• Using research methods and statistics to change the world - Coursera

Some of my favourite podcast episodes are:

• How the audacity to fix things without asking permission can change the world, demonstrated by Tara Mac Aulay
• Dr Beth Cameron Works To Stop You Dying In A Pandemic. Here’s What Keeps Her Up At Night.
• Economist Bryan Caplan thinks education is mostly pointless showing off. We test the strength of his case.
• Dr Ord on why the long-term future of humanity matters more than anything else, and what we should do about it
• Prof Will MacAskill on moral uncertainty, utilitarianism & how to avoid being a moral monster
• Prof Tetlock on predicting catastrophes, why keep your politics secret, and when experts know more than you
• Dr Greenberg on speeding up social science 10-fold, how to do research that’s actually useful, & why plenty of startups cause harm
• Where are the aliens? Three new resolutions to the Fermi Paradox. And how we could easily colonise the whole universe.
• The world’s most intellectual foundation is hiring. Holden Karnofsky, founder of GiveWell, on how philanthropy can have maximum impact by taking big risks.

I’ve made a checklist of questions I often work through when something unpleasant happens, in order to reframe the situation and get over it as quickly as possible.

Here's some ideas on how Australian policy could be modified to benefit the rest of the world and some old brainstorming on the overlap between classical liberalism and effective altruism. Here's some advice on how to effectively promote ideas on social media.

Here's a quiz where you can test your ability to predict which psychology studies can be replicated, and which can't, based on a brief description.

I made a 60 second guide to surviving a nuclear attack. Here's some of my thoughts on exercise, why it's so important, and how to get into it.

All the way back in 2008 I edited the ANU student newspaper, Woroni - the issues from that year are available here.

Years ago I also kept my own blog, but my views and disposition have changed a lot since back then, so take all that stuff with a substantial pinch of salt.

Actually the details of my life are quite inconsequential.