In the News

From time to time, the Society and its Fellows and Members are mentioned or are published, in the media, or in other sources or outlets. This page summarises such mentions, providing links either to the original sources or to news items that include links to original sources. 

2022

• Mary O'Kane and Barney Glover, Education overhaul: Focus on inclusion as universities face increased demand, Sydney Morning Herald, 16 November 2022
• Peter Shergold and Julian Broadbent, opinion piece, "Pandemic decisions cannot be made on the run: independent review", Australian Financial Review, 24 October 2022
• Peter Shergold, "Australia’s Covid lockdown rules found to have lacked fairness and compassion", The Guardian, 20 October 2022
• Barry Jones, appearing on The Drum (~37:20 minutes), ABC iView, 31 August 2022
• Veena Sahajwalla, referred to in Scientist hunting MND cure - while fighting the disease - wins top gong, Sydney Morning Herald, 31 August 2022
• Mark Scott, Belinda Hutchinson, and Richard Payne, University of Sydney to build $478 million medical precinct after record donation haul, Sydney Morning Herald, 29 August 2022
• Susan Pond, Royal Society of NSW celebrates 200 years, The Science Show, ABC Radio National, 13 August 2022 
• Saul Griffith, Saul wrote the book on all-electric homes, but his gas company is putting up a fight, Sydney Morning Herald, 11 August 2022
• Emma Johnston, Report details environmental decline, ABC RN Breakfast, 19 July 2022
• Emma Johnston as a Chief Author of Australia: State of the Environment 2021, Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, July 2022
• Michelle Simmons, Quantum star Simmons defends ‘breakthrough’ despite rivals’ doubts, Australian Financial Review, June 28 2022
• Emma Johnston, Action on environment report card stalls as government slow to release, Sydney Morning Herald, 6 April 2022
• George Paxinos, Why the world’s greatest mind mapper wrote a novel, Sydney Morning Herald, 2 April 2022
• Andrea Morello, Quantum leap: Has next-gen computing moved from hype to hope?, Sydney Morning Herald, 13 February 2022
• Margaret Cameron-Ash, Victorious First Fleet won Australia's "Trafalgar Day", The Weekend Australian, 21 January 2022
• Toby Walsh and Brian Schmidt, referred to in Academics condemn government’s ‘shortsighted’ decision to veto research grants, The Guardian Australia, 11 January 2022, with the article referring to an Open Letter to the ARC Chief Executive Officer (Sue Thomas) and Acting Minister for Education (Stuart Robert MP) signed by 63 Laureate Fellows, including a number of Fellows of the Royal Society of NSW.

