The post Prestigious Nancy Millis Memorial PhD Award 2023 recipient announced appeared first on Water Research Australia.
]]>University of Melbourne PhD candidate, Angel Chyi En We, has been awarded Water Research Australia’s 2023 Nancy Millis Memorial Award.
The award, presented annually, is for a student who has demonstrated initiative, has exceptional qualities and a passion for research. It honours Nancy Millis who was a microbiologist of international repute who made enormous contributions in agriculture, environmental protection, medicine, and engineering.
Water utilities are required to manage the release of chemical contaminants from their sewage treatment plants. Particularly, it is expected that some of these chemicals will be regulated to an extent that industry will be required to implement additional barriers, with consequent increase in the costs to customers. Angel is working together with Melbourne Water and Greater Western Water, on her project Novel electrochemical treatment for mineralisation of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) for wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) end products.
Her work has identified a possible route for low-cost removal and destruction of organic chemicals of emerging concern in sewage treatment plants and the project will prove the concept for this route, which is based on foam fractionation and electrochemical destruction.
Angel commenced her PhD in June 2022, supervised by Dr Stefano Freguia at the University of Melbourne. Angel received her MPhil and BTech from the University of Technology Malaysia and Infrastructure University Kuala Lumpur. She has been working with water and wastewater treatment research topics since 2015, including aerobic granulation for sewage treatment and biosorbents for the removal of pollutants from palm oil mill effluent. Angel hopes to use her knowledge she has gained to support water sustainability.
The Nancy Mills Award presents a wonderful opportunity for early career scientists like Angel to develop complementary skills and develop networks with other industry professionals.
The late Emeritus Professor Nancy Millis AC MBE was appointed Chair of the Cooperative Research Centre for Water Quality and Treatment (CRCWQT) from 1995 until 2008 and subsequently maintained her involvement through the Education Program and on the Scientific Advisory Committee following the inception of Water Research Australia.
To find out more about the late Professor Nancy Millis, her extraordinary life, and successful career as a leading female researcher click here.
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]]>Minh Duc Nguyen’s research is a collaborative project between Water Research Australia, Deakin University and Barwon Water to develop innovative technologies to reuse and manage water treatment sludge. Minh Duc was awarded the 2020 Nancy Millis Memorial PhD Award, an Australia Award in 2013 and most recently awarded International Student of the Year (Regional) at the 2021-22 Victorian International Education Awards.
Another congratulations to Melbourne Water, University of Queensland, University of Melbourne and Ektimo for taking out the R&D Excellence Award at the AWA’s Victorian Water Awards with their project: Real Greenhouse Gas Emission Measurement and Reporting for Real Reductions As We Move Toward Net Zero.
Led by WaterRA Graduate Peter Wardrop, Melbourne Water’s greenhouse gas measurement program establishes validated methods to accurately measure and quantify emissions from sewage treatment, significantly improving industry knowledge and reporting methodologies. Accurate emission measurement is critical to assess mitigation strategy effectiveness as we move towards a net-zero carbon future, ensuring our efforts focus on real reductions.
As leaders in collaborative water research, WaterRA supports innovation in the sector through long-term sponsorship of both the national and state-based Research and Development Excellence Awards offered by the Australian Water Association.
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]]>The post Applications now open for prestigious student awards appeared first on Water Research Australia.
]]>These awards are presented annually to WaterRA students who have commenced their studies in the previous 12 months. Both awards acknowledge the contribution that devoted members of the WaterRA community, Emeritus Professor Nancy Millis AC ME and Professor Michael R Moore, made to the water industry throughout their careers. In recognition of their accomplishments, we proudly offer two prestigious memorial awards in their honour recognising the water industry’s future talent.
The late Emeritus Professor Nancy Millis AC MBE was deeply committed to WaterRA and its values since its inception. Appointed Chair of the Cooperative Research Centre for Water Quality and Treatment from 1995 until 2008, she maintained her involvement through the Education Program and on the Scientific Advisory Committee throughout her career. Find out more here.
The late Professor Michael R Moore was a singularly energetic, genial and engaging individual. He had a passion for research and thoroughly enjoyed interacting and supporting young students develop professionally. His fields of interest included the toxicology of metals, risk assessment, air quality, alcoholism, cyanobacteria and disorders of porphyrin metabolism. Find out more here.
Submissions close at 5.00pm AEDT on 17 November 2022.
If you are interested in applying for one of the above Awards, please contact Carolyn Bellamy to receive an application form.
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]]>The post 2022 Annual General Meeting Wrap-up appeared first on Water Research Australia.
]]>The meeting saw our Chair Mark Gobbie, deliver an update on Board activities over the past year including the announcement of the 2022 Director Election results, which saw Dr David Bergmann (South East Water) and Dr Dan Hoefel (AWQC, SA Water) re-elected to their positions as Board Directors.
Additionally, Mark announced that Steven Porter from Northern Territory’s Power & Water has unfortunately needed to step down as a Board Director, resulting in a Casual Vacancy to be filled by Expression of Interest (EOI). To find out more about the EOI click here.
