The Royal Society of Western Australia (RSWA) and The University of Western Australia have signed a new strategic partnership to boost natural, physical and social science research in WA.

RSWA, WA’s premier association of scientists, gifted $4 million to UWA, originating from the bequest of Dr John Glover.

Dr Glover was Head of the UWA Geology and Geophysics Department from 1985 to 1988, former president of the RSWA and honorary editor of the RSWA journal from 1958 to 1963.

Dr Glover’s academic career spanned 75 years, from his student days as St George’s College junior common room president to his retirement as a Senior Honorary Research Fellow in 2014. Among many other accomplishments, Dr Glover was integral in establishing the Edward de Courcy Clarke Earth Science Museum.

To honour Dr Glover’s passion for science, the gift will be used to establish a research support grant program for PhD students in natural and physical sciences, as well as social sciences such as anthropology and archaeology. It will also create an endowment to fund the grant program in perpetuity.

The research support program will make $15,000 grants available to PhD students studying at any WA university, with UWA administering the program. 

UWA Vice-Chancellor Professor Amit Chakma said the University was pleased to partner with the RSWA to grow natural and physical sciences, anthropology and archaeology research in WA.

“This partnership strengthens our commitment to advancing scientific research, contributing to a brighter production of knowledge and scientific infrastructure for Western Australians,” Professor Chakma said.

Emeritus Professor Hans Lambers, president of the RSWA, said the society was proud to be able to support PhD students pursuing research aligned with the Society's mission. 

“We were very impressed by the multidisciplinary approaches and broad range of topics covered by the first round of awardees,” Professor Lambers said.

This year marked the first round of the research support grants, which recently concluded. 

Image: Grant recipients Ursula Rodrigues, Shannon Duffy, Natasha Harrison, Vice Chancellor Amit Chakma, Emeritus Professor Hans Lambers, Professor Treena Burgess, Grant recipients Samantha Norman, Patrick Morrison and Madision Williams-Hoffman, RSWA Vice President Michael Tucak.

Madison Williams-Hoffman is the ECU PhD candidate in environmental radioactivity and grant recipient for this year. Her research focuses on quantifying the legacy and impact of historic nuclear testing in the marine environment at the Montebello Islands in WA.

“The grant is going to help fund a crucial second field trip to the Montebello Islands next year, giving us a really important opportunity to dig into some key areas of interest around the islands we identified from the results of our initial field trip,” Ms Williams-Hoffman said. 

Patrick Morrison, a UWA PhD candidate in archaeology and grant recipient, is investigating how Aboriginal people in the north-west of Australia interacted with changing climates over the past 10,000 years. 

“The grant will fund detailed isotope work on ancient shellfish excavated from middens in Murujuga (the Dampier Archipelago), to reconstruct the past climates and how people foraged during the different seasons,” Mr Morrison said. 

“It will also enable me to share this work at an international conference next year.”

Marie Windstein, a Murdoch University PhD candidate and recipient, has an academic background in marine ecology and geospatial analysis. She will use her grant to dive deeper into the ecology of two globally threatened species of sawfish.

The coastal waters of the Kimberley in northern WA are home to one of the richest and most endangered group of sharks and rays in the world, many of which use the nearshore habitats of the region as feeding and nursing grounds. 

Designed in collaboration with the Karajarri Traditional Owners and the Department of Fisheries, Ms Windstein’s research will use two-way science to investigate the spatial ecology of green and dwarf sawfish along with other sharks and rays species in the Karajarri Sea Country Indigenous Protected Area.

“This scholarship will enable me to use state of the art tracking technology to study the movement patterns and habitat use of juvenile sawfishes in a recently discovered nursery,” Ms Windstein said. 

“This will bring new insights into the ecology of some of the most endangered fish species in the world and contribute to a better understanding and protection of their natural habitats.” 

More details on the grant support program: https://www.uwa.edu.au/giving/bequests/Home/RSWA-John-Glover-grants.