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 as it was going through Y Combinator in 2015. We then moved to the California Bay Area, but in 2019 came back to settle in London.

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

If you'd like to learn more, here are a few interviews I've done about me and my work at 80,000 Hours:

• Rob Wiblin on 'An updated view of the best ways to help humanity' — Rationally Speaking, with Julia Galef
• Facing Existential Risks with Rob Wiblin — Mission Daily
• Effective altruism & making the most of your 80,000 hours — The Good Life with Andrew Leigh
• The art/science of a high-impact career — The Jolly Swagmen Podcast

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.

A good way to get to understand that worldview is to listen to 'Effective Altruism: An Introduction', which I helped create.

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 the wonderful sound of my own voice, some of my favourites are EconTalk, Conversations with Tyler, Planet Money, BBC More or Less, StartUp and Serial.

Because there are so many, I made a podcast feed of my favourite old EconTalk episodes which you can subscribe to.

I've written up why I think more people should start long-form interview podcasts and explained why folks should make each interview two hours or longer.

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

I am sympathetic to:

• effective altruism (EA) — roughly, the use of evidence and careful analysis to figure out the best ways of making the world a better place, and;
• the long-term value thesis — the idea that most of the moral value of our actions is determined by their consequences more than 100 years in the future.

Some top research interest are:

• how to prioritise the world's problems in order to figure out how to improve it as much as possible;
• reducing the risk of global catastrophes, especially those caused by powerful new technologies, or that might cause human extinction;
• how to increase people's general benevolence towards all beings, including those far away from them, non-human animals, and future generations, and;
• efforts to end factory farming through moral advocacy and food technology.

Here are a few talks on those topics that I've given over the years:

• 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 should best develop as a movement – EA Global 2015
• How might we best help animals? (A bit dated now.)

• Dr Nelson on the 12 best ways to stop the next pandemic (and limit nCoV)
• Ezra Klein on aligning journalism, politics and what matters most
• How the audacity to fix things without asking permission can change the world, demonstrated by Tara Mac Aulay
• David Chalmers on the nature and ethics of consciousness
• 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.
• Rachel Glennerster on a year's worth of education for under $1 and other development best buys
• Dr Ord on The Precipice and humanity's potential futures
• Prof MacAskill on the paralysis argument, whether we're at the hinge of history, & his new priorities
• Prof Tetlock on why accurate forecasting matters for everything, and how you can do it better
• Dr Greenberg on the scientific approach to solving difficult everyday questions
• Holden Karnofsky, founder of GiveWell, on how philanthropy can have maximum impact by taking big risks
• Brian Christian on better living through the wisdom of computer science
• Prof Greaves on moral cluelessness, population ethics, & harnessing the brainpower of academia to tackle the most important research questions
• Vitalik Buterin on better ways to fund public goods, blockchain's failures, & effective giving

1. How much does a single vote matter?
2. ‘Ugh Fields’, or why you can’t even bear to think about that task
3. Why you shouldn’t tolerate bullying even if your job is really important
4. Things I recommend you buy and use
5. What you think about landfill and recycling is probably totally wrong
6. This widely-promoted trial claimed to show a 4 and 5-day work week are equally productive. It didn’t.
7. Have the attention span of a goldfish? Here’s how to read long things (including books & papers)
8. How I used the internet to painlessly relearn a foreign language and you could too
9. Most people report believing it’s incredibly cheap to save lives in the developing world (2017)
10. How much is one vote worth? (2016)
11. Everything you need to know about whether money makes you happy (2016)
12. What are your chances of getting elected to Congress, if you try? (2015)
13. What are the 10 most harmful jobs? (2015)
14. Eat cows to save mice? Hold your horses! (2012)
15. Do innovation programs actually increase innovation? (2012)
16. Is the future communist? (2012)
17. Don't waste time to save money (2012)
18. What do smoking and cleaning have in common? (2012)
19. Are flow-on effects key to health interventions? (2012)
20. The principle of 'altruistic arbitrage' (2012)
21. Why stories celebrate conflict rather than compromise (2012)

Here's 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.

I've written about 'Ugh tasks' — tasks that you gradually come to feel terrible about not having done but can't bring yourself to do — which I think are a very underrated mental health issue.

Here are some of my thoughts on exercise, why it's so important, and how to get into it.

Here are some suggestions for how Australian policy could be modified to benefit the rest of the world, some old brainstorming on the overlap between classical liberalism and effective altruism, and some thoughts on political correctness.

Here's a bit of advice on how to effectively promote ideas on social media. And my views on how people involved in effective altruism should and shouldn't use jargon.

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 increasing your chance of surviving an imminent nuclear attack.

I love house music and dancing until I'm so tired I can't dance any longer — here's a Spotify playlist of 700 tracks I like and a bunch of mixes I love on SoundCloud.

Actually the details of my life are quite inconsequential.