21 scientists join the Academy of Science

The Australian Academy of Science has inducted 21 of Australia’s best scientists for their outstanding contributions to science.

Academy of Science President Professor Andrew Holmes congratulated all of the new Fellows for making significant and lasting impacts in their scientific disciplines.The group were elected by their Academy peers, following a rigorous evaluation process.

“What is delightful about our latest group of new Fellows is that many were inspired to become scientists at an early age,” Professor Holmes said.

“Professor Dietmar Muller 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 be the first to finish reading tasks set by his primary school teacher so he could go outside and study nature as a reward.”

The Academy’s total fellowship now includes 524 scientists. The new Fellows are:

Queensland

1. Philip Hugenholtz, University of Queensland. Hugenholtz is a microbiologist who has made landmark contributions to the understanding of uncultured microbial diversity, evolution and ecology.

2. Jennifer Martin, Griffith Institute of Drug Discovery. Martin is an internationally renowned protein crystallographer. She has made seminal discoveries in bacterial redox biochemistry and applies structure-based approaches to design and develop new drugs.

3. Mark Smyth, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute. Smyth is the most highly cited immunologist in Australia and is recognised for his significant contributions to tumour immunology.

4. Timothy Ralph, University of Queensland. Ralph is internationally acclaimed for his pioneering theories in quantum information science.

New South Wales

5. Professor Dietmar Müller, University of Sydney. Professor Müller is a geophysicist whose research has transformed our understanding of the Earth’s evolution over the past 200 million years. He has developed new capabilities for modelling tectonic, geodynamic, environmental and resource-formation processes.

6. Professor John Patrick, University of Newcastle. Patrick is renowned for his theoretical and experimental advances in the regulation of nutrient transport and partitioning in plants.

7. Professor Branka Vucetic, University of Sydney. Vucetic has made fundamental contributions to the science of coding theory, which underpins all modern telecommunications techniques.

South Australia

8. Professor Jozef Gécz, University of Adelaide. Gécz is a human molecular geneticist internationally recognised for his contributions to the genetics of childhood onset neurological disorders, including intellectual disabilities, epilepsies, autisms and cerebral palsies.

Western Australia

9. Professor Igor Bray, Curtin University. Igor Bray ranks in the top few in the world in the field of atomic and molecular collision physics, and is responsible for several major paradigm-shifting research breakthroughs during his career.

ACT

10. Professor Ian Chubb, Australian National University (Special Election). Chubb has been a strong and effective advocate for government and industry support of innovation and research in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) over several decades. Throughout his career, including as Vice-Chancellor of the ANU and as Chief Scientist of Australia, he made significant contributions to improving the infrastructure for scientific research and training and was conspicuous in raising the public profile of science in the media.

11. Dr Evans Lagudah, CSIRO. Lagudah is a molecular geneticist who has made outstanding contributions to international agriculture through his work on disease resistance in crop plants.

Victoria

12. Professor Thomas Davis, Monash University. Davis is a leading innovator in polymer and pharmaceutical science who is designing bespoke macromolecular chains for a range of therapeutic applications.

13. Associate Professor Jane Elith, University of Melbourne. Elith is interested in the methods used to model the distribution of species, and focuses on how they work, how to improve them for typical data types and applications, and how to deal with their uncertainties.

14. Dr Anita Hill, CSIRO. Hill is recognised for her research in materials and process engineering and, more specifically, in the transport of atoms, ions and small molecules in condensed matter.

15. Professor David Gardner, University of Melbourne. Gardner is an embryologist whose research has laid the foundation for major clinical developments in human IVF.

16. Professor Karl Glazebrook, Swinburne University of Technology. Glazebrook is an astronomer whose research has led to major advances in our understanding of the evolution of galaxies and the Universe across cosmic time.

17. Professor Cameron Jones, Monash University. Jones is a recognised leader in the emerging field of Modern Main Group Chemistry and has made numerous landmark contributions to the stabilisation of low-oxidation state and metal-to-metal bonded systems.

18. Professor Melissa Little, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. Little is internationally recognised for her research on kidney development and her pioneering studies into novel regenerative approaches to the diagnosis and treatment of kidney disease.

19. Professor Lois Salamonsen, Hudson Institute of Medical Research. Salamonsen is internationally recognised for her transformative contributions to human fertility/infertility related to the uterus. Her work addresses immense global challenges and is delivering new translational concepts to alleviate uterine infertility without IVF.

20. Professor Nicholas Wormald, Monash University. Wormald is one of an elite group of mathematicians globally who combine the most advanced probability theory, combinatorics and theoretical computer science to produce deep insights into the nature of random and complex networks.

Tasmania

21. Dr John Volkman, CSIRO. Volkman is internationally acknowledged as an authority on the discovery and application of lipid biomarkers in organic geochemistry, environmental studies, petroleum geochemistry and palaeoclimatology.