Chris Bearman is an Associate Professor of Cognitive Psychology at Central Queensland University and a Volunteer Fire Fighter in the South Australian Country Fire Service. After completing his PhD Chris joined the world renowned research organization NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), where he explored non-technical skills in aviation and space missions. In 2012 he became one of the founder members of Central Queensland University’s prestigious Appleton Institute. Chris is Co-Chief Investigator for the NHRA (Natural Hazards Research Australia) project on Decision Making in Emergency Management and continues to work on non-technical skills in aviation, rail, space missions & emergency management. Since obtaining his PhD in 2004 Chris has published over 100 articles, research papers and industry reports. He has held 23 research and training grants worth in excess of $4 million. He has a research interest score of 546.3 on research gate, which is in the top 13% of researchers worldwide. Together with his colleagues, he won the Harry C Bigglestone Award in 2019 for effective communication of fire protection concepts. Chris was awarded the Australian National Emergency Medal in recognition of his work during the 2019-20 Cudlee Creek Fire, South Australia and the New South Wales Premier’s Bushfire Emergency Citation for his work in the 2019-20 New South Wales Bushfires.