I have extensive experience in leadership in Australian STEMM, including skills in governance and as a Board Director (most recently Vice President of Science and Technology Australia from 2021-2023 and Co-Chair of its Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion committee). I will bring my unique perspectives, expertise, networks, and energy to RSV.

The Council of the Royal Society of Victoria is delighted to announce that Professor Patrick De Deckker AM has been selected to receive the RSV’s 2023 Medal for Excellence in Scientific Research. Patrick’s remarkable career spans almost three decades, making enormous contributions to fields within palaeoontology and environmental science.

Alexander von Humboldt has been referred to as ‘the forgotten father of environmentalism.’ As early as 1844, he wrote that humans change the climate ‘by cutting down forests, by changing the distribution of water bodies, and through the production of large vapour and gas masses at the centres of industry.’ Humboldt also described the greenhouse effect in his opus magnum, ‘Kosmos’.

As humans increasingly explore space, we will want – and need – to bring plants with us. Plants are critical for keeping space travellers healthy on long missions: exploring deep space, on long stints on the ISS, or setting up a base on the Moon or Mars. Researchers are testing various crops and equipment to figure out how to do this without using a lot of extra hardware or power.

There are around 6,500 different types of Australian native foods, but there are many barriers to First Nations people commercialising them. The good news is that 40% of the land mass has been returned to Traditional Custodians, and now with a formalised commercialisation and export strategy for native foods, the opportunities for Indigenous producers are endless.