Executive Dean's Message - December 2020
Dear Colleagues,
My very warmest wishes for a peaceful and relaxing holiday season after the year that was 2020. This year has tried and tested all of us and we have triumphed, but I think its fair to say we are now exhausted! I am greatly looking forward to the annual pause in email traffic, a change of scenery and routine, and time to cook some great and festive meals!
Thank you to the more than two hundred staff that attending our end of year functions at Gatton and St Lucia. It was wonderful to talk to so many people, to thank everyone for your contributions and to recognize the achievements and say farewell to those staff taking a VSS at the end of this year. My sincere thanks also also to Andrea and Julie, Jackie, Julia, Teeka, Nitika and Dom from the Engagement team who organised these events.
It was wonderful to attend the UQ Excellence awards last Monday and to celebrate the outstanding success of the Faculty of Science. Congratulations to:
Winners
- Innovation: Molecular Clamp Vaccines team
- Service: Ms Lisa Kennedy, Faculty of Science
Commended
- Innovation: Ms Amanda Cooke, Faculty of Science
- Service: Dr Gurion Ang, Faculty of Science
- Leadership: 2020 ARC Centres of Excellence Bid Development Team (incl Christine Beveridge)
- COVID19 response: Mr Lachlan Fowler, School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, Dr Myat Kyaw-Tanner, Faculty of Science, Dr Donna Parker, UQ Veterinary Medical Centre, School of Veterinary Science, Advancement team (including Evan Morgan), SARS-CoV-2 Early Warning Surveillance Team (including Phil Hugenholtz
In other congratulations, well done to Ole Warnaar, who was jointly awarded the 2020 Australian Mathematical Society’s George Szekeres Medal, which recognizes a sustained outstanding contribution to the mathematical sciences in Australia by a Society member. Ole is a leading expert in special functions, partition theory and algebraic combinatorics. He has made a number of breakthrough contributions in each of these fields, often making use of techniques from a variety of different areas of mathematics to solve outstanding problems.
Great news also for Peter Mumby, who is part of the newly formed northern Marine and Coastal Hub. The research consortium, led by the Reef and Rainforest Research Centre in Cairns, was successful under the latest round of the Australian Government's National Environmental Science Programme (NESP) receiving a significant portion of $47 million in funding over the next seven years to tackle some of our most complex environmental challenges.
And great to finally see the outcome of the NHMRC Ideas grant scheme! Congratulations Silvia Ciocchetta (SVS), Daniel Watterson (SCMB), Kirsty Short (SCMB), Kate Stacey (SCMB), Luke Guddat (SCMB) and Mark Schembri (SCMB) for leading successful grants, and to their colleagues for their contribution. Congratulations also to staff who are chief investigators on grants led by other parts of UQ or other universities.
I am also delighted to announce the next Director of UQ’s Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science (CBCS). Daniel Dunn is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, where he directs the Applied Marine Biogeography Lab. His research focuses on applying ecological and biogeographical theory to develop area-based solutions to natural resource management and conservation problems in the ocean across a range of scales. As Director of CBCS, Daniel will play a leadership role in biodiversity and conservation science at UQ, developing strategy, expanding networks and growing partnerships, supporting solutions-oriented collaborative interdisciplinary research, and cultivating the next generation of global leaders in biodiversity and conservation science. Daniel will take up the role on 1 January 2021. Thank you to James Watson for his outstanding leadership and achievements as the outgoing Director of CBCS, including securing VC strategic funding for the Centre, leveraging funding from a number of external sources, working with the CBCS team to establish a series of 16 ECR-led workshop, and boosting the profile of the Centre through significant research outcomes and commentary.
That’s all from me for 2020. See you on the other side!
Kindest regards, Melissa.