Australian Academy of Science elects 22 new Fellows

Some of Australia’s top scientists have been elected as Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science, in recognition of their outstanding contributions to science.

The list of 22 scientists includes eight women, among them nutrition researcher Professor Maria Makrides — whose research changed international food laws and set infant nutrient recommendations worldwide — and neuroscientist Professor Lyn Beazley, who was the first female to hold a Chief Scientist role nationally.

Other new Fellows have helped develop a probability formula that has been used in criminal cases worldwide to interpret DNA profile evidence; conducted research that has underpinned the safe and cost-effective construction of offshore oil and gas platforms; increased our understanding of why people move differently in pain; and provided new insights into the role of DNA that is unrelated to its genetic function.

The new Fellows were inducted into the Academy this week, officially joining a prestigious group including Mark Oliphant, Michelle Simmons, Dorothy Hill, Nancy Millis, Douglas Mawson and David Attenborough — all Fellows or Corresponding Members of the Academy. The Fellows were congratulated by Academy President Professor John Shine, who acknowledged the “collective impact of their science on an international scale”.

Prof Shine also recognised that the Academy must celebrate and embrace diversity and inclusion in all its forms. He noted that 36% of Fellows this year (and over the past five years) were women — a step up from the 15% of women across the entire Fellowship — but said there is “more to do” and encouraged leaders of the science and research sector to help identify diverse candidates who have made an outstanding contribution to science.

The full list of Fellows for 2019 is as follows:

South Australia

• Professor Maria Makrides — South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (nutrition researcher)
   

Western Australia

• Professor Lyn Beazley — Murdoch University (neuroscientist)
   

ACT

• Dr Surinder Singh — CSIRO (plant scientist)
• Professor David McClelland – Australian National University (physicist)
   

Queensland

• Professor Christopher Barner-Kowollik — Queensland University of Technology (polymer chemist)
• Distinguished Professor Peter Corke — Queensland University of Technology (roboticist)
• Professor Debra Bernhardt — University of Queensland (chemist)
• Professor Paul Hodges — University of Queensland (medical researcher)
   

Victoria

• Emeritus Professor David Karoly — CSIRO (atmospheric scientist)
• Professor David Balding — University of Melbourne (genetic statistician)
• Professor John Hamilton — University of Melbourne (medical researcher)
• Professor Kerry Landman — University of Melbourne (mathematical biologist)
• Professor Mark Cassidy — University of Melbourne (civil engineer)
• Professor Warren Alexander — Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (medical researcher)
• Professor Joanne Etheridge — Monash University (physicist)
• Professor James Whelan — La Trobe University (plant scientist)
   

NSW

• Professor Maria Byrne — University of Sydney (marine biologist)
• Professor Alex Molev — University of Sydney (pure mathematician)
• Professor Catherine Stampfl — University of Sydney (physicist)
• Professor Cynthia Whitchurch — University of Technology Sydney (microbiologist)
• Professor Ian Wright — Macquarie University (plant ecologist)
• Professor Alexander Zelinsky — University of Newcastle (engineer)
   

Image caption: Neuroscientist and new Academy Fellow Professor Lyz Beazley.

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