University of Canberra

Claudine Jeffery
Claudine Jeffery was the top of her graduating cohort in the Bachelor of Environmental Science with a GPA of 6.5/7. Her degree encompassed majors in Applied Ecology, Environmental Genetics and Integrated Environmental Management. Claudine augmented her scientific studies with complementary units in Preventative Conservation, Environmental Planning Law and Indigenous Heritage and Landscapes. She also completed an internship placement that allowed her to apply her skills in a workplace setting.

Charles Darwin University

Megan Parry
Megan excelled in her Bachelor of Environmental Science coursework studies gaining a GPA of 6.88/7 and engaged in a range of other environmental activities. During her degree Megan assisted a PhD student with his wallaby research project and was a volunteer assisting with the Australian Mangrove and Saltmarsh Conference in 2016. Megan did two research placements during her degree, one with the Environmental Research Institute of the Supervising Scientist and the second working in the CDU Seed Biology Research Laboratory. She also participated in the Desert Field Ecology unit, a 7-day field intensive investigating desert ecology from Alice Springs, which she thought was awesome.

Charles Sturt University

Anna Eggleton
Anna completed the Bachelor of Environmental Science and Management with a GPA of 6.85, which ranks highest amongst all final year and Honours students at the School of Environmental Sciences.
Anna has excelled in all domains of her course, including: ecology, geosciences, cultural heritage, environmental management, spatial sciences, professional practice.
During her course Anna has completed a semester on exchange to Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University in Beppu, Japan. She also completed short-term international trips to Bhutan and Nepal in exemplary fashion.

Curtin University

Vanessa Brown
Vanessa was the top honours student in Environmental and Agriculture in 2017 receiving a first class honours (CWA: 87.88) for her thesis entitled “Extruded pellets containing low doses of activated carbon successfully protect grass seeds from herbicide application: a new approach for use in restoring natural communities?” Vanessa was a recipient of a Kings Park summer scholarship for 2016/217 summer allowing her to spend the summer conducting research at the Kings Park Research Centre which involved preliminary formulation of the pellets used in her thesis. She was also one of our top undergraduate students completing her Environmental Biology Major with a CWA of 82.70. While an undergraduate Vanessa was also actively involved in student mentoring, initially through tutoring and then becoming a Senior Peer Learning Facilitator in the Universities UniPASS programme.

Edith Cowan University

Paul-James Oliveri
Paul-James achieved the highest course weighted average for students graduating from the Environmental Management program in the 2017 calendar year.

Macquarie University

Heather Stevens
Heather Stevens has achieved an outstanding Master of Research thesis for which she received the grade of 88%. Her thesis titled “The relationship between temperature and crime in New South Wales, Australia” was assessed as ‘well conceived and executed, results and discussion well presented and reflected upon, and good enough to find a place in a peer-reviewed journal”. In addition to this being the highest mark attained in Department of Environmental Sciences 2017 MRes cohort, it falls within the top 10% of all the marks during 2015-2017 period.

Murdoch University

Katherine Lawrence
Katherine graduated with a major in Environmental Management and Sustainability and a minor in Indigenous Community Engagement. Her keen commitment to scholarship has earned her several university awards throughout her undergraduate studies, including the prestigious Vice Chancellor’s Commendation for Academic Excellence. In addition to her studies, Katherine has worked and volunteered in protected areas and ecotourism in Australia and internationally. Katherine is now completing Honours research into biophysical impacts and camper perceptions of wilderness in remote recreation sites in Western Australia’s Kimberley region.

Queensland University of Technology

Mimi McGirvan
Mimi McGirvan completed the Bachelor of Science Degree at QUT, majoring in environmental science. Always a very strong student, Mimi continued on an upward trajectory with her studies, finishing in second semester of 2017 with straight 7s across her four units. This final semester included some very challenging units, such as the degree capstone where students complete an intensive analytical research project working under the supervision of an academic mentor. Mimi finished with a course GPA of 6.2 and is now enrolled in the Honours degree program at QUT.

