Premier's Science Awards 2020
The state of science and innovation in Western Australia is strong, going by the impressive contributions recognised at this week’s Premier’s Science Awards.
Organised by the Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation (JTSI), Woodside is a proud sponsor of the Early Career Scientist of the Year category.
Congratulations to 2020 winner, Dr Chris Brennan-Jones, pictured, accepting the award from New Energy Science & Technology Manager Amanda Panting. Dr Brennan-Jones developed a telehealth program (Ear Portal) that dramatically cut the wait time for WA children to receive specialist treatment for middle ear diseases. He was also a joint winner of the Woodside STEM Excellence Award at last month’s 40 under 40 Awards.
Environmental research supported by Woodside was also recognised in two other categories.
We were pleased to see PhD candidate Todd Bond celebrated as one of two Student Scientists of the Year. Todd’s research is helping us better understand the potential impacts on animals and fisheries from decommissioning offshore infrastructure, with seven scientific articles published in international journals on the fish and biodiversity that reside on and around our offshore assets.
Recently, Todd discovered 22 mystery circles on the sea floor next to our Echo Yodel subsea infrastructure. These unique circle structures were most likely produced by a male pufferfish and used as a nest. The only previous pufferfish discovery was in waters off southern Japan.
Todd has almost a decade of research experience using underwater video techniques to survey fish - skills that he shares with students and scientists around the globe.
Through a Woodside Marine Biodiversity Grant to the WA Museum, we also support ‘Diving deep in the #NingalooCanyons’, a deep-sea expedition and community engagement program that won Science Engagement Initiative of the Year.
The live-streamed dives off the Ningaloo Coast World Heritage Area collected over 1000 biological samples for the WA Museum collections and identified up to 30 new species.
Visit the JTSI awards site for a full wrap of the evening, highlighting the outstanding scientific research and engagement happening in WA.
