The SDR Scientific Education Award
The SDR Scientific Education Award rewards outstanding achievement in education in biochemistry or molecular biology, especially innovation and creativity in education, with a view to fostering leadership in this important area of the Society’s objectives. The Award will enable the recipient to participate in an international conference with a significant focus on education, or to spend a period of time at another institution (in Australia or overseas) for the purposes of undertaking developments in education in biochemistry and molecular biology. The recipient will present a lecture within the Education Symposium at the annual ASBMB conference. Applicants must have been members of the Society for at least 2 years before the year in which the Award application is to be considered. The contribution to travel expenses is provided through the courtesy of SDR Scientific.
For a list of previous award winners please click here
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A Year 7 experiment measuring the time taken for a balloon at varying levels of inflation moving between two chairs ignited my enthusiasm for science. While I didn’t obtain any accurate results, it didn’t matter; I was hooked and looked forward to science classes above other subjects. From that day, I wanted to be a scientist, but what kind? After completing my science degree, I narrowed the fields to Biochemistry or Immunology. I ended up completing Honours investigating the biochemistry of slime molds, followed by a PhD in Immunology. While completing my thesis, I was fortunate to be offered a Level A lecturing position at the University of South Australia (UniSA).
While employed to teach immunology, I began co-teaching biochemistry within a year, and my two passions were again united. I maintained my research links with the Women’s and Children’s Hospital while juggling my teaching load. Without formal teaching qualifications, settling into a good rhythm took me a little time. While I enjoyed my research, I began to identify a passion for teaching students. It was (and is) a joy to teach content that I find fascinating, fundamental to our lives, and interconnected to many other disciplines.
In time, through a combination of self-reflection and student feedback, my teaching became more refined. I enjoyed the challenge of identifying issues with student learning and devising ways to remedy these areas. Each year, I challenge myself to develop an innovation to improve my teaching and the student experience. I have been fortunate to have my teaching and innovations acknowledged through several local, national and international awards. I have received tremendous support from colleagues in this journey and now give back at every opportunity.
With the introduction of teaching-focussed academic roles at UniSA, I moved to this classification in 2019. Since then, I have been promoted to Associate Professor; only the second staff member to be promoted to this rank as a full teaching academic. This has brought additional leadership roles within the university, including two secondments to a Dean of Research role. I now focus on keeping my teaching excellence and disseminating my finding at conferences (e.g., ASBMB) and journal articles. It is always a pleasure to witness that lightbulb moment from our students and renew that science spark within ourselves.
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