International Day of Women and Girls in Science

11 Feb 2019

11 February marks the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. This United Nations Day is an opportunity to promote full and equal access to and participation in science for women and girls.

ANU Library is celebrating by putting the spotlight on three academics and practitioners, who are involved in the STEM community here at ANU. You can find resources in our collection by, or about, these notable ANU women in science!

If you want to learn more, search the Library Catalogue, SuperSearch or Full text e-journals to see what other materials are available.

    Rowena Ball

    • Dr Rowena Ball is an applied mathematician and physical chemist, with broad research expertise in nonlinear and complex dynamical systems.
    • Her main research interest is on the origin of life!

    Brief career highlights

    • Dr Ball’s research is broad and interdisciplinary – having worked across the STEM spectrum with engineers, chemists, physicists, and many other professions.
    • Dr Ball received her PhD from Macquarie University in 1997, and postdocs at Sydney University and Leeds University, UK.
    • Dr Ball joined ANU in 1999, where she holds a joint appointment in the Mathematical Sciences Institute and the Research School of Chemistry at ANU.
    • From 2010 to 2016, Dr Ball held a prestigious Australian Research Council Future Fellowship.

    Impact

    • Dr Ball is passionate about engaging Indigenous students in STEM subjects, partnering with remote Indigenous schools under the CSIRO Mathematics and Scientists in Schools program.
    • Dr Ball is passionate about documenting and promoting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander scientific heritage and knowledge.

    ANU Library

      Jenny Graves

      Brief career highlights

      • Dr Graves joined ANU in 2001, where she founded the Comparative Genomics department and directed the ARC Centre of Excellence in Kangaroo Genomics.
      • She is currently Professor Emeritus at ANU, Distinguished Professor at La Trobe, Thinker-in-Residence at Canberra University, and Professorial Fellow at the University of Melbourne.
      • Through her position as Secretary of Education and Public Awareness at the Australian Academy of Science, Dr Graves advanced school science programs and was the first to introduce measures into the Academy to remove gender bias from election to Fellowship.

      Impact

      • Dr Graves won the 2017 Prime Minister’s Prize for Science for her pioneering work on unravelling the mysteries of the genetics of sex.
      • Dr Graves’ impact on the scientific community has a broad reach. She has fostered the next generation of scientists, researchers and academics – having trained dozens of PhDs and Postdocs as well as hundreds of honours students and researchers.

      ANU Library

      Jennie Mallela

      • Dr Jennie Mallela is an environmental ecology and marine specialist, with an interdisciplinary background in the bio-geo sciences.

      Brief career highlights

      • Dr Mallela’s research focus is on pollution and climate change.
      • She is a scientific SCUBA-diving expert, advising and training scientists on diving related research. This enables her to conduct underwater research on coral reefs around the world.
      • Dr Mallela’s online video on the causes of coral reef bleaching has received over 122,000 views.
      • Dr Mallela is currently based at ANU, holding an Australia Research Council DECRA Fellowship co-located in the School of Earth Sciences and Research School of Biology.

      Impact

      • Jennie is a keen advocate for science, and believes science should be accessible to everyone.
      • Dr Mallela was listed on the Science & Technology Australia list 2019 Superstars of STEM. This program aims to increase the public visibility of women in STEM, and builds the public profile of women employed in STEM through training in media and communication.

      ANU Library

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