The stories behind our ACRS awards

Supporting the research of rising reef-scientists – the stories behind our ACRS awards

By Carrie Sims and Kenny Wolfe

The ACRS has a long and proud history of supporting young scientists in various ways including student research awards. The ACRS has offered annual student research awards since the early 1990s for up to three PhD or Masters students to be used for laboratory and/or field studies relevant to Australian coral reefs. The Terry Walker and Danielle Simmons prizes are also awarded annually to support the research of two additional students. Together, our ACRS awards have assisted over 120 students to conduct their research.

The ACRS awards commenced under the guise of the Great Barrier Reef Committee (GBRC) as a ‘major project proposal’ titled Support for young Australian Scientists working on the GBR. In the proposal, Councillors noted that the research allowances provided to young scientists in the day were severely inadequate to cover the high costs of travel, equipment and operating expenses. It was common practice for students to subsidise their research costs with personal funds. Realising the disadvantage this posed for many, and a possible reason few postgraduate students were undertaking coral reef research programmes, the grant scheme was proposed to support new pathways in coral reef research. The first plan proposed a minimum of three years support totalling $900 each for three individuals, and are today a one-off payment of up to $2500.

The main condition of these awards has required students to provide a written report of their achievements under the award, which are auspiciously shared amongst the ACRS and reef community. Unfortunately, current records of awardees only date back to 1991, but today, their reports are shared in our Reef in Review magazine.

The Terry Walker Prize was initiated by the ACRS and has been awarded annually since 1992. Terry Walker was an ACRS councillor and Treasurer when he was lost at sea in the Gulf of Carpentaria while undertaking bird surveys with Darryl Reimer near Mornington Island. Despite a search involving 13 aircraft, numerous boats and 80 police, they were never found. Walker Reef and Reimer Reef were named in their honour. Given Terry Walker's commitment to field studies on Australian coral reefs and cays, this award is to be spent primarily on field studies on Australian coral reefs. The award has assisted 28 students to date and contributed to research on varied reef science fields.

The Danielle Simmons Prize was established by her parents, David and Ursula, following her untimely death in 1996. Danielle had a background in medical science. She loved to SCUBA dive and found a deep connection with her “soul animal”, the turtle, on Heron Island. Given her commitment to field work at Heron Island, successful applicants of the

Above: Aerial view of coral in the Walker Reef lagoon, taken on the Coral Sea Foundation expedition during the 2020 Great Reef Census. Location - 18° 18.955'S 146° 44.530'E. Image by Dr Tony Ayling.

Word cloud of universities of students receiving awards. Bigger words represent more frequency.

ReefHQ guide standing in the touch tank showing visitors a sea star. Photo credit: Andrew Rankin. Copyright Commonwealth of Australia (Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority)

Danielle Simmons award are required to use the grant prize predominantly for field work at Heron Island Research Station. To date, the Danielle Simmons award has assisted 23 students to conduct fieldwork on Heron Island.

The ACRS Council established a dedicated fund for the best student presentation, in memory of Vicki Harriott, who passed away in March 2005. The

Vicki Harriott Memorial Student Prize

recognises her special contributions to coral reef research. Vicki was an active member of the ACRS Council over many years, and is remembered as a strong advocate whose work in coral reef research, education and management was internationally recognised and widely respected. Highlights of Vicki’s career include establishing Townsville's Reef HQ coral reef exhibit, the largest coral reef tank in the world at its time. Vicki was a pioneer in the field of coral reef research and published one of the first papers on bleaching of Great Barrier Reef corals. She also carried out cutting edge research on temperate coral reefs, which represents some of her most important contributions to coral reef science.

In addition to these awards, the ACRS has also had a strong commitment to supporting students to attend conferences via Student Travel Awards. These awards have supported the attendance of many students at either ACRS conferences or International Coral Reef Symposia, where they have presented their research. Students are awarded prizes for best presentations and posters at each ACRS Annual conference.

Where are we now?