About us

Welcome to PR Pulse – the USQ PR teaching team’s blog

The USQ PR teaching team has combined industry experience of close to 60 years in PR.  We have four-unit graduate certificates in crisis, professional and disaster communication, so look us up, we are happy to tell you more!

Clockwise from top left:

Andrew Mason has worked as both an academic and practitioner in communications and media industries for the best part of three decades. Like many public relations professionals his experience is quite varied and ranges from community groups, businesses and health-care to work on specific issues and political communication.

Andrew was in charge of public relations for Australia’s largest regional performing arts centre; the Empire Theatre in Toowoomba during its initial decade of growth. Throughout this period he worked on local to international public relations campaigns and the establishment of the Empire Theatres Foundation, a charitable trust to further participation the arts. The Foundation’s Patron is actor Geoffrey Rush.

Andrew was a founding member of the Arts Council Toowoomba, the group winning an Australia Day Award for Arts and Culture in 2007. In 2015 Andrew was appointed to the Toowoomba Regional Council’s Tourism and Events Advisory Committee

Matt Grant is a former newspaper, radio and television journalist, Matt was engaged by the Australian Army Public Relations Service to oversee crisis management and media relations in many situations throughout the Australian Army’s work in Australia and around the world. Upon leaving the Defence Forces, Matt returned to television news as Chief Of Staff responsible for nightly bulletins in Townsville, Toowoomba, Sunshine Coast and Central Queensland.

Matt was then recruited to manage the Toowoomba Regional Council’s corporate communication department.  His consultancy extends to a Major Australian Political Party and to departments at all levels of Australian Government. Matt holds an Adjunct position with the School of Tropical Medicine and Rehabilitation at James Cook University, and instructs on a variety of Defence courses for the Command and Staff College in Canberra, the Land Warfare Centre at Canungra and the Australia Peace Operations Training Centre at RAAF Base Williamtown.

Dr Chris Kossen is combining practical, industry experience with his academic research and teaches PR Research and our intro to PR course. Chris has is a co-author of several communication textbooks published by major publishing firms.

Comprehensive research into older workers in Australia, particularly aging male workers, formed the basis for his doctoral research. Subsequently, over many years, Chris has published his latest contemporary research in the critically important areas of diversity in the workforce and mature aged jobseekers.

With a particular interest in organisational communication, persuasion tactics and social research methods, Chis has also extensively published on effective techniques in communicating for success and has lectured on these topics both in Australia and internationally.

Barbara Ryan teaches the University of Southern Queensland’s public relations campaigns and crisis management courses using 20 years’ experience in public relations where she worked for Toowoomba City Council, Porter Novelli, the Big Event Company, TAFE and Toowoomba Grammar School.

Since joining USQ she has continued her public relations activity, undertaking pro-bono work for volunteer organisations and tech startups. She has worked on a number of creative projects such as the Centenary of Toowoomba City, Viva Olive Oil, Outrigger Hotels and Resorts, low budget but high impact events for Meat and Livestock Australia, and Telstra. Her other interests and experience are in disaster and crisis communication where creativity is the basis for testing management plans using scenarios.  She was co-ordinator of Toowoomba District Disaster Management Group’s communication team from 2005 until 2011 where scenarios were based on flood, bushfire and explosions caused by complex circumstances. Her research is in disaster communication and how people look for information when they are in a crisis or disaster.