Beacon Bulletin, September 2024 Edition

Griffith athletes continue to sparkle in Paris?

Continuing our outstanding results in Paris, twelve Griffith students and alumni competed at the Paralympic Games and won two gold medals, three silver medals and seven bronze medals (two of which were team medals). Congratulations to the following alumni:??

• Madison de Rozario OAM – Track and Field – B Business '22.?

• Rowan Crothers OAM – Swimming – B Business '18.?

• Ella Sabljak – Wheelchair Rugby – B Primary Education '17.?

• Tom O'Neill-Thorne – Wheelchair Basketball – B International Business/B Government and International Relations?'20.??

• Joshua Nicholson – Wheelchair Rugby – B Architectural Design '18.

?Griffith graduates impacting communities with their valuable research??

• Congratulations to Dr Lara Farrell (B Psychological Science (Hons) '99; M Clinical Psychology '01; Doctor of Philosophy '04) on her appointment as Editorial Board Member for Children MDPI . Lara has also recently been awarded $1.475 million to enhance mental health services for children and young people with OCD. See more here about her NHMRC grant .

• Congratulations to Dr Mo Chen (B Biomedical Science '14; B Biomedical Science (Hons) '15; Doctor of Philosophy '19) who has been awarded a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at Griffith University. Dr Chen’s prestigious research fellowship is being co-funded by the Perry Cross Spinal Research Foundation . Dr Chen has had an outstanding career. Notably, he invented a powerful technology to generate cellular nerve bridges for repairing injuries of the nervous system, which has been central to his team’s success in generating therapy for spinal cord injury. Read more here.

• Congratulations to Dr Michelle Ronksley-Pavia, PhD, FHEA (Doctor of Philosophy '16) who has been awarded the prestigious 2024 Esther Katz Rosen Fund Grant from the American Psychological Foundation. Michelle is the first Australian research to receive this grant to explore innovative approaches in gifted education programming.

• What are ‘metacrimes’ – and how can we stop them? Read the Walkley nominated explanatory journalism award story by Dr Ausma Bernot and colleagues here.

• Congratulations to Dr Christopher Ambrey (B Commerce '07; GBS Honours Program '11; Doctor of Philosophy '14) on being awarded $452,019 for ‘On the hardship that is homelessness’ from the Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRAs).??

• Congratulations also to Dr Jianyin Huang (Doctor of Philosophy '16) who was awarded $477,931 for ‘Major hidden source of land-based nutrients affecting Australian estuaries’, also from the ARC DECRAs.

?Griffith alumni in the spotlight?

• A special thank you to Darcy L. Lonergan (B Engineering (Hons)/B Aviation '24) or being a panel member with his past lecturer as part of Open Day. Darcy is an Airworthiness Engineer at the Civil Aviation Safety Authority. We’re always thrilled to welcome alumni back on campus, especially when connecting them with current and future students. See Darcy in action here.

• Congratulations to Melissa Lucashenko’s (B Commerce '88; B Commerce (Hons) '92), whose novel Edenglassie that “elevates our understanding of Queensland’s soul”, has taken out the top prize at the 2024 Queensland Literary Awards.?

• Congratulations to Kim Ah Sam (B Contemp Aust Indigenous Art '17; B Fine Art (Hons) '18), Ana Estrada (M Visual Arts '19; Doctor of Philosophy currently enrolled) and Sancintya Mohini Simpson (B Photography '12; B Photography (Hons) '14) who have been selected for The 11th Asia Pacific Triennial (APT) of Contemporary Art, QAGOMA, opening 30 November. See more here. ?

• Congratulations to Dr Carl Warner (M Visual Arts '08; Doctor of Philosophy '21) and Dr Nina White (B Photography '12; B Photography (Hons) '13; Doctor of Philosophy '24) who will feature in ?????? ??????????: ?????????????????????? ?????? + ???????? exhibition at Museum of Brisbane, until 13 July 2025. See more here. ?

• Dane Jacka (M Business Administration '23) and Iona Bird (current MBA student) talk all things Griffith MBA with the Guardian. Find out why they both believe business can be a force for good.

• Congratulations to Joseph O'Rourke (B Business (HTERS) '17) on his new appointment as National Director, Health and Support at the Canadian Street Soccer Association. Joseph is a founding volunteer with Toronto Street Soccer. Connect with Joseph here. ??

• Congratulations also to our two alumni finalists, Kelsey Mulheisen (B Midwifery '23) and Maddison Scholefield (B Midwifery '22) for the ACM Midwifery Awards. Kelsey is a fierce advocate for evidence-based, woman-centered care. Maddison has transformed antenatal care for the First Nations community in Innisfail. Read more here. ??

• Thank you to Ileelie L. Marysol Luceno (B Business '24) for eloquently sharing her thoughts at the recent Griffith graduation ceremonies. “It’s not about what the world have out there for you,” she said, ”But what you have, the world needs.”

• Congratulations to Stephen Billett (PhD (EDN) '96), Professor of Adult and Vocational Education who has been appointed honorary doctorate at University Vast, honouring his contributions that have had great significance for University Vast. Connect with Stephen here. ??

Upcoming events

• 7 October: Melbourne Alumni event??

• 8 October: Canberra Alumni event? ?

• 9 October: Sydney Alumni event? ?

• 24 October: Brisbane Career Compass Event (Early Career Alumni)?

• 24 October: MBA For Life End of Year Celebration, Brisbane??

• 30 October: Professional Development Webinar with Kim McCosker??

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If not, please update your details here so we can add you to the invite list! Update your details here: Connect with us here!

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Want more news???

Keep an eye out for the Griffith Alumni eNewsletter hitting inboxes on Monday 30 September. Email [email protected] to be added to the mailing list.???

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