2012 South Australian Award Winner


Dr Grant Tomkinson

Dr Grant Tomkinson – Children’s Health Senior Lecturer, School of Health Sciences, University of South Australia Dr Grant Tomkinson’s research area is in children’s fitness. By collecting the world’s largest dataset on the issue, Grant was the first person to show that there has been a global decline in children’s aerobic fitness since 1975. The…

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Dr Hannah Keage

Dr Hannah Keage – Cognitive Neuroscience Lecturer, School of Psychology, Social Work and Social Policy, University of South Australia Dr Hannah Keage investigates the causes and effects of dementia, such as Alzheimer’s disease. As the global population ages the prevalence of dementia is set to rise. Hannah’s research focuses on the underlying biology of late-onset…

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Dr Kerry Wilkinson

Dr Kerry Wilkinson – Analytical Chemistry & Sensory Science Lecturer of Oenology, School of Wine and Horticulture, The University of Adelaide  Dr Kerry Wilkinson works with the compounds that affect the aroma and flavour of grapes and wine. In 2009 after the Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria, local winemakers found that wine made from smoke-exposed grapes…

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Dr Matthew Gilliham

Dr Matthew Gilliham – Agricultural Plant Science Senior Research Scientist, School of Wine and Horticulture, The University of Adelaide  Dr Matthew Gilliham investigates how wheat and grapevines might better tolerate soil salinity and how the nutritional quality of crop plants can be improved. In Australia, soil salinity affects approximately 30% of all agricultural soil and…

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Dr Paul Gardner-Stephen

Dr Paul Gardner-Stephen – Humanitarian Communication Research Fellow, School of Computer Science, Engineering and Mathematics, Flinders University  Dr Paul Gardner-Stephen works in the field of humanitarian communication. He is developing open-source software that lets mobile phones talk directly to each other – instead of via phone towers – a system known as mesh telephony. His…

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Dr Rachel Popelka-Filcoff

Dr Rachel Popelka-Filcoff – Archaeological Science  AINSA Research Fellow, School of Chemical and Physical Sciences, Flinders University  “My research combines analytical methods in chemistry and physics and cultural heritage into multidisciplinary research aspects that help us understand and interpret our humanity.” Dr Rachel Popelka-Filcoff studies the elemental and mineralogical properties of ochre, as used by Indigenous…

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Dr Russell Brinkworth

Dr Russell Brinkworth – Mechatronics Senior Lecturer, School of Electrical and Information Engineering, University of South Australia Dr Russell Brinkworth’s research spans neuroscience and robotics. By studying how the brain and eye work he has developed biologically inspired cameras that work more like eyes. Physiological experiments and computer modelling have revealed that visual processing of…

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Professor Dmitri Kavetski

Professor Dmitri Kavetski – Hydrological and Environmental Modeling School of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering, The University of Adelaide Professor Dmitri Kavetski’s research focuses on understanding and modelling the water cycle. Given the significance of water in human society, and in natural ecosystems, modelling the behaviour of catchments is an integral part of environmental science,…

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