The selection of an ANU scientist to head the Australian Academy of Science (AAS) came as the peak group honoured a number of ANU academics for their contribution to scientific excellence.
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| Professor Kurt Lambeck is the new head of the national science body. Images: Australian Academy of Science |
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Geophysicist Professor Kurt Lambeck from the Research School of Earth Sciences has been elected President of the AAS for the next four years. In making its selection, the academy praised Professor Lambeck’s contribution to his field and to international scientific dialogue.
“It’s a great honour to have been elected President of the Australian Academy of Science. I’ll be working hard during the next four years to advance science at all levels – through school programs, at universities and, importantly, in the development of the careers of Australia’s young scientists,” Professor Lambeck said.
“I’ll be pursuing a personal interest in promoting Australian science in the international scientific arena and putting science into Australia’s foreign policy. Science is a global entity and Australia needs to expand its presence in international science to secure our social, economic and environmental future.”
Professor Lambeck’s election was announced during the AAS symposium Science at the Shine Dome earlier this month. A number of ANU scientists were celebrated at the event.
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Professor Mike Gore receives the Academy Medal from the AAS. |
Professor Mike Gore from the Centre for the Public Awareness of Science was awarded the prestigious Academy Medal for his dedication to science education and the promotion of science. The AAS citation said that by establishing Questacon, Professor Gore had taken the “excitement and wonder of science to countless children and adults”.
Reflecting on the early days of Questacon and its major outreach program, the Shell Science Circus, Professor Gore said the initial projects were a gamble worth taking.
“We went national way before any of the other national institutions really got on the road,” he said. “It was a great experiment. We didn’t know how it was going to run.”
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| Professor Jenny Graves |
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Professor Jenny Graves from the Research School of Biological Science (RSBS) received the Macfarlane Burnet Medal for outstanding research in the biological sciences. She was praised for her work in comparative genomics on marsupial DNA.
“Using comparative genomics we can look at how genes are regulated to make different tissues and organs, and what can go wrong to cause genetic disease and cancer," Professor Graves said.
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| Professor Barry Ninham |
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The David Craig Medal for an outstanding contribution to chemistry was awarded to Emeritus Professor Barry Ninham from the Research School of Physical Sciences and Engineering (RSPhysSE).
RSPhysSE received another nod when Dr Mahananda Dasgupta received the Pawsey Award for early career researchers in physics.
Associate Professor Michael Sherburn from the Research School of Chemistry won the Le Fevre Memorial Prize for chemistry.
Professor Susanne von Caemmerer from RSBS and Professor David Hinde from RSPhysSE were also honoured at the symposium, being inducted as AAS Fellows.
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Dr Mahananda
Dasgupta |
Professor
Susanne von
Caemmerer |
Professor
David
Hinde |
Associate
Professor
Michael
Sherburn |
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