An Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) scientist who studies plate tectonics and the way the world’s ocean basins formed has won a national award for her contribution to Earth science.
Dr Joanne Whittaker has been awarded the 2017 Dorothy Hill Award by the Australian Academy of Science.
Dr Whittaker is particularly interested in the evolution of the seafloor, such as during Australia’s separation from Antarctica around 35-160 million years ago.
In August she led a voyage on Australia’s Marine National Facility Research Vessel Investigator to collect rocks from the seafloor off the Tasmanian coast which could help to explain how the seaway between Australia and the Antarctic opened 35 million years ago. In 2011 she led a team which studied two underwater plateaus off the coast of Western Australia which are fragments remaining from India’s separation from Australia around 100 million years ago.
Dr Whittaker said she was honoured to receive the award and to follow in the footsteps of a pioneering female geologist.
“I love the challenges and discoveries that come with tackling big questions in Earth science and I’m encouraged to see more and more women pursuing careers in fields such as this,” Dr Whittaker said.
“I thank the Australian Academy of Science and its sponsors for the award, which recognises Professor Hill’s extraordinary achievements at a time when it was so much harder for females to make their mark in research and academia.”
IMAS Executive Director Professor Richard Coleman congratulated Dr Whittaker and said she was a role model for young women considering a career in marine geoscience.
“Jo is an outstanding researcher who will hopefully inspire more women into science,” Professor Coleman said.
“She is one of a growing number of women at IMAS who are making a strong contribution in areas which for too long have been characterised by a gender imbalance.”
Professor Hill, who died in 1997, was Professor of Geology at the University of Queensland and the first woman President of the Academy.
The award honours her work in opening up tertiary science education to women and provides an honorarium of $3000 to support female researchers in the Earth sciences.
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