SmP: Winners announced for Brighter-sponsored scholarships

Science & Technology Australia (STA) has announced the recipients of its coveted Science meets Parliament scholarships, celebrating a diverse cohort of outstanding STEM excellence. What’s STEM? That’s an acronym that stands for science, technology, engineering and mathematics, all of which are crucial skill sets in numerous industries, including natural gas. 

Science meets Parliament, organised annually by STA, is one of Australia’s leading STEM conferences, bringing together experts from various industries and government departments to debate the future direction of Australian industry. The Australian Government has even referred to STEM studies as “crucially important for our current and future productivity”. 

Brighter was proud to sponsor the recipients in two of four categories, including the regional scholarship and technology scholarship. The regional scholarship is awarded to STEM professionals based in regional and rural parts of Australia more than 150km from a major city. The technology scholarship, as you might expect, represents professionals in tech fields such as IT and engineering. 

“STEM studies are essential to the future Australian workforce, and the natural gas industry is no exception,” said Brighter Program Director Sarah Browne.  

“Brighter is proud to be at the forefront of this crucial subject and congratulates all the recipients of scholarships from this year’s Science meets Parliament event.”  

The other Science meets Parliament scholarships included the Pride Scholarship, for LGBTQI+ candidates, and the Indigenous Scholarship, for candidates who identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. 

Each recipient comes from an academic or industrial STEM background and belongs to an STA member organisation. 

The recipients of the technology scholarship (STA organisation in parenthesis) included: 

• Dr Andreea Molnar, Senior Lecturer, Swinburne University of Technology (National Tertiary Education Union) 
• Mrs Candice Lam, Principal Consultant & Manager, Engineering New Worlds (Women in STEMM Australia) 
• Dr Vijay Rajagopal, Senior Lecturer, The University of Melbourne (Australian Society for Biophysics) 

The recipients of the regional scholarship included: 

• Mr Jake Clark, PhD Candidate, University of Southern Queensland (Astronomical Society of Australia)  
• Dr Amy Moss, Poultry Scientist, University of New England (Women in STEMM Australia) 
• Associate Professor Wendy Quayle, Deakin University (Soil Science Australia) 

The complete list of winners can be found via the STA website here.