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Dr Adam Micolich (second from left; winner of
the Edgeworth David Medal, see below) and Prof Brad Potts (winner
of the Clarke Medal) enjoy the Royal Society's hospitality with
their partners, Dr Merlinde Kay (left) and Dr Wendy Potts
(right). The Edgeworth David Medal is awarded annually
to a scientist under the age of 35 for distinguished contributions
to Australian science. Dr Adam Micolich, a senior lecturer in
the UNSW School of Physics, is an outstanding young experimental
scientist who works in the area of nanotechnology and ultrasmall
semiconductors. (Image: Robyn Stutchbury.)
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Professor Brad Potts (UTAS) has been recognised formally
for his outstanding research in
Eucalyptus. The
Royal Society of New South Wales awards the prestigious Clarke
Medal every year for distinguished work in natural sciences
undertaken in (or on) the Australian Commonwealth and its
territories. An award for Botany is given every third year,
with awards for geology and zoology being awarded in the
intervening years. Brad was awarded his medal at the
Society’s annual dinner in Sydney on Friday 13th March
2009. The Clarke Medal was created in memory of the Rev.
William Branwhite Clarke, one of the first Co-Vice Presidents of
the Royal Society of New South Wales (the
ex-officio
president at that time was the Governor of NSW). The medals
are cast in bronze, with the obverse side bearing a beautifully
engraved portrait of the Rev. W.B. Clarke (see picture, below).
Brad joins ranks with some very famous and well-respected
scientists. For example, at the Society's Annual General
Meeting on 12th May 1880, the names of the first three recipients
of the Clarke Medal were announced. The Medal for 1878 was awarded
to Professor Richard Owen of the British Museum, famous for his
studies of Australian vertebrate fossils; for 1879 to Mr. George
Bentham of the Royal Gardens Kew, who made a major contribution to
the study of the Australian flora; and for 1880 to Professor T.H.
Huxley of the Royal School of Mines, London, for his valuable
contributions to the knowledge of the natural history of
Australia. Other recipients include famous botanists –
many of whose names are associated with eucalypts - such as Baron
Ferdinand von Mueller (1883), Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (1885),
Leonard Rodway (1918), Joseph Henry Maiden (1924) and, more
recently, Lawrie Johnson (1979), Barbara Briggs (1994), Bob Hill
(2002) and Mark Westoby (2005). Two other people (geologists) too
famous to leave off the list include Sir Douglas Mawson (1936) and
Prof. Sam Carey (1969). A full list of recipients may be
found at http://nsw.royalsoc.org.au/awards/clarke_medal.html.
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Brad's Clarke Medal.
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Congratulations Brad, from all at the CRC! It is a very
well-deserved award.
Click here to view
press release.
Biobuzz issue eight, March 2009