Deb Evans, Chair of our Risk and Audit Committee, from Water Corp, advised the membership of our Corporate Financial position for the year that was.
Our CEO Karen Rouse provided the company update, sharing a snapshot of our successful activities and our performance over the past year, which can also be found in our 2021-2022 Annual Report.
Attendees were also able to witness the presentation of the Nancy Millis Memorial PhD Award by Deakin University and Barwon Water and congratulate this year’s winner Mariah Sampson.
Thank you to all members and partners for joining us online!
View the video highlights of the Chair Update, CEO Update and presentation of the Nancy Millis Memorial PhD Award.
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]]>The post PhD candidate wins prestigious education award appeared first on Water Research Australia.
]]>Recognised for his initiative, exceptional qualities and passion for research, Duc’s research looks at how Barwon Water can beneficially reuse waste products from water treatment plants.
A collaboration between WaterRA, Barwon Water and Deakin University, the project has been extended to include three other Victorian water management bodies.
His research skills, including laboratory, experiment design, data analysis, academic writing and project management, have developed significantly while doing his PhD, allowing Duc to work in both the industry and academic sides of the water sector.
Duc successfully balances the demands of his full-time PhD research, working part-time and giving back to his fellow students. He founded a group that supports Vietnamese students in Geelong that now boasts 600 members, which gives advice on accommodation, study tips and making friends.
Duc was also the recipient of WaterRA’s Nancy Millis Memorial PhD Award in 2020.
Congratulations Duc!
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]]>Deakin University PhD candidate, Mariah Sampson, has been awarded Water Research Australia’s 2022 Nancy Millis Memorial Award.
The award, presented annually, is for a student who has demonstrated initiative, has exceptional qualities and a passion for research. It honours Nancy Millis who was a microbiologist of international repute who made enormous contributions in agriculture, environmental protection, medicine, and engineering.
Mariah is currently helping Victoria’s Barwon Water with an assessment of the effectiveness of planned restoration works in the East Barwon River, which can be used to guide future works and negotiations with new landowners if similar projects arise.
The Barwon River is the major source of drinking water for the city of Geelong. The upper reach of the (East) Barwon River currently faces several challenges that pose downstream risks to both water quality and water security.
Barwon Water has established a project that will see crown frontage along the 3km stretch of the East Barwon Branch transferred to a Barwon Water-led committee of management. Under the guidance of the committee, Barwon Water will undertake Willow removal, streambed stabilisation, revegetation and stock exclusion—with the aim of improving the water quality and overall waterway health.
Mariah’s research will assess the extent to which the East-Barwon River Restoration project methodology contributes to improving key river health indicators and assess changes in water quality and ecological parameters associated with a restored riparian buffer zone.
“I am passionate about the balance human and environmental water needs,” Mariah said. “Through my PhD I am able to explore the complex problem of willow removal and riparian restoration within a water supply catchment and how riparian restoration might be optimised as a solution to meet needs of diverse stakeholders and to promote aquatic ecology.”
Mariah says receiving the Nancy Millis Memorial Award is a huge honour and she hopes to do it justice.
“I couldn’t imagine doing a PhD without the support of WaterRA,” she added. “My Deakin University supervisors are fantastic as well as the team from Barwon Water – they are so helpful, we catch up often and they give me access to key information, as well as introduce me to relevant stakeholders.
“There’s been a lot of support from everyone and it’s very easy to stay motivated because I know where the research fits into industry and why it’s useful.”
Mariah’s PhD supervisor, Prof Rebecca Lester from Deakin University, says Mariah is a worthy recipient of the award.
“She is a dedicated and talented student who has developed a comprehensive project to investigate the effect of restoration on temperate streams,” Rebecca said. “Her work will contribute to the scientific literature but also directly inform future restoration efforts.
“The Nancy Mills Award presents a wonderful opportunity for early career scientists like Mariah to develop complementary skills and develop networks with other industry professionals.”
Dr William Buchanan, Chief Scientist at Barwon Water, said he is thrilled to celebrate Mariah being awarded the prestigious Nancy Millis Memorial Award for 2022.
“Nancy Millis was a trailblazer in opening-up opportunities for female professionals in STEM,” he said. “Mariah’s applied research is representative of Nancy’s legacy; helping as it does to deepen and extend our knowledge on waterway health through measuring physio-chemical properties, water quality and biological collections before and after river restoration.
“Barwon Water’s sponsorship of Mariah’s PhD is in recognition of the significance her research holds for the water industry.”
The late Emeritus Professor Nancy Millis AC MBE was appointed Chair of the Cooperative Research Centre for Water Quality and Treatment (CRCWQT) from 1995 until 2008 and subsequently maintained her involvement through the Education Program and on the Scientific Advisory Committee following the inception of Water Research Australia.
To find out more about the late Professor Nancy Millis, her extraordinary life, and successful career as a leading female researcher click here.
Image: Mariah Sampson.
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