Academy elects new Fellows for 2015

The Australian Academy of Science has announced the election of 21 new Fellows for their outstanding contributions to science and scientific research. The Fellows made presentations about their work at the academy’s annual flagship event, Science at the Shine Dome.

“Election to the academy celebrates excellence and recognises contributions to science of the highest order,” said Academy Professor Andrew Holmes. The new Fellows have significantly advanced knowledge in their chosen fields, including the physics of stars; new techniques and treatments for tropical diseases, lupus, diabetes, cancer and kidney disease; advanced fuel cells made out of new materials; new ways to analyse genes; new plastics technology; and brain wiring.

QUT Professor Peter Bartlett was recognised for his pioneering work in statistical learning theory, which is at the interface of computer science and statistics. He has created the theoretical foundations for many key advances in statistical machine learning. Professor Bartlett is one of eight new Fellows elected from the sunshine state - a record number.

The Garvan Institute’s Professor Susan Clark has meanwhile been elected in recognition for her contribution to human cancer epigenetics. She is best known for the development of DNA methylation and histone modification sequencing technologies to investigate complex relationships between epigenetic alterations and gene control in normal and cancer cells.

Business leader and nuclear physicist Dr Ziggy Switkowski has also been elected for his advocacy for science and technology at the highest levels. A distinguished adviser to business, government and universities, Dr Switkowski is also the chairman of nbn and Suncorp Group and chancellor of RMIT University. As one of the very few scientifically trained PhDs among Australia’s business leaders, he has written extensively on questions of technology, science and academia.

The remaining 18 Fellows are as follows:

• Professor Martin Asplund - The Australian National University
• Professor Christine Beveridge - The University of Queensland
• Professor Jenefer Blackwell - Telethon Kids Institute
• Professor Christine Charles - The Australian National University
• Professor Maria Forsyth - Deakin University
• Professor Julian Gale - Curtin University
• Professor Edward Holmes - The University of Sydney
• Professor Wendy Hoy -The University of Queensland
• Professor William Laurance - James Cook University
• Professor Geoffrey McLachlan - The University of Queensland
• Professor Michael McLaughlin - The University of Adelaide
• Professor Helene Marsh - James Cook University
• Professor Linda Richards - The University of Queensland
• Professor Malcolm Sambridge - The Australian National University
• Professor Ian Small - The University of Western Australia
• Professor San Thang - Monash University
• Professor Carola Vinuesa -The Australian National University
• Professor Michael Waters - The University of Queensland

The academy now numbers a total of 503 Fellows and Corresponding Members from across the breadth of the natural sciences. For more information on this year’s Fellows, visit https://www.science.org.au/fellows-elected-2015.