Director's Message

Published in the RSAA Lunations
Vol1 Issue43 1–31 August 2023

Welcome to August Lunations. Last month I attended my first ANU graduation, and this week my first annual student talks. These have been taking place each morning, including 9 thesis proposals. Congratulations to all students who have presented so far on the quality of the talks and the impressive progress.

An additional prize winner from the ASA was Sarah Bradbury who won best sparkler. For those not at the ASA I suggest checking out Sarah’s winning entry which raises the bar relative to the sparkler talks many of us are used to! Congrats also to Madeleine McKenzie who competed in the ANU Three Minute Thesis Finals last week!

I am delighted to report that Mark Krumholz has been promoted to Professor level E2. Promotion to E2 recognises pre-eminence in research, teaching, education, and leadership in the ANU and wider community, as well as sustained mentoring of post-graduate students and early career academics. There are relatively few E2 Professors across the College, and this is a well-deserved recognition of Mark’s outstanding contributions.

On a more disappointing note, July sees us lose David Yong. David has been a greatly valued member of RSAA since 2006, undertaking an internationally renowned research program studying the origin of the chemical elements and the evolution of our Milky Way Galaxy. In addition to his impactful science David has been an excellent and effective mentor for RSAA students and ECRs, including as a long-time leader of the TOC. Please join me in sending our luck with David as he moves to this exciting next stage of his career.

Stuart Wyithe