Emma Johnston

Last updated

Emma Johnston
AO FAA FTSE FRSN
Emma Johnston.JPG
Emma Johnston at the 2016 NRM Science Conference, University of Adelaide
Alma mater University of Melbourne
Awards2012 NSW Science and Engineering Awards;
2014 Nancy Willis Medal for Women in Science;
2018 Clarke Medal
Scientific career
Fields Marine ecologist
Institutions University of New South Wales
Thesis Effects of transient copper pollution events on the ecology of marine epifaunal assemblages
Doctoral advisor Mick Keough

Emma Letitia Johnston is an Australian marine ecologist and academic. As of 2024 she is the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research) at the University of Sydney, due to take up her appointment as Vice Chancellor of the University of Melbourne from February 2025. She was formerly dean of science and Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research) at the University of New South Wales, as well as president of Science & Technology Australia.

Contents

Early life and education

Emma Letitia Johnston [1] grew up near the sea, and spent much time swimming, snorkelling and sailing as a child. Her father was an applied mathematician and her mother a painter. [2]

Johnston studied physics and chemistry in high school, and not biology. However, she decided to focus on biology in her undergraduate degree (Bachelor of Science) at the University of Melbourne, which she completed in 1998 with first class Honours.[ citation needed ] In 1994 Johnston was elected president of the Melbourne University Student Union, at the time the largest student organisation in Australia, for 1995.[ citation needed ]

Johnston completed her PhD in marine ecology in 2002 at the University of Melbourne.[ citation needed ]

Career

Johnston joined University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney) as an associate lecturer in 2001. [3]

She became head of the Applied Marine and Estuarine Ecology Lab at UNSW and led major projects for industry, government, the Australian Research Council and the Australian Antarctic Science Program.[ citation needed ] She was appointed Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research) at UNSW. [4]

Johnston was the inaugural director of the Sydney Harbour Research Program,[ when? ] a flagship research project at the Sydney Institute of Marine Science. She was director of the project in 2012. [5]

She was Dean of Science at UNSW until July 2022, when she was appointed Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) at the University of Sydney. [4]

Johnston has been appointed Vice Chancellor of the University of Melbourne from February 2025. [4]

Research

Johnston's research group at UNSW investigated the ecology of human impacts in marine systems, combining the diverse disciplines of ecology, microbiology and ecotoxicology to expand fundamental understanding and provide recommendations for management. Her research is conducted in such diverse field environments as Sydney Harbour, Antarctica, the Great Barrier Reef, and temperate Australian estuaries.[ citation needed ]

Among Johnston's significant research findings is the discovery that toxic contaminants facilitate the invasion of coastal waterways by non-indigenous species. Some of her research topics include: determining the major drivers of marine bio-invasions, the vulnerability of Antarctic marine communities, and developing new biomonitoring techniques and informing the development of effective management of biodiversity in Australian estuarine systems. [6]

Other activities

Johnston is also 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 of the Foxtel/BBC television series Coast Australia . [7] has helped take Australian marine science to an international audience. She also launched a Sydney Harbour cruise called Underwater Secrets' – Sydney Harbour Revealed, [8] which focuses on scientific research into the waterway.

As president of Science & Technology Australia, Professor Johnston is also a public advocate for science and for increasing the participation of women in research.[ citation needed ]

Recognition and awards

Johnston was a 2007 winner of the Australian Institute of Policy and Science's Tall Poppy Award for her research into the effects of introduced species and contaminants on existing Australian marine species. [9]

In 2012, Johnston was named NSW Scientist of the Year for Excellence in Biological Sciences (Plant, Agriculture and Environment) in the NSW Science and Engineering Awards. [5] [a]

In 2014 she won the inaugural Australian Academy of Science Nancy Millis Medal for Women in Science. [3] This medal was presented to Johnston at Science at the Shine Dome on 28 May 2014. [10]

In 2015 Johnston won The Society for Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry AU Mid-Career Medal for excellence in scientific work in Australasia that has involved substantial environmental toxicology and chemistry. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales (FRSN). [11]

Johnston was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in the 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours for "distinguished service to higher education, particularly to marine ecology and ecotoxicology, as an academic, researcher and administrator, and to scientific institutes." [1] In September 2018 she was named one of The Australian Financial Review's 100 Women of Influence in the Innovation category. [12]

In December 2018 she was awarded the Clarke Medal by the Royal Society of New South Wales. [13]

Johnston was elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (FTSE) in 2019, [14] and Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science in 2022. [15]

Publications

As of 2017, Johnston had published over 112 peer-reviewed works. [16]

Footnotes

  1. ↑ "The NSW Science and Engineering Awards were initiated in 2008 to recognise and reward the State’s leading researchers in science and engineering for cutting edge work that generates economic, health, environmental or technological benefits for NSW." [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of New South Wales</span> Australian university

The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive universities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern Cross University</span> Australian public university

Southern Cross University (SCU) is an Australian public university, with campuses at Lismore and Coffs Harbour in northern New South Wales, and at Coolangatta, the most southern suburb of the Gold Coast in Queensland. In 2019, it was ranked in the top 100 young universities in the world by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matthew England</span>

Matthew England is an Australian physical oceanographer and climate scientist. As of 2024 he is Scientia Professor at the Centre for Marine Science & Innovation at the University of New South Wales, Sydney.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Williams (lawyer)</span> Professor of Law

George John Williams is the Vice-Chancellor and President of Western Sydney University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michelle Simmons</span> British-Australian quantum physicist (born 1967)

Michelle Yvonne Simmons is an Australian quantum physicist, recognised for her foundational contributions to the field of atomic electronics.

Michelle Haber is an Australian cancer researcher in the field of childhood cancer research.

