2017 Doctoral Award
Dr Lavenia Ratnarajah
2017 Doctoral award winner: Lavenia Ratnarajah
Dr Ratnarajah’s research focussed on the effects of natural iron fertilization by baleen whales and Antarctic krill on the Southern Ocean carbon cycle.
Dr Ratnarajah’s dissertation demonstrated that Antarctic krill acts as an efficient reservoir of Fe, with much of the consumed Fe being stored in the digestive organs and not incorporated into the muscle. Baleen whales then recycle the Fe stored in Antarctic krill through their diet and subsequent defecation. Although whale faecal material consists mostly of particulate Fe, the concentration of dissolved Fe in whale faecal material is comparable to marine ice and continental ice, but considerably higher than other sources in the region. This suggests that baleen whales could play an important role in recycling Fe to HNLC regions of the Southern Ocean.
2017 M.R. Banks Medal
Prof Michael C Breadmore
Professor Breadmore is an outstanding scientist and scholar having been awarded three consecutive fellowships from the Australian Research Council and in August 2017 was awarded with a DSc by the University of Tasmania. He is also a proud Tasmanian who has made the deliberate decision to work in Tasmania for the majority of his career to date. His current work in the use of low cost additive manufacturing (i.e. 3D printing) for the production of new analytical devices is internationally recognized as leading new directions in the analytical sciences.
M.R. Banks Medal winner: Prof Michael Breadmore
2017 The Royal Society of Tasmania medal
Distinguished Prof Ross R Large
President of the Society for 2018 – 2020 Prof Large has contributed a great deal to the Society having previously been President and always working to the aim of advancing knowledge. 
