AUSTRALIAN FRONTIERS OF SCIENCE, 2003

Canberra, 31 July to 1 August 2003

Biographies of session chairs


Session 1: Professor David McKenzie
Applied and Plasma Physics, University of Sydney

David McKenzie David McKenzie has held a Personal Chair in Materials Physics in the School of Physics University of Sydney since 1997. Previous appointments have included: Director of the Australian Key Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis (AKCMM) (2000); Deputy Director of the AKCMM (1994-1999); Reader at the University of Sydney and Visiting Professorships at Osaka University, Japan and Nanyang Technological University, Singapore and a Visiting Fellowship at Churchill College Cambridge. Research achievements have included the identification of the amorphous phase of carbon known as tetrahedral amorphous carbon, the development of theories for the formation of the cubic phase of born nitride, the development of techniques for the on line analysis of thin film materials by electron diffraction in the electron microscope. In 2001 he was awarded an ISI Citation Laurate award for 8 high impact papers and is listed in 2003 by ISI as one of the worlds 250 most most highly cited scientists.

Session 2: Dr Charley Lineweaver
Department of Astrophysics and Optics, University of New South Wales

Charley Lineweaver Charles is a research astronomer and senior lecturer in the School of Physics, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. He received his PhD in physics from the University of California at Berkeley. His fields of research are cosmology and more recently astrobiology. He teaches one of the most popular general studies courses at the University of New South Wales, 'Are We Alone?' (www.phys.unsw.edu.au/astro/seti)

He has lived in or travelled through 62 countries, speaks four languages and was a semi-professional soccer player in Germany.

Session 3: Dr Wayne Gerlach
Johnson and Johnson Research Pty Ltd

Wayne Gerlach Wayne is Executive Director – Biotechnology at Johnson & Johnson Research Pty Limited in Sydney. From 1992 to early 2003 he was Director of the Johnson & Johnson Research Laboratories. This is a molecular biology research facility of Johnson & Johnson corporation.

Prior to this he was Senior Principal Research Scientist at CSIRO Division of Plant Industry in Canberra. At CSIRO he worked in areas of plant molecular biology, with a later concentration on plant disease, being Program Leader in this area.

Originally a graduate and PhD in genetics from the University of Adelaide, in 1990 he was awarded the CSIRO Rivett Medal for research, and in 1992 was awarded the Lemberg Medal of the Australian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. He has also held Rothmans, Harkness and Queen Elizabeth II Fellowships, and has held appointments in Cambridge, England, and at the University of California at Davis. He has published over 90 papers and book chapters in areas of molecular and classical genetics, as well as patent applications.

Session 4: Dr Jacqui Matthews
School of Molecular and Microbial Biosciences, University of Sydney

Jacqui Matthews Jacqui completed her undergraduate degree at the University of New South Wales and followed this up with a PhD in protein folding from the University of Cambridge. She was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research in Melbourne, before coming to the School of Molecular and Microbial Biosciences at the University of Sydney. Jacqui currently holds an ARC Australian Research Fellowship. Her work focuses on understanding, with molecular and atomic precision, the roles of particular proteins in normal development and in disease states such as breast cancer and childhood leukemia.

Session 5: Associate Professor Christopher Daniels
School of Earth and Environment Sciences, University of Adelaide

Christopher Daniels Christopher is a Research Associate Professor in Environmental Biology at the University of Adelaide. Chris followed formal training in zoology (a PhD in the eco-physiology of reptiles at the University of New England in 1984 and a postdoc on the evolution of exercise capacity in reptiles at University of California Irvine) with two 8-year periods teaching human physiology to medical/science students, firstly at Flinders University then at the University of Adelaide. With more than 90 refereed papers, Chris has a strong research programme in evolutionary physiology, focusing on the evolution of air-breathing and lung development. In 2002 Chris assumed the directorship of 'BioCity: The Centre for Urban Habitats'. This multidisciplinary, multi-institutional, independently funded research centre examines the biological basis for, and the evolution of, urban ecosystems. Hence Chris' evolutionary research now spans cells to ecosystems to examine the broad concepts behind, and test hypotheses relating to, the evolution of complex biological systems.

Session 6: Associate Professor Rachel Webster
University of Melbourne

Rachel Webster Rachel is Head of the Astrophysics Group at the University of Melbourne. She has a PhD from the University of Cambridge, UK, an MSc from Sussex University in the UK, and a BSc (Hons) from Monash University. Before moving to the University of Melbourne she held postdoctoral appointments and a University Research Fellowship at the Universtiy of Toronto. She has active research interests in gravitational lensing, quasars, clusters of galaxies and large-scale structure. She is the current chair of the National Committee for Astronomy.

Session 7: Professor Bob Clark
Centre for Quantum Computer Technology, School of Physics, University of New South Wales

Bob Clark Robert undertook his BSc degree at the Royal Australian Naval College, Jervis Bay and University of New South Wales. He subsequently completed a PhD in Physics at UNSW and the Clarendon Laboratory, University of Oxford. After postdoctoral research at the Clarendon he was appointed University Lecturer in Physics at the University of Oxford and Fellow of The Queen's College, Oxford in 1984 and was awarded an Oxford MA by special resolution. He headed a research group at Oxford investigating quantum effects in semiconductor systems. He returned to Australia in 1991 to take up the position of Professor of Experimental Physics at UNSW, where he founded and established the National Magnet Laboratory and Semiconductor Nanofabrication Facility. He is the Director of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computer Technology, involving more than 100 researchers in six Australian universities.

Session 8: Professor Richard Frankham
School of Tropical Biology, James Cook University

Richard Frankham Richard holds honorary professorial appointments at Macquarie University, James Cook University and the Australian Museum, and has been appointed Hrdy Visiting Professor at Harvard University for spring semester 2004. Previously, he held academic appointments at Macquarie University for 31 years. He obtained his BScAgr (Hons 1) and PhD at the University of Sydney. He has published over 110 scientific papers and is senior author of Introduction to Conservation Genetics, the first textbook in conservation genetics. Japanese and Chinese translations of this textbook are in preparation. He was included in Outstanding Scientists of the 21st Century, 1st edition, International Biographical Centre. He is a member of two specialist groups of the Species Survival Commissions of IUCN; a member of the scientific advisory committee for the NSW State of the Environment Report 2003; a member of the editorial board of Genetical Research; and associate editor of Conservation Genetics.

Panel Discussion: Dr Paul Willis
ABC Science Writer

Paul Willis Paul got into science as a kid and has never grown out of it. He found his first fossil when he was a six-year-old pom and has been hooked on palaeontology ever since. Moving to Australia at the age of nine, Paul went on to study Geology and Zoology at Sydney University before completing a PhD at the University of New South Wales studying fossil crocodiles. Paul has been with the ABC since 1997 as a cross media science broadcaster, regularly appearing on radio, TV and online. He also tours with the public event 'Science In The Pub'. Paul broadcasts weekly radio segments to the ABC in Western Australia, Northern Territory as well as ABC Radio Tasmania every couple of weeks. 'It's easy to be outstanding in your field,' Paul jests, 'just pick an empty one that no one else wants to go near.'