University of New England

Jarrah Bailey
Jarrah Bailey completed his Bachelor of Environmental Science in 2017 with an outstanding academic record (6.3 GPA). His degree allowed him to pursue his fascination with wildlife monitoring and conservation, and was able to gain relevant practical skills. He is currently employed by National Parks and Wildlife as a Technical Officer working on the WildCount project. While undertaking his degree he went to Bhutan to learn about environmental monitoring and ecological assessment. During his degree he was employed by Armidale Tree Group to assist with native flora revegetation, and has also assisted in other volunteer revegetation projects. In addition, he volunteered for a trip to the Simpson Desert with the Desert Ecology Research Group (DERG) of Sydney University.

University of South Australia

Holly Whittenbury
Holly Whittenbury completed the Bachelor of Environmental Science with a GPA of 6.88/7. She has excelled in challenging courses throughout the program and took on the role of student Animal Ethics Officer for the Ecology course. Holly is dedicated not only to her studies but also to sustainable living. She is a passionate advocate for the environment and a loyal and committed volunteer at the Adelaide International Bird Sanctuary.

University of Queensland

Alexander Prideaux
Alex graduated from the Bachelor of Environmental Management program achieving First Class Honours (GPA 6.89) with a major in Sustainable Development.

In his third year he joined UQ’s Idea Hub program to learn about the entrepreneurial mindset and followed this with practical experience through his industry placement at the start-up energy efficiency company Wattblock. Based on his experiences he created am outstanding project titled “Assessing the Feasibility of Digital Solar in Queensland Strata Buildings”.

Alex also showed leadership on participating in UQ’s PASS tutoring program to share his knowledge and help other students gain a better understanding of academic content.

University of Tasmania

Peter Vaughan
Peter Vaughan has demonstrated outstanding academic ability throughout the course of his studies at the University of Tasmania. He is an exemplary student and practitioner, broaching (and attaining the highest grades in) both the arts and humanities and the scientific and technical (GIS) aspects to his environmental studies. Peter is also a peer tutor and now an instructor/trainer of other peer tutors at the University of Tasmania. He continues to reach out beyond the academy with his participation and leadership in environmental organisations and community activities, including – in relation to his passion as a ‘twitcher’ – birdwatching.

University of Technology Sydney

Ashley Douglas
Ashley Douglas achieved a first class Honours in Environmental Forensics at UTS following a consistently outstanding performance as an undergraduate student. Her Honours research showcased her skills in both ecological science and advanced data analysis, and has formed the basis for her PhD investigations. She has published a first-authored, peer-reviewed paper from her work, and has also written and published a scientific report for industry.
In addition, she paired her own studies with student teaching as a highly regarded demonstrator at UTS, and contributed to an educational team presentation for the university’s First Year Experience Forum in 2017.

Swinburne University of Technology

Cahn To
Cahn To was the highest achieving student in the Bachelor of Science (Environmental science) program.

The University of Sydney

Tamara Potter
Tamara excelled in the Bachelor of Science program achieving a 1st Class Honours for her study of intraguild predation among taxonomically disparate micro-carnivores. Her research tested hypotheses to uncover the underlying mechanisms that drive the selective predation of Wolf spiders (Family Lycosidae) by the lesser hairy-footed dunnart (Sminthopsis youngsoni).

Melbourne University

Natalia Dusanovic
Natalia Dusanovic graduated from the Bachelor of Science in 2017 and was awarded a place on the Dean’s Honours List. She studied a range of environmental science subjects including ecology, geography, plant science, marine ecosystems and environmental law and achieved First Class Honours.

I had the opportunity to study how environments preserve evidence of past climate change after receiving a Melbourne Global Scholars Award to undertake a palaeoclimatology field trip to New Zealand.
I received the University of Melbourne Extension Program Prize for Academic Excellence in Earth Sciences and the Argus Exhibition in Geology in 2013.

Natalia also completed a Diploma in Languages, specialising in Spanish & Latin American Studies, in 2017.

During her studies she volunteered at the University of Melbourne Herbarium and for the Green Impact program as a student assistant.
She enjoys conservation field work for environmental organisations, is passionate about the environment and sustainability and hopes to have a positive impact throughout her future career.