The new Fellows of 2017

Twenty-one of Australia’s best scientists have been elected to the Australian Academy of Science for their outstanding contributions to science.

The scientists’ ground-breaking discoveries and contributions to research range from improving food security, women’s reproductive health and mobile telecommunications, through to our understanding of the evolution of the Earth, the periodic table and massive galaxies.

Many of the new Fellows were inspired at an early age to become scientists.

Professor Dietmar Müller gathered billion-year old fossilised rocks along Baltic Sea beaches as a child, while Professor Lois Salamonsen read books about the universe.

Professor Branka Vucetic became fascinated with radio-engineering when her science teacher posed a question that she couldn’t answer at the time, while former Chief Scientist, Professor Ian Chubb, would race to finish reading tasks in primary school so he could go outside and study nature as a reward.

The Academy’s Fellowship now includes 522 esteemed scientists. The new Fellows are:

Queensland

Professor Philip Hugenholtz, University of Queensland
Professor Jennifer Martin, Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery
Professor Tim Ralph, University of Queensland
Dr Mark Smyth, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute

New South Wales

Professor Dietmar Müller, University of Sydney
Professor John Patrick, University of Newcastle
Professor Branka Vucetic, University of Sydney

South Australia

Professor Jozef Gécz, University of Adelaide 

Western Australia

Professor Igor Bray, Curtin University

Australian Capital Territory

Professor Ian Chubb, Australian National University (Special Election)
Dr Evans Lagudah, CSIRO

Victoria

Professor Thomas Davis, Monash University
Associate Professor Jane Elith, University of Melbourne
Dr Anita Hill, CSIRO
Professor David Gardner, University of Melbourne
Professor Karl Glazebrook, Swinburne University of Technology
Professor Cameron Jones, Monash University
Professor Melissa Little, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute
Professor Lois Salamonsen, Hudson Institute of Medical Research
Professor Nicholas Wormald, Monash University

Tasmania

Dr John Volkman, CSIRO