This award was set up in honour of the Late Professor Leanne Armand (Feb 1968 – Jan 2022). Leanne was Director of the Australian and New Zealand Consortium [ANZIC] and was also Professor of Micropalaeontology at The Australian National University [ANU]. Leanne was a world leader on marine diatoms which she successfully used to reconstruct the waxing and waning of sea ice in the Southern Ocean. She was passionate about training the next generation of scientists and was an advocate for diversity and inclusion.  Leanne’s own reflections on her scientific career can be read in a 2001 interview with the Australian Academy of Science (click here to view). Funds were donated towards this award by family members, colleagues, and friends of Leanne to help train up the next generation of microfossil experts. An obituary for Leanne is available on https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marmicro.2022.102095

The award is open to postgraduate students and Early to Mid-Career Researchers based in Australia and is to be administered by the Australasian Quaternary Association [AQUA].

The award consists of a travel stipend to the maximum of A$3000 and is offered at most once a year to a single candidate seeking to learn microfossil identification/taxonomy as well as ecology from Australian or overseas expert(s).

Three documents are required:

  1. Applicants for the award must provide a document up to three pages containing; (1) a brief research biography including details of their current research project; (2) the benefits of the travel grant for their research; (3) details of the opportunity (e.g. workshop) or expert(s) willing to host the applicant; and (4) a budget listing anticipated expenses.
  2. The applicant must provide a letter of invitation by the expert offering assistance and the proposed timing and duration of the visit.
  3. In addition, a letter of support is required from the applicant’s supervisor.

Application for this award is on condition of travel insurance being provided by the applicant’s institution and must be confirmed by that institution and is to accompany the application.

Applications will be ranked using the following criteria:

Overall quality of the application and relevance to the award goals: 80%

Letter from the host: 20%

Upon completion of the award, the applicant is to submit a report to be published in Quaternary Australasia. Applicants will need to spend the funds within one year.

Up to three official members of the AQUA committee, as well as two members of the Research School of Earth Sciences [RSES] at the ANU are to oversee the applications.

Applications for 2026 are to be submitted to the current AQUA Vice-President Dr. Lydia Mackenzie (vