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Agriculture & Food @ Canberra Forum

UNSW Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Emma Johnston, on industry engagement and diving …

Professor Johnston’s seminar will cover partnering with industry in research, some science highlights and impact from her research.

Professor Johnston’s role as UNSW Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research) includes strategic leadership for external research income, international research and eResearch strategy, and other responsibilities.

Professor Johnston is also head of the Applied Marine and Estuarine Ecology Lab (AMEE). She combines the diverse disciplines of ecology, microbiology and ecotoxicology in an exciting research program that expands our fundamental understanding and provides recommendations for management. Her research is conducted in such diverse field environments as Antarctica, the Great Barrier Reef and temperate Australian estuaries.

Professor Johnston’s work has met the highest standards of international research, as evidenced by more than 100 peer-reviewed publications. An Australia Research Fellow from 2010-2014, Professor Johnston studied science at the University of Melbourne, graduating with a PhD in 2002. Her research has been recognised with numerous awards, including the inaugural Australian Academy of Science Nancy Millis Medal for Women in Science (2014), the NSW Science and Engineering Award for Excellence in Biological Sciences (2012) and the Hynes Award from the Canadian Rivers Institute (2016).

Professor Johnston is a high-profile science communicator, winning the 2015 Eureka Prize for Promoting Understanding of Australian Science Research. She is a regular media commentator and, as co-presenter for the Foxtel/BBC television series, Coast Australia, has helped take Australian marine science to an international audience. As Vice President of Science and Technology Australia, Johnston is a public advocate for science and for increasing the participation of women in research. Professor Johnston contributes expert opinion to state, federal & international government agencies and consults with industry through the development and implementation of environmental monitoring programs.

She leads a large and friendly research group that includes postdocs, research assistants and students at all levels (PhD, Masters, Honours and undergraduates). They approach their research from both an ecological and ecotoxicological perspective using field experimentation wherever possible.

This is a public seminar, all welcome.