The Council of the Royal Society of NSW was delighted to learn that one of its Fellows, Distinguished Professor Michelle Leishman FRSN of Macquarie University has received the NSW Premier’s Science Prize for Excellence in Biological Sciences at an Awards Ceremony held at Government House Sydney on the evening of 2 November 2022.

Professor Leishman is a plant ecologist globally recognised for groundbreaking research on invasive plants and pathogens, climate change impacts and adaptation, and urban greening. She has a reputation for finding creative solutions to big issues in conservation.

Regularly advising government, industry, and other expert panels, Michelle plays a critical role in guiding policy and managing threats from invasive plant species in NSW and Australia. This includes leading research to model current and future climate suitability for over 700 exotic plant species, translated into an easy-to-use online tool for natural resource managers.

In collaboration with the NSW Government and nursery and garden industry, Michelle is leading the development of the innovative Ornamental Plant Risk Assessment Tool. This provides the evidence base for the Gardening Responsibly Program, a voluntary certification scheme promoting the use of plants with low weed risk. She also leads the collaborative Which Plant Where research program, a five-year program to facilitate climate-resilient urban greening. The Which Plant Where climate-ready plant selector tool is the first of its kind globally.

In recognition of her contributions, Michelle was recently made a Fellow of the Royal Society of NSW and last year was named as Eminent Ecologist by the Journal of Ecology.

The Society warmly congratulates Michelle Leishman on this well-deserved recognition of her outstanding research.