2021

• Michelle Simmons, Quantum computers to run Sydney’s transport network, Sydney Morning Herald, 8 November 2021
• Brian Schmidt and Toby Walsh, panellists on A Trip to the Future: A Q+A Science Special, ABC Q+A, 23 September 2021
• Saul Griffith (Opinion), Climate change solution could come from 'electrifying everything',  Australian inventor Saul Griffith says, ABC News website, 7 September 2021
• Michelle Simmons, Top UK prize for quantum physicist who says Australia made her successful, Sydney Morning Herald, 4 September 2021 
• Peter Baume (Opinion), ‘I am ashamed’: Fraser government minister slams lack of progress towards Indigenous reconciliation, Sydney Morning Herald, 11 August 2021
• Hala Zreiqat, The brilliant mind behind 3D-printable synthetic bone implants, The Brilliant (website), 28 July 2021
• Mary Louise McLaws (Opinion), panellist on Dealing with Delta, ABC TV Q+A, 15 July 2021
• Peter Doherty (Opinion), Nobel prize winner Peter Doherty on navigating COVID-19 and life in lockdown, ABC website, 13 July 2021
• Peter Doherty (Opinion), appearing in Cracking COVID, ABC TV, 13 July 2021 and on ABC iView
• Peter Shergold (Opinion) as Chair of Opal Healthcare, Mandating aged care staff get vaccinated is no guarantee it will happen, on ABC RN Breakfast, June 30 2021
• Attila Brungs, Professor returns home: UNSW finds its next vice-chancellor, Sydney Morning Herald, 29 June 2021
• Angela Moles, Soil microbes suspected to cause inner plant die-off in spinifex, on the ABC RN Science Show, 26 June 2021 
• Robert Clancy (Opinion), 'It's crystal clear': Professor Robert Clancy backs ivermectin as a COVID-19 treatment, speaking on ABC Newcastle Radio Drive, 24 June 2021
• Raina MacIntyre (Opinion), We’re sitting ducks: the case for a short, sharp lockdown to battle Delta variant, Sydney Morning Herald, 24 June 2021
• Greg Dore (Opinion), appearing in Sydney’s COVID-19 outbreak continues to grow, ABC 7.30, 24 June 2021
• Mary Louise McLaws (Opinion), appearing on  Sydney Surge and Life on the Spectrum, ABC Q+A, 24 June 2021
• Paul Jeans, on his reappointment as Chancellor of the University of Newcastle, referred to in Mark Vaile quits Newcastle University chancellor role amid backlash over coal links, in the Sydney Morning Herald, 21 June 2021
• Kurt Lambeck, Professor Kurt Lambeck of the Australian National University becomes Companion of Order of Australia, in the Canberra Times, 14 June 2021
• John Hardie, John Hardie AM, in the Blue Mountains Gazette, 14 June 2021
• Gilles Guillemin, Without my students, I wouldn’t have got where I am today, in the Sydney Morning Herald, 14 June 2021
• Medy Hasson, referred to in Queen’s Birthday Honours: 14 high achievers who made the 2021 list, in the Courier Mail, 14 June 2021
• Barney Glover (Opinion), "Return of international students will be a wonderful opportunity for this state", in the Daily Telegraph, 11 June 2021.
• Mary Louise McLaws (Opinion), Four mystery cases as Vic lockdown eases, on ABC Radio National Drive, 10 June 2021
• Barney Glover (Opinion), NSW proposes plan to bring back international students, on ABC Radio National Drive, 10 June 2021
• Saul Griffith (Opinion), featured in Do electric cars have a future in Australia?, ABC 7.30, 9 June 2021
• Wendy Sharpe (1996 winner of the Archibald Prize) featured in Archie 100 — A Century of the Archibald Prize at the Art Gallery of New South Wales (5 June – 26 September 2021)
• Len Fisher,  Politicians need to see linkages in our world, on ABC Science Show, 29 May 2021
• Brian Schmidt and Duncan Ivison (Opinion), Research could take ‘decades to recover’ after budget overlooks universities, Sydney Morning Herald, 12 May 2021
• John Shine (Opinion), Experts urge Australia to establish mRNA vaccine manufacturing, on ABC Radio National Breakfast, 13 April 2021
• Eddie Woo (Opinion), quoted in ‘Maths must change’: Experts push for more problem-solving in maths curriculum, Sydney Morning Herald, 11 April 2021
• Ian Sloan (Opinion), Royal Society of NSW fellows call for Kathleen Folbigg pardon, appearing on 2GB Overnight, 7 April 2021
• Edward Holmes (Opinion), quoted in Australia paid a high price for unsatisfying report into global tragedy (article by Peter Hartcher), Sydney Morning Herald, 6 April 2021
• Ian Sloan (Opinion), Royal Society fellows petitions Governor for child-kill pardon (online) and newspaper clipping, The Australian, 4 April 2021
• John Rasko, Stem cells - a mix of promise and hype, on the ABC Science Show (Radio National), 27 March 2021
• David Gonski and Peter Shergold,  From high school to retirement: Career advisers for all workers to drive COVID-19 recovery, Sydney Morning Herald, 17 March 2021
• Cathy Foley, Dr Cathy Foley—Australia’ Chief Scientist, National Press Club Address, on ABC iView, 17 March 2021
• Cathy Foley, ‘Science works best in times of crisis’: Chief Scientist eyes key challenges, Sydney Morning Herald, 17 March 2021
• Mark Scott, Mark Scott to be next vice-chancellor of Sydney University, Sydney Morning Herald, 12 March 2021
• Ian Hickie (Opinion), featured on The Drum, ABC iView, 8 March 2021
• LIz Ann MacGregor, Museum of Contemporary Art director Liz Ann Macgregor to step down, Sydney Morning Herald, 3 March 2021
• Mary-Louise McLaws (Opinion), featured on The Drum, ABC iView, 2 March 2021
• Jason Antony (Opinion), referred to in ‘Barely on their radar’: Motorcyclists fume over lack of parking in Sydney CBD, in the Sydney Morning Herald, 28 February 2021
• Veena Sahajwalla as the subject of The Tipping Point, ABC TV Australian Story, 22 February 2021
• Mary-Louise McLaws (Opinion), Vaccine 2021 - Why, What, When and How, panellist at the National Press Club, 10 February 2021, on ABC iView.
• Mary-Louise McLaws (Opinion), Embracing sport during the pandemic, ABC Radio National Life Matters, 8 February 2021
• Arthur Sinodinos (Australian Ambassador to the USA),  What will a Biden administration mean for Australia's relationship with the US?, ABC Radio National Breakfast, 22 January 2021
• Edward Holmes (Opinion), Can we prevent the next pandemic?, ABC Radio National Breakfast, 11 January 2021

2020

• Eileen Baldry (Opinion), Jailing is failing: Why Sydney doesn't need a new prison, Sydney Morning Herald, 30 December 2020
• Brian Schmidt (Opinion), Scott Morrison should act as international students stay away, says ANU chief, Sydney Morning Herald, 25 December 2020
• Mary-Louise McLaws (Opinion), UNSW epidemiologist commenting on NSW hotel quarantine arrangements in Tighter borders might be too late to contain NSW Covid cluster, ABC Radio AM, 21 December 2020
• Edward Holmes, warns of the risk to vaccine-induced immunity from SARS-Cov-2 virus from virus mutation in Vaccine unlikely to return us to the ‘old’ normal, Sydney Morning Herald, 19 December 2020
• Sir Michael Hintze,named as a major donor to the Australian Museum, in Dinosaurs to the rescue as new life awakens for an old museum, Sydney Morning Herald, 27 November 2020
• Eddie Holmes, named as one of the SMH Good Weekend's 40 Australians Who Mattered: Health and Science, Sydney Morning Herald, 27 November 2020
• Ben Eggleton and Robert Park, named as winners of 2020 Eureka Prizes in Cosmos and on the Australian Museum website, 25 November 2020
• Judith Wheeldon (Opinion), Literature has the power to heal, in Letters to the Editor, Sydney Morning Herald, 25 November 2020
• Thomas Maschmeyer (Opinion), Break the home-made hurdles that stop technology development, Australian Financial Review, 23 November 2020
• Ross Gittins, for winning a 2020 Walkley award for Outstanding Contribution to Journalism, Walkley website (20 November 2020), and also in Herald journalists win Walkley award for Dyson Heydon investigation, Sydney Morning Herald, 21 November 2020
• Ian Jacobs, Matthew England, The world's leading universities join the climate fight, Sydney Morning Herald, 18 November 2020
• Susan Pond (as CoChair of the ATSE Expert Working Group), Towards a Waste-Free Future, Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE), 18 November 2020
• Bruce Milthorpe (and Geoff Hanmer) (Opinion), Many of our buildings are poorly ventilated, and that adds to COVID risks, The Conversation, 18 November 2020
• Adrian Lee (Opinion), Degree of misinformation, in Letters to the Editor, Sydney Morning Herald, 13 November 2020
• Brian Schmidt, Global rankings are distorting universities' decisions, says ANU chief, Sydney Morning Herald, 11 November 2020
• Cathy Foley, Physicist Cathy Foley to become Australia's new Chief Scientist, Sydney Morning Herald, 9 November 2020
• Arthur Sinodinos, Australian Ambassador to the US Arthur Sinodinos, interviewed by David Speers on ABC TV Insiders (concerning the outcome of the US Election and the implications for Australia), 8 November 2020.
• Merlin Crossley, Merlin Crossley wins NSW Premier’s Award for work on sickle cell anaemia, ABC Science Show, 7 November 2020
• Thomas Maschmeyer,  More Prime Minister’s Science Prizes winners, ABC Science Show, 7 November 2020
• Barry Jones, Barry Jones on what is to be done next?, speaking on ABC Radio National Late Night Live on the updating of his famous book, What is to be done?, 5 November 2020.
• Mohammad Choucair, Australia's Archer and its plan for quantum world domination, ZDNet, 2 November 2020
• Thomas Maschmeyer, https://www.innovationaus.com/pm-recognises-australian-science-heroes/, Innovation Aus, 29 October 2020
• Edward Holmes, Virus rebel Professor Edward Holmes named NSW Scientist of the Year, Sydney Morning Herald, 27 October 2020
• Ian Constable, elected as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences, Academy elects 28 Fellows, AAHMS, 14 October 2020
• Karu Esselle, nominated for the 2020 University of Technology Sydney Eureka Prize For Outstanding mentor of Young Researchers, 2020 Australian Museum Eureka Prizes finalists, Australian Museum, 13 October 2020
• Maria Kavallaris AM and Robert Park, nominated for the 2020 CSIRO Prize for Leadership in Innovation and Science, 2020 Australian Museum Eureka Prizes finalists, Australian Museum, 13 October 2020
• Ben Eggleton, nominated for the 2020 Defence Science and Technology Eureka Prize for Outstanding Science in Safeguarding Australia, 2020 Australian Museum Eureka Prizes finalists, Australian Museum, 13 October 2020
• Ben Quilty, referred to as a judge of the 2020 Archibald Prize, in 'It only took 99 years': Vincent Namatjira wins 2020 Archibald Prize, Sydney Morning Herald, 25 September 2020
• Malte Ebach, TARDIS sets scientists on course to discover 450-million-year-old fossil, Sydney Morning Herald, 24 September 2020
• Michelle Simmons, Michelle Simmons joins CSIRO Board, InnovationAus, 20 September 2020
• Hugh Mackay (Opinion), The Age of Loneliness, appeared as a panellist on ABC TV Q&A, 14 September 2020
• Thomas Keneally (Opinion), Politics turned nasty after Sydney Olympics but social cohesion is once more our virtue, Sydney Morning Herald, 12 September 2020 
• Jillian Broadbent (Opinion), Panel of Wisdom, appeared as a panellist in ABC TV Q&A, 31 August 2020
• Justin Gooding, awarded the Jaroslav Heyrovsky Prize for Molecular Electrochemistry by the International Society of Electrochemistry, 1 September 2020 
• Eddie Woo, When we went to remote learning, I could feel every teacher's eyes on me: lunch with Eddie Woo in SMH Spectrum, Sydney Morning Herald, 28 August 2020.
• David Gonski (Opinion), ANZ's Gonski says reputation must remain a top goal for banks, Sydney Morning Herald, 27 August 2020
• Emma Johnson (Opinion), Govt to introduce legislation changing the way it funds degrees in STEM subjects, interviewed on ABC Radio National Breakfast, 27 August 2020
• David Gonski (Opnion), Gonski backs lockdown strategy, Australian Financial Review, 26 August 2020
• Bruce Milthorpe (and Geoff Hanmer) (Opinion), Poor ventilation may be adding to nursing homes’ COVID-19 risks, The Conversation, 20 August 2020
• Mary O'Kane referred to in Landowners in fire-prone areas to be required to do hazard-reduction burns, Sydney Morning Herald, 25 August 2020 reporting on the release of the Final Report of the NSW Bushfire Inquiry, 31 July 2020, of which Professor O'Kane was a co-author
• Matthew England, Trevor McDougall, and Steven Sherwood (Opinion) as co-athors of a letter addressed to Australia's Chief Scientist reported in Australia's Chief Scientist is wrong on gas, say leading experts, Sydney Morning Herald, 25 August 2020
• Nalini Joshi, Remembering Maryam Mirzakhani, ABC Radio National Sunday Extra, 23 August 2020—a replay of the Ockham’s Razor broadcast first aired on 21 January 2018 in which Nalini Joshi pays a personal tribute to the life and legacy of Maryam Mirzakhani, the first female winner of the Fields Medal, who died in 2017
• Andrea Morello, UNSW launches new degree in quantum engineering, ABC Radio Science Show, 15 August 2020
• Emma Johnston, State of the Environment Report co-chiefs appointed, Australian Government Minister for the Environment (The Hon. Sussan Ley), 13 August 2020
• Thomas Keneally, Sacred Space Tom Keneally, broadcast on the Compass program on ABC TV (Religion and Ethics), 10 August 2020
• Hugh Mackay, Hiding in plain sight, an extract from The Inner Self – the Joy of Discovering Who We Really Are by Hugh Mackay (Macmillan Australia), published in the Weekend Australian magazine, 8-9 August 2020
• Jake Olivier (Opinion), quoted in Heartbroken mother calls on drivers to drop ‘she'll be right’ attitude, Sydney Morning Herald, 6 August 2020
• Len Fisher (Opinion), Scientists struggle with their message, ABC Science Show, 24 July 2020
• Peter Shergold, quoted in Call for ‘learner profile’ of students to end dominance of ATAR, Sydney Morning Herald, 24 July 2020
• Herbert Huppert, Society Fellow awarded the 2020 London Royal Society Royal Medal, and Royal Society (News), 4 August 2020
• Barney Glover (Opinion), Powerhouse Parramatta will be bigger and better than before, Sydney Morning Herald, 30 June 2020
• Ian Sloan (Society Position), Premier's zeal for museum's move must be explained, Sydney Morning Herald (President's Letter to the Editor), 29 June 2020
• Thomas Keneally (Opinion), Cultural cringe + market economics = lower education, Sydney Morning Herald, 26 June 2020
• Lord Robert May, Vale the professor of everything, ABC Science Show, 13 June 2020
• Belinda Hutchinson, Stephen Garton, Roy MacLeod, Queen's Birthday Honours 2020, 8 June 2020
• Gary Froyland, Katrina Joliffe, Ian Paulsen, Professors Froyland, Joliffe and Paulsen, RSN Fellows, elected as Australian Academy of Science Fellows, 30 May 2020
• John Shine, Society Fellow awarded a prestigious international fellowship, 15 May 2020
• Mohammed Choucair, Quantum computing startup led by Royal Society Fellow joins the IBM Q Network, 5 May 2020
• Lord Robert May, Death of Lord Robert May of Oxford-Distinguished Fellow of the Royal Society of NSW, 30 April 2020
• Maria Kavallaris, RSNSW Fellow named NSW Woman of the Year 2020, 7 March 2020
• Her Excellency The Honourable Margaret Beazley, Australia Day Honours 2020, 26 January 2020

2019

• Rebecca Johnson, RSNSW Fellow appointed Chief Scientist of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, 18 December 2019
• Rose Amal, Nalini Joshi, Society Fellows awarded NSW Premier's Science Prizes, 31 October 2019
• Thomas Maschmeyer, Recycling is not a waste problem, it's a resource opportunity, Sudney Morning Herald, 19 October 2019
• Elizabeth New, Society Fellow wins 2019 Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientist of the Year, 19 October 2019
• Leo Radom, Katherine Belov, Michelle Simmons, Keith Suter, Queen’s Birthday honours for RSNSW Fellows, 10 June 2019
• Brynn Hibbert, The Life of Brynn, Royal Australian Chemical Institute Magazine, January/February 2019
• Jillian Broadbent, Leonard Fisheer, Barney Glover, Adrian Hibberd, Robert Thomas, FRSNs in 2019 Australia Day honours, 29 January 2019
• Mark Compton, FRSN to be Lord Prior of St John International, 10 January 2019