To coincide with International Women’s Day, the Australian Academy of Science today announced the winner of the inaugural Nancy Millis Medal for Women in Science.
Professor Emma Johnston will receive the award for her leadership and ground-breaking research in marine ecology.
Professor Johnston is an Australian Research Council Fellow at the University of New South Wales and the inaugural Director of the Sydney Harbour Research Program at the Sydney Institute of Marine Science.
She combines her expertise in ecology and ecotoxicology to better understand and manage human impact on marine systems. Her work involves traditional laboratory-based studies with novel field-based experiments, from Antarctica to the Great Barrier Reef. She is also a co-star of Coast Australia -- a television series exploring the country’s coastline.
The Nancy Millis Medal was established to recognise the contributions of early-and mid-career women scientists who have established an independent research program and demonstrated exceptional leadership in any branch of the natural sciences.
The award also honours the memory of the late Professor Nancy Millis AC MBE FAA FTSE – a highly respected and much-loved microbiologist who catalysed links between academia and industry.
The Academy’s president Professor Suzanne Cory said it was “very exciting to announce the first winner of this new award recognising women in science, particularly on International Women’s Day.”
“This first round of the award saw an overwhelming response and the quality and breadth of the nominations was extremely high. I am delighted that so many women are making their mark in Australian science,” Professor Cory said.
Professor Johnston said "It's an enormous honour to receive this award on International Women's Day. Hopefully more women will be encouraged into this incredibly rewarding career."
The award will be presented at the Academy’s annual flagship event, Science at the Shine Dome in May this year.
Nominations for the next round of the Nancy Millis award are already open, see more information here. The deadline is 17 April 2014.
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