Original story by John Ross, The Australian
AN expert on Sydney Harbour’s marine life has taken out a new award from the Australian Academy of Science.
University of NSW marine ecology professor Emma Johnston, inaugural winner of the Australian Academy of Science’s Nancy Millis Medal for Women in Science. Photo: Supplied
The academy has marked International Women’s Day today by presenting its inaugural Nancy Millis Medal for Women in Science to University of NSW marine ecologist Emma Johnston.
The award is for early-and mid-career women scientists who have established independent research programs and demonstrated exceptional leadership in any branch of the natural sciences.
Professor Johnston is a faculty member at UNSW’s School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences. She also heads the Sydney Harbour Research Program at the Sydney Institute of Marine Science, a collaboration of universities and government agencies.
The five-year project aims to help inform the management of the harbour’s natural and economic resources. Professor Johnston said the harbour was one of the most biologically rich in the world.
“Below the surface we find extensive kelp forests, sweeping seagrass meadows, rocky reefs and vibrant sponge gardens all teeming with life. (But) humans have used oceans for waste disposal for generations because they have little emotional attachment to what’s under the water.
“We need to get political will and resources going to clean it up.”
Professor Johnston’s research focus is the effects of pollutants on estuarine life, taking both an ecological and ecotoxicological perspective and “using field experimentation wherever possible”, her web page says.
Her research has taken her from the tropical waters of the Great Barrier Reef to Antarctica, where she has studied the impact of climate change on ecosystems on the polar seabed.
UNSW deputy vice-chancellor (research) Les Field, who is also the academy’s secretary for science policy, said Professor Johnston was a deserving recipient.
“Emma is a research powerhouse in marine science and an academic leader at UNSW as well as being an excellent role model to younger scientists, both here and across Australia.”
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