Awards and recognition

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Macquarie’s HydGene Renewables team (pictured) and Redback Systems team both impressed in the CSIRO’s ON Accelerate program, with members of both teams securing Stanford University scholarships.

Every month we celebrate impressive achievements within the Macquarie community. Got something to share for next month? Tell us.


Clean sweep of Stanford scholarships for Macquarie tech innovators

With two separate teams in this year’s CSIRO ON Accelerate cohort, Macquarie is building quite the reputation for being a hothouse for tech innovation with impact.

This was cemented with the awarding of both of the program’s inaugural Stanford University scholarships to innovators from Macquarie. Congratulations to the following staff members, who both receive $30,000 to attend a Stanford Graduate School of Business entrepreneurship program.

Dr Kerstin Petroll from the Department of Molecular Sciences (who tweets under the fantastically appropriate handle @petroll_free) is part of the HydGene Renewables team, who are developing technology that converts plant material to hydrogen-powered electricity on site and on demand, providing a clean alternative to the 100,000 diesel generators sold in Australia each year. Watch Kristen explain their technology  >>

Matthew Van Breugel from the Department of Physics and Astronomy, is part of the Redback Systems team, who build compact, affordable, and robust ultra high-resolution spectrographs for use in a wide variety of industries including minerals exploration, defence and security, and food and water quality monitoring. Watch Matt explain their technology  >>


Impressive publishing week for Earth and Environmental Sciences  

Nature and Science are two of the most prestigious science journals in the world, well known for publishing the very best of international research. And if you were perusing these journals last week you would have seen Macquarie research featured in both – an impressive publishing ‘double’ for the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences.

Distinguished Professor Stephen Foley and his co-authors revealed in Nature that although we know that immense amounts of CO2 are released from the rifts between continental tectonic plates, almost none of it gets through the continental cores, even though it is generated under them. Released CO2 from Earth’s mantle has at some periods been a major influence on Earth’s climate and this research raises a new question – how did it get to the rifts to be released?

Two days later in Science, Professor Neil Saintilan and his team used sediment records for the last 10,000 years to show that without action on global warming, mangroves are unlikely to survive beyond 2050.  Professor Saintilan and his Blue Carbon team won the 2019 Eureka Prize for Environmental Research, for a study showing that coastal marshes (mangrove habitat) capture and store more atmospheric carbon dioxide per unit area than any other natural system.


Queen’s Birthday honours

Macquarie alumna Dr Cathy Foley FAAS has been recognised in this year’s Queen’s Birthday honours, receiving an Order of Australia for her distinguished service to research science, to the advancement of women in physics and to professional scientific organisations.

Dr Foley graduated with a BSc (Hons) Dip Ed from Macquarie in 1981, and went on to complete a PhD in Physics at the University in 1985. She is currently Chair of the Faculty of Science and Engineering’s Faculty Advisory Council.

Also among those recognised with Queen’s Birthday honours was Dr Bruce Harris – a former Associate Professor of History and former Head of the School of History, Philosophy and Politics – who was made a member of the Order of Australia.

Ed: Know of any other Macquarie staff or alumni that were honoured? Let us know in the comments below.


Grants to fund work in youth mental health, middle ear disease in Aboriginal children

Congratulations to research teams in the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences who have secured grants to fund important health projects.

A research team led by Professor Cath McMahon has been awarded a $1.96m grant as part of a $35m Medical Research Future Fund investment in Indigenous health projects. The team complete a three-year study on improving care pathways for treating middle ear disease, which occurs more frequently and severely in Aboriginal children compared to the Indigenous population and is a major contributor to hearing loss within Aboriginal communities. Read more >>

The UK-based Wellcome Trust has also awarded funding to researchers in the Centre for Emotional Health, in collaboration with Oxford University, to pinpoint the mental health treatments that make the most difference in preventing and treating anxiety and depression in young people aged 14-24. Read more >>


Macquarie scientists to feature in new National Geographic documentary series

Associate Professors Heather Handley and Craig O’Neill, from the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, both feature in a new documentary series Nature’s Fury, which premiered on National Geographic on 11 June.  The series explores the science behind natural disasters including the volcanic eruption on White Island in New Zealand.

The National Geographic channel is available on Foxtel.


10 million views for a regular kid from Ancient Rome

A glimpse of teenage life in Ancient Rome – part of the popular animated video series by Ancient History’s Professor Ray Laurence – has now been watched a staggering 10 million times on YouTube.

Professor Laurence developed the series to encourage more young people (in particular, young males) to study ancient history. Learn more in our 10 questions with Ray Laurence >>

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