Margaret Harding is an Australian chemist and educator who is currently Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) at The Australian National University (ANU). She is an expert in medicinal and biomolecular chemistry, with special research interests in the areas of antifreeze proteins and ligand-DNA interactions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pip Pattison</span> Australian academic (born 1952)

Philippa Eleanor Pattison worked in the area of Quantitative psychology and retired in December 2021 as the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Education at the University of Sydney. She is now an Emeritus Professor at the University of Sydney and the University of Melbourne.

Helen Marian Lochhead is an Australian architect and urbanist who combines academic and expert advisory roles with practice. Her career has focused on the inception, planning, design, and delivery of complex urban projects ranging from city improvements programs to major urban regeneration projects. She has held numerous influential roles in government, industry and universities including Dean, Faculty of Built Environment and Pro Vice-Chancellor Precincts at UNSW Sydney, National President of the Australian Institute of Architects and Deputy Government Architect in NSW. She has served on various Panels and Boards including the NSW Independent Planning Commission, The Australian Heritage Council and the National Capital Authority.

Mary Josephine O'Kane, AC an Australian scientist and engineer, is the Chair of the Independent Planning Commission of New South Wales. She is also a company director and Executive Chairman of O’Kane Associates, a Sydney-based consulting practice specialising in government reviews and research and innovation advice to governments in Europe, Asia and Australasia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margaret Sheil</span> Australian academic

Margaret Mary Sheil is an Australian academic and the Vice Chancellor of Queensland University of Technology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Megan Davis</span> Australian human rights lawyer and Aboriginal activist

Megan Jane Davis is an Aboriginal Australian activist and international human rights lawyer. She was the first Indigenous Australian to sit on a United Nations body, and was Chair of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. Davis is Pro Vice-Chancellor, Indigenous, and Balnaves Chair in Constitutional Law at the University of New South Wales. She is especially known for her work on the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

Attila Brungs is the Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of New South Wales (UNSW). He was appointed to the role in January 2022. Prior to this role, he was the Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Technology Sydney (UTS); a role that he held from July 2014 to October 2021.

Joy Damousi, is an Australian historian and Professor and Director of the Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences at Australian Catholic University. She was Professor of History in the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne for most of her career, and retains a fractional appointment. She was the President of the Australian Academy of the Humanities from 2017 to 2020.

Maria Kavallaris is an Australian scientist, based at the University of New South Wales' Children's Cancer Institute, where she is best known for her contributions to the field of cancer research. On 25 January 2019, Kavallaris was appointed a member of the Order of Australia.

Lisa Rae Jackson Pulver is an Aboriginal Australian epidemiologist and researcher in the area of Aboriginal health who has been Deputy Vice Chancellor at the University of Sydney since October 2018.

Judy Agnes Raper is an Australian chemical engineer and was previously Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation at the University of Wollongong. She has served as a National Science Foundation Director and led the Atomic Energy Research Establishment. She has been Dean & CEO of TEDI-London, a new engineering higher education provider since its incorporation in June, 2019.

Eileen Baldry is an Australian criminologist and social justice advocate. She is a Professor Emerita of Criminology at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), where she has been an academic since 1993, and was the inaugural Deputy Vice-Chancellor Equity Diversity and Inclusion from 2017-2022.

The Sydney Institute of Marine Science (SIMS) is a research institute focused on marine science in Sydney, Australia. It is a partnership among four Sydney universities: Macquarie University, the University of NSW (UNSW), the University of Sydney, and the University of Technology Sydney (UTS).

References

  1. 1 2 "Johnston, Emma Letitia". honours.pmc.gov.au. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  2. ↑ Emma Johnston on Coast Australia (2014)
  3. 1 2 Ross, John (7 March 2014). "Marine ecologist takes out new award". The Australian . Surry Hills, New South Wales, Australia: News Corp Australia . Retrieved 15 August 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 The Royal Society of New South Wales (30 September 2024). "Society Fellow, Emma Johnson, named as next Vice-Chancellor of the University of Melbourne".
  5. 1 2 3 "Emma Johnson(sic) receives Excellence in Biological Sciences Award". Sail-World.com. 20 November 2012. Retrieved 13 November 2024.
  6. ↑ "Emma L Johnston - Google Scholar Citations" . Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  7. ↑ Mercer, Cassie (2 December 2013). "A cup of tea with… Neil Oliver: Host of Foxtel's new Coast Australia". Inside History. Sydney, Australia. Archived from the original on 14 August 2014. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
  8. ↑ The Creative Company (10 April 2013). "Sydney Institute of Marine Science » Underwater Secrets - Sydney Harbour Revealed. The Harbour cruise with a difference | Blog". Harbourprogram.sims.org.au. Archived from the original on 14 August 2014. Retrieved 2014-08-14.
  9. ↑ "UNSW takes hat-trick of Young Tall Poppies". UNSW. 23 October 2007. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  10. ↑ "Science at the Shine Dome 2014 - Australian Academy of Science". Science.org.au. 29 May 2014. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  11. ↑ "Fellows - The Royal Society of NSW". www.royalsoc.org.au. Archived from the original on 27 September 2019. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  12. ↑ Patten, Sally (17 October 2018). "Women of Influence 2018 winner fights for recognition of Indigenous Australians". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  13. ↑ Carroll, Lucy (6 December 2018). "UNSW Dean of Science wins top Royal Society of NSW accolade". UNSW Newsroom. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
  14. ↑ "Professor Emma Johnston – Marine scientist". Applied. Archived from the original on 24 October 2019. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
  15. ↑ "Academy announces 2022 Fellows for outstanding contributions to science". Australian Academy of Science. 26 May 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  16. ↑ "Select Publications by Professor Emma Johnston | UNSW Research".
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.