US National Academy of Sciences honour

30 Jun 2016

Professor Hugh Possingham has received formal recognition for his outstanding contribution to original research, being elected as a foreign associate to the US National Academy of Sciences alongside a small cohort of distinguished researchers.

The National Academy of Sciences, a not-for-profit institution established under President Lincoln in 1863, recognises outstanding achievements in science by electing researchers to membership (US citizens) or foreign associate status (if a non-citizen). The Academy was established to provide science policy advice to the American federal government.

Professor Possingham, who works across the schools of Mathematics and Physics, and Biological Sciences, was one of 21 scientists to be accepted as a foreign associate in the latest intake, and is the first Queensland-based academic to receive the honour.

“I am humbled to be recognised by such an illustrious institution. I would like to thank everyone I have worked with, and I hope I can use the election to further the cause of environmental science  globally,” he said.

Twenty Australian scientists are members of the Academy as a foreign associate.

Latest