Dr Ross McVinish is a Lecturer in Mathematics in the School of Mathematics and Physics at the University of Queensland. He received his PhD from Queensland University of Technology in 2002, along with a Bachelor of Applied Science and a Bachelor of Applied Science (Honours) from the same institution. His research focuses on applied probability, Bayesian statistics, and mathematical modelling of complex systems in population biology. McVinish has contributed to the analysis of metapopulation models, studying conditions under which these models can be approximated by simpler deterministic, Gaussian, and point process models. He has also advanced Bayesian goodness-of-fit testing by improving computational tools and theoretical results for assessing model fit in Bayesian settings. In 2009-2010, he received the UQ New Staff Research Start-Up Fund for the project 'Bayesian nonparametric methods for system identification'. As an associate editor for the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Statistics, he plays a key role in scholarly publishing. McVinish has served as associate advisor for five completed PhD supervisions, including theses on approximations for finite spin systems and occupancy processes (2019), a model for the spread of an SIS epidemic (2015), spatially structured metapopulation models (2015), fault detection in complex systems (2014), and analytical methods for stochastic discrete-time metapopulation models (2011), all in collaboration with Emeritus Professor Philip Pollett.

McVinish has an extensive publication record in leading journals. Notable works include 'Re-examining the drivers of variation in parasite loads across hosts in the Tallis-Leyton model' (Journal of Mathematical Biology, 2025), 'A graphical exploration of the relationship between parasite aggregation indices' (PLoS ONE, 2024), 'Fast approximate simulation of finite long-range spin systems' (Annals of Applied Probability, 2021, with Liam Hodgkinson), 'Normal approximations for discrete-time occupancy processes' (Stochastic Processes and their Applications, 2020, with Liam Hodgkinson and Philip K. Pollett), 'Measuring aggregation in parasite populations' (Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 2020, with R. J. G. Lester), 'Local approximation of a metapopulation's equilibrium' (Journal of Mathematical Biology, 2018, with A. D. Barbour and P. K. Pollett), 'A metapopulation model with Markovian landscape dynamics' (Theoretical Population Biology, 2016, with P. K. Pollett and Y. S. Chan), 'Does moving up a food chain increase aggregation in parasites?' (Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 2016, with R. J. G. Lester), 'Connecting deterministic and stochastic metapopulation models' (Journal of Mathematical Biology, 2015, with A. D. Barbour and P. K. Pollett), and 'The limiting behaviour of Hanski's incidence function metapopulation model' (Journal of Applied Probability, 2014, with P. K. Pollett). His research has influenced studies in ecology, epidemiology, and stochastic processes.

Professional Email: r.mcvinish@uq.edu.au