Two outstanding young Tasmanian researchers have been chosen to receive the prestigious Young Tall Poppy Science Award for 2012.
Dr Rosanne Guijt, from the UTAS School of Pharmacy, develops and manufactures Lab on a Chip systems with applications ranging from chemical and pharmaceutical analysis to agriculture and cell culture analysis.
The development of such devices with ‘sample in-answer out’ capability will initiate a new era in pharmaceutics, enabling therapeutic drug monitoring for personalised medicine, greater water management proficiency and portable laboratory analysis.
Dr Rick Stuart-Smith, from UTAS’ Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies, co-founded the highly successful Reef Life Survey (RLS) program. Since 2007 he has personally organised and led the training of more than 160 volunteer divers in scientific survey methods, which has since generated more than 4000 reef surveys in more than 30 countries. RLS now represents one of the most valuable data on marine biodiversity in the world.
UTAS Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter Rathjen congratulated the winners.
“I’ve been involved with Tall Poppies a long time-in fact I was one myself, a long time ago.
“There are many different traditions of thought, but one that has proven to be particularly robust in describing the world in a way that is predictable and can be measured and used, is science,” Prof Rathjen said.
“It is clear to me society needs more people who understands science, its power and its limitations. This is why it is a particular pleasure for UTAS to host these awards; our Tall Poppies communicate the joy of scientific discovery to the community.”
Australian Institute of Policy and Science’s Acting Executive Director, Camille Thomson, said the Young Tall Poppy Science Awards aim to recognise early career researchers who have achieved significant scientific milestones and have demonstrated a passion and ability to engage people of all walks in joy of science.
“The Awardees recognise the need to share their research with the community and inspire young people to think seriously about pursuing science in the future,” she said.
The Tall Poppy Campaign is supported by UTAS.
Image: Dr Rick Stuart-Smith and Dr Rosanne Guijt.