Hello. My name is Jenn and I currently live in Melbourne, Australia.
I’m 2 years into my PhD at present. Some days it’s fascinating and some days I hate it.
My current project: a phd thesis
I sit within the Faculty of Arts at Monash University, and more specifically, within the School of Media, Film and Journalism.
My thesis is currently titled “Making Parliament Accessible” which is an outrageously optimistic title that will likely change as I get closer to submission. I use large language models (Llama 3.1 8B, Mistral Small 3.1 24B, and Claude 4 Opus) to write government bill explainer documents (explanatory memoranda) using the text of specific federal parliamentary bills. I am interested in finding out whether the language models are capable of writing this information to a more understandable level than what currently exists, and if so, what gets changed in the process of doing so.
My project uses python (a programming language) to work with open language models so that I avoid accidentally make minor changes (like additional spaces!) when delivering the text to the models. Once I have handed my thesis up, these scripts will be made available on my Github page for others to tinker with. For the moment if you go to my Github you will only see my previous minor thesis project and my side-projects, but more will become available in time.
Personal interests
The PhD takes up a lot of my time and brain space. In the remainder, I like to read (see my reading list below), shoot arrows at archery practice (I have a barebow and I am a beginner), play DnD with my friends (I am a half-orc rogue named Jason), and swing dance (I both lead and follow). I like to draw using my iPad and I have made art for myself and for mods of games. I keep trying to learn to play the ukulele and guitar however these are skills that require significant time investment which is something I currently lack. Similarly, I have an interest in learning both French and Japanese, however this too will need to wait until I have graduated.
I try to avoid social media because when I have it, it sucks up all my time and attention. The best way to contact me is via email.
Links to organisations
I am an affiliate of the ARC Automated Decision Making and Society Centre. Here is my profile on the ADM+S website. I cannot speak more highly to the centre itself, the scholars within it, the professional staff, and the overwhelmingly positive engagement that comes from being a member of a research group. If you are thinking of doing a PhD in Australia, my biggest piece of advice is to join a research centre as soon as you can.
Non-academic books that I’m reading in 2025
Currently reading
Contact – Carl Sagan
A different kind of power – Jacinda Ardern
Blue machine – Helen Czerski
The passengers on the Hankyu line – Hiro Arikawa
Translating myself and others – Jhumpa Lahiri
The science question in feminism – Sandra Harding (this one’s quite academic actually!)
Completed
The Andromeda Strain – Michael Crichton
The Deep Sky – Yume Kitase
The Naked Sun – Isaac Asimov
To be taught, if fortunate – Becky Chambers
Days at the Morisaki Bookshop – Satoshi Yagisawa
Other interesting things
I really like independent bookshops. Paperback Books is my favourite bookshop in Melbourne. It’s fun to walk around in the store, there are always interesting new books, and the bookshop staff are lovely, helpful, and supportive. Big fan.
Haighs chocolates are delicious, and when you go in person to the store and purchase something, you usually leave with a small treat from their behind-the-counter stock (usually a couple of chocolate pastilles or freckles or something). Genuinely delightful.