Adelaide staff are Tall Poppies of science
Tuesday, 24 September 2002
FIVE of South Australia's Young Tall Poppies of science for 2002 are staff at the University of Adelaide.
The Tall Poppy Campaign, established by the Australian Institute of Political Science, promotes an awareness of Australia's intellectual achievements and aims to recognise, value and support achievements in science.
The campaign aims to encourage young Australians to pursue an interest and career in science.
Today is the inaugural South Australia Tall Poppy Day - chosen to coincide with the birthday of Sir Howard Florey, one of South Australia's (and the University's) greatest tall poppies in the field of medical science.
The Young Tall Poppies of SA represent and highlight "the wealth of scientific knowledge, expertise and excellence generated by so many of those working in our universities, hospitals, research institutes and health corporations", says Dr John Best AM, Chairman of the Tall Poppy Campaign.
Of the six Tall Poppies chosen this year, five are University of Adelaide staff:
Dr Cathy Coulter - NHMRC R.D. Wright Research Fellow, Department of Physiology. Dr Coulter is one of the Chief Investigators on the recently funded NHMRC Program Grant investigating the "Early Origins of Adult Disease".
Dr Michael Lee - joint appointment of the SA Museum and the University's Department of Environmental Biology. Dr Lee's research interests are in the systematics and evolutionary biology of reptiles, particularly in the origin and evolution of snakes.
Dr Holger Maier - Senior Lecturer, School of Civil & Environmental Engineering. Dr Maier's primary research interest is the utilisation of examples from nature for solving environmental and water engineering problems. This includes using a model based on the way the brain works to predict salinity and blue-green algal blooms in the River Murray.
Dr Vivienne Moore - Lecturer, Department of Public Health. Dr Moore is a social epidemiologist who is particularly interested in the way the social environment and behaviour patterns of individuals can influence their health. In her work, Dr Moore focuses on the health of women and children.
Dr Sandra Orgeig - ARC Research Fellow, Department of Environmental Biology. Dr Orgeig's research examines the relationship between cholesterol and phospholipids in the pulmonary surfactant system in vertebrates. In 1999, she obtained an ARC Research Fellowship to examine the evolutionary processes that govern the development of the pulmonary surfactant system in a range of vertebrates with widely differing birth strategies.
The sixth Tall Poppy is Professor Simon Stewart, National Heart Foundation of Australia/Roche Chair of Cardiovascular Nursing, UniSA.
Media Contact:
Pamela McLeod, Events & Publicity, Tall Poppy Campaign, mobile: 0402 228 507
