Charles Darwin University

Alexia Catford
Alexia completed her Bachelor of Environmental Science achieving a GPA of 6.043.
She was the recipient of a Ventia Environmental Science Scholarship in 2017 whilst also undertaking volunteer work with Trees for Life South Australia. Alexia’s strengths around Ecology and Community Engagement gained high results in these units and her commitment in applying her studies gained her the Vice Chancellor Letter of Recognition of Outstanding Academic Achievement.

This was achieved consecutively for each semester in 2017 and 2018. Alexia is an advocate for Environmental education and passionate about increasing representation of women in the Science sectors.

Griffith University

Maree Hume
Maree completed a Bachelor of Science in Ecology and Conservation Biology with a perfect GPA (GPA 7). She received a Griffith Award for Academic Excellence in 2015, 2016 and 2017 and was the recipient of the Christy Fellows Memorial Award for High Academic Achievement in 2018.

During her degree she travelled with the Griffith School of Environment and Science to Borneo and Thailand to further develop her field ecology and biology skills which she is now using to complete her Honours research into how different restoration interventions affect bird communities in urban riparian areas. Having also studied law, she brings a multidisciplinary approach to the examination of environmental and conservation issues.

Macquarie University

Michael Ashelford
Michael studied a Bachelor of Science and a Bachelor of Philosophy followed by a Master of Research (MRes). He has sustained an excellent performance in both undergraduate and postgraduate coursework. His average scaled numerical grade (SNG) for all undergraduate study is 83%, and for all postgraduate study is 89%, culminating in an overall result for his Master of Research (MRes) of 89%.

Michael’s Bachelor of Science grade point average is 3.9/4.0 overall, and a perfect score of 4.0/4.0 at third year. Similarly, Michael’s Bachelor of Philosophy grade point average is 7.0/7.0.

Murdoch University

Natasha Branco
Natasha has demonstrated academic excellence throughout her BSc, graduating with the top GPA in the Environmental Management & Sustainability major and also earning a minor in Waste & Water Management. As a part of her studies, Natasha completed a successful Sustainable Development internship, working with local government to research and recommend improvements to Home Energy Audit Toolkits.

Queensland University of Technology

Megan Winsen
Megan is currently in the final year of her bachelor’s degree majoring in Environmental Science, with minors in Earth Science and Statistics. She has a GPA of 6.8 out of 7 and received the Science and Engineering Dean’s List award each semester of her studies.

In November 2017 she took part in a 4-day marine field trip with Science Under Sail Australia investigating the role of seagrass meadows in a complex estuarine habitat. The fieldwork focused on benthic habitat mapping and environmental monitoring in Moreton Bay Marine Park, including deployment and assessment of Baited Remote Underwater Video. Megan was also a member of the 3-person team that won the 2018 Queensland Inspector-General Emergency Management sponsored prize for the best applied project and presentation.

Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology

Conor Neill
Conor has completed an outstanding undergraduate program in the Bachelor of Environmental Science. His average mark in his final year was 85, with 6 High Distinctions and 2 Distinctions. This shows the high standards he was able to achieve. His project mark was 89 which further demonstrated a strong potential for future research work and he was readily accepted into the Honours program.

University of Queensland

Claire Sauvage
Claire graduated with Honours I in 2018 after three years of working in sustainability engagement at both UQ Sustainability Office and CSIRO’s Environmental Sustainability team, where she coordinated CSIRO’s national staff sustainability engagement strategy and created an innovative Virtual Tour. She was a key advocate for plastic-reduction trials to be undertaken at CSIRO sites across Australia.

Claire’s recently completed thesis “Voicing the need for reconnection and relocalisation: environmentally-conscious consumer perceptions of the Australian cattle industry” has her now collaborating on a research project jointly funded by industry (MLA) and UQ evaluating the effectiveness of the Australian Beef Sustainability Framework.

University of Canberra

Emily Stringer
Emily is an outstanding student and person. She achieved a grade point average of 5.941 in her undergraduate course work demonstrating a particular aptitude for statistical analysis and computer coding. She then achieved a First Class Honours for her work on detection and monitoring of Grassland Earless Dragons where she developed and applied experimental field tests for two competing models of monitoring for this endangered species.

The ACT Government were so impressed by her work that they hired her immediately to adapt her analysis for all populations of the species and thereby define the future of monitoring in this species.

University of New England

Jillian Berry
Jillian Berry completed her Bachelor of Environmental Science in 2018 with an outstanding academic record (6.1 GPA). During her degree, she undertook a range of laboratory and field work in ecology, botany, soils and geology, which also included travelling to Bhutan to study Himalayan ecology and biogeography.

In addition to her degree, she also completed external studies in Management, Workplace Health & Safety, and Training & Assessment which have helped her to further develop her knowledge and skills base. Jillian has had active employment with Sir Walter, Lawn Solutions Australia and AGTurf for the duration of her studies, which are roles she continues in.

University of South Australia

Savanah Tiller
Savanah completed a Bachelor of Environmental Science with a Minor in Biodiversity and Earth Systems at UniSA. She participated in the biodiversity study tour to Fiji where she researched water quality and aquatic macroinvertebrates along an altitudinal gradient in a stream system. Whilst studying, Savanah attended the Australian Youth Climate Coalition (AYCC) Power Shift Conference in Melbourne where she participated in sustainability workshops and presentations.

She also carried out volunteer work for the Alice Springs Desert Park and volunteered her time at University Open Days and Orientation. Savanah was the Environment Academic Tutor at St Ann’s Residential College assisting other students with their studies.

Swinburne University of Technology

Hugo Coulter
Hugo Coulter completed a Bachelor of Science (Environmental Science) During his degree he completed an International Sustainability Project at Hue University of Sciences in Vietnam, which involved educating students from the university and nearby schools about the importance of environmental sustainability and how to work towards it.

His capstone research project focused on determining whether there is any difference in levels of pesticide contamination between certified organic produce and regular produce.

This project was especially challenging and required a high degree of individual and self-managed research.

Hugo will join the Department of Environment Land Water and Planning in 2020.

University of Melbourne

Emily Sterling
In 2018 Emily graduated with a Bachelor of Science majoring in Environmental Science from the University of Melbourne achieving the top grade. Her studies focused on environmental problem solving and risk management in the urban environment.

In addition to formal training she undertook an internship subject with Wave consulting, which focuses on tackling climate change through smarter water and energy systems. In 2018 she received the Global Mobility scholarship to complete an overseas exchange in Buenos Aires, Argentina.