3 September 2008

Five UQ students have been highly commended in the Smart Women Smart - State Awards for their research into biodiversity conservation and green algae.

The trio of Josie Carwardine, Carissa Klein and Eve McDonald-Madden were recognised in the Postgraduate Students (Science) category of the 2008 awards.

Their research involved using economic and mathematical methods to overcome challenges in conservation and natural resource management.

The team set out to confront the way people think about conservation and to identify approaches to cost effectively protect Australia's biodiversity.

UQ's Emily Knauth and Erin Ahern were also successful in the Postgraduate Students (Science) category for their research into biohydrogen production in green algae.

The Queensland Government's Office for Women holds the awards each year to acknowledge women who have made significant advances in the areas of science, engineering and information and communications technology (ICT).

UQ Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor David Siddle said the University had experienced long-standing success at the Smart Women Smart - State Awards and would continue to nurture the careers of some of Queensland's brightest women.

“The University strives to encourage women to study and choose careers in a broad range of disciplines,” Professor Siddle said.

“UQ's entrants in the Smart Women - Smart State Awards are always of the highest calibre and illustrate the opportunities for female researchers in fields where they are traditionally under-represented.”

Professor Siddle congratulated the five postgraduate students and the other UQ researchers who were short-listed in three Smart Women categories. They are:

• Undergraduate Students (Science) – Tamara Fletcher
• Postgraduate Students (ICT) – Alexandra Wee
• Women in the Community/Public Sector (Science) – Dr Eva Abal

Following her achievements in the Australian Brain Bee Challenge Queensland State Final 2007, Sophie Hill, from Kelvin Grove State College, was invited to undertake a research project within the Queensland Brain Institute.

As a result of her UQ-based research, which looked at the neural regenerative capacity in mice to help further understand the workings of the human brain, Sophie received the Secondary School Students Award.

The University’s success continued with UQ graduate Dr Ala Lew-Tabor who was awarded the Women in the Community/Public Sector (Science) category for her research into a new cattle tick vaccine.

Fellow UQ graduate Melanie Gordon was also successful in the Women in Industry/Business (Engineering) category for her project management of a dragline shutdown in a central Queensland mine.

The awards ceremony was held on September 2 at the State Library of Queensland.

Media: Eliza Plant at UQ Communications on (07 3365 2619)