Executive Dean’s Message - November 2022
Dear colleagues,
We have a significantly quieter campus now that exams are over and many of our staff are focused on finalising grades for release to students today. A huge thank you to everyone involved in delivery of teaching and assessment of learning for semester 2 and for the conscientious work of our staff contributing to school examiner’s meetings, including a comprehensive review of what worked this semester and what could be improved next year.
We are now on the home stretch to the Christmas/new year break with final lists of 2022 tasks (and moving a few things to 2023) and days marked by graduations and end-of-year events. I hope that you are taking the opportunity for a good break after a very busy year.
Thank you to everyone who attended the Science Faculty Board meeting the week before last, it was great to share the many achievements of our staff and some exciting changes within the faculty, the university and higher education more broadly. Make sure to take a look over the slides and school reports relating to the meeting if you missed out on the day. In 2023, the ‘Science Faculty Board Meeting’ will be renamed to the ‘Faculty of Science All Staff Forum’. Further information will be provided in May next year.
Welcome
A warm welcome to many new staff across the Faculty of Science! This includes Brenda Tournier who recently joined the Faculty of Science as Director of Advancement.
Congratulations
I am delighted to share the outcomes of this year’s academic promotion process, with the following staff being successful :
Level A to Level B:
- Alberto Amarilla Ortiz (SCMB)
- Valerie Hagger (BIOL)
- Franziska Fichtner (BIOL)
- Michael Jennings (SMP)
- April Hastwell (SAFS)
- Chris McMillan (SCMB)
Level B to Level C
- Rajendra Adhikari (SAFS)
- Tamara Keeley (SAFS)
- Scott Lieske (SEES)
- Frances Shapter (SVS)
- Kim Baublys (SEES)
- Peter Crisp (SAFS)
- Cullan Howlett (SMP)
- Matthew Luskin (BIOL)
- Naphak Modhiran (SCMB)
- Mojtaba Rajabi (SEES)
- Amelia S Wenger (SEES)
Level C to Level D
- Ammar Abdul Aziz (SAFS)
- Simone Blomberg (BIOL)
- Elin Charles-Edwards (SEES)
- Daniel Dunn (SEES)
- John Dwyer (BIOL)
- Jaqueline Mitchell (SAFS)
- Marloes Nitert Dekker (SCMB)
- Dorina Pojani (SEES)
- Gilbert Price (SEES)
- Sally Shrapnel (SMP)
- Teresa Ubide (SEES)
- Deanne Whitworth (SVS)
- Yash Dang (SAFS)
- Wendy Goodwin (SVS)
- Steven Zedler (SVS)
Level D to Level E
- Andrew Barnes (BIOL)
- Rod Fensham (BIOL)
- Joerg Henning (SVS)
- Ulrike Kappler (SCMB)
- Ricardo Soares Magalhaes (SVS)
- Karen McNamara (SEES)
- Daniel Ortiz-Barrientos (BIOL)
Congratulations also to Warwick Bowen (SMP) and colleagues for being awarded a $35M ARC Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Quantum Biotechnology; and to Tamara Davis (SMP) who will be the Deputy Director and UQ node lead of the successful ARC CoE for Gravitational Wave Discovery awarded to Swinburne University.
Congratulation to Mike Bell, Alwyn Williams, Yash Dang and Chelsea Janke (SAFS) who were awarded $11.9M from the Grains Research and Development Corporation. To Bostjan Kobe (SCMB) and colleagues who were awarded an ARC LIEF entitled ‘Nanocrystal Electron Diffraction Facility’ and other staff who are Cis on bids led by other UQ faculties or institutes (Lawrence Lo (SCMB) and Paul Bernhardt (SCMB)) or other Universities (Mojtabe Rajabi (SEES), Sarah Sweet (SMP), Ian Gentle (SCMB), Christine Beveridge (BIOL) and Helen Bostock Lyman (SEES)).
Congratulations to the following staff who were successful in attracting ARC Discovery Project funding as lead CI: Ben Powell (SMP), Hien Nguyen (SMP), Ben Pope (SMP), Halina Rubinsztein-Dunlop (SMP), Jacinda Ginges (SMP), Geoff McLachlan (SMP), Anthony Richardson (SMP), Diana Fisher (BIOL), Sandie Degnan (BIOL), Mark Schembri (SCMB), Tatsuya Amano (BIOL). And to Ulrike Kappler, Nick West, David Muller, Andrii Slonchak and Daniel Watterson (SCMB), who were individually awarded NHMRC Ideas grants that together total $5M.
Congratulations to Susan Rowland (SCMB and Science) who has been appointed as the new Vice Provost of The University of Sydney, after a spectacular academic and leadership career at UQ. We will miss Susan greatly and wish her all the best in her new role, university and city. Please note that Lydia Kavanagh and Louise Kuchel are currently co-Associate Deans Academic for Science and that we will commence the recruitment process for the next ADA shortly.
Congratulations also to Avril Robertson (SCMB) who has been appointed Acting Deputy ADR (Research partnerships), filling in for Melissa Fitzgerald who is currently Interim Head of SAFS.
Congratulations to Elizabeth Kreske (SCMB) and Sebastian Darchen (SEES) for both receiving a Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning at the recent UQ Teaching Excellence Awards, the UQ COVID-19 Vaccine team (SCMB and AIBN) for receiving a UQ Research Partnerships and Translation Award, and Wendy Goodwin (SVS) for receiving a Faculty of Science EMCR Industry Engagement Award.
Congratulations also to our colleagues working in the areas of Biodiversity and Conservation Biology, Ecology, Environmental Sciences and Life Sciences, who were recognised by the Australian newspaper research magazine as the best in the country!
And congratulations to the following staff who have been recognised as highly cited researchers: Bhesh Bhandari (SAFS), Phil Hugenholtz (SCMB), Rich Fuller (BIOL), Cath Lovelock (BIOL), Pete Mumby (BIOL), Avril Robertson (SCMB), Donovan Parks (SCMB), Chris Rinke (SCMB), Peng Wang (SEES), John Pandolfi (BIOL), Hugh Possingham (BIOL), James Watson (SEES), Christine Beveridge (BIOL).
Events
I thoroughly enjoyed the Faculty of Science T&L Forum, which was held on our Gatton campus on 4 November. Great presentations from Louise Kuchel (Science and BIOL), Steve Salisbury (BIOL) and Lydia Kavanagh (Science, Academic Board and EAIT), and activities led by Suresh Krishnasamy (SAFS) and Fran Shapter (SVS) and great morning tea and lunch. Thanks to Lydia and team for organising this event.
On the same day, it was also wonderful to welcome members of the Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research (CGIAR), a global research partnership for a food-secure future dedicated to transforming food, land and water systems in a climate crisis, who had attended the TropAg conference in Brisbane and doing a tour of the Gatton campus and nearby farms.
The Dorothy Hill Women in Earth and Environmental Sciences Symposium was held on 8-9 November and was a spectacular success. Congratulations to members of the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences who organised the event and for the opportunity to enjoy the symposium dinner with key Industry and Government partners, and a fascinating after-dinner talk by Honorary Professor John Jell, who spoke about the amazing life of Dorothy Hill and some of the challenges she faced during her highly successful career.
Congratulations to SCMB for a fantastic Industry Breakfast on Monday morning this week, with great attendance by Industry and Government partners and members of the school. Attendees enjoyed a very interesting presentation by Michael Burke, Director of Biofutures Queensland, Queensland Department of State Development, Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning, followed by a stimulating Q&A session.
All staff are invited to attend the ‘UQ Thanks You’ events to acknowledge the great efforts of our staff throughout the year and celebrate the many achievements. The events will be held across our three main campuses between 29 November and 6 December. For those who live and work outside of Brisbane or Gatton, please register your interest.
And please do join me and your school colleagues at the upcoming Graduation ceremonies. Please register your attendance.
Pulse survey
Preliminary results arising from the Faculty of Science Pulse Survey have been released and it was very pleasing to see that our overall score has increased, with notable increases against a number of statements including: ‘Staff in my org unit enact UQ values’, ‘Staff in my org unit work collegially’, ‘Staff are held accountable for unacceptable behaviors’, ‘My org unit has implemented actions to support UQ RAP’, ‘My direct supervisor provides helpful feedback’ and ‘My org unit has effective communication processes’. Some other areas however saw a decline, including statements relating to plans to stay at UQ, and Wellness. More information including school-specific data will be available soon.
Faculty awards
And just a reminder that the Faculty of Science Awards close this Friday! These awards recognise high-achieving staff and students who have made outstanding contributions and demonstrated significant future potential in science learning, communication, research, teaching, service, mentoring, leadership or teamwork. Please nominate one of your amazing colleagues!
Kind regards,
Professor Melissa Brown
Executive Dean - Faculty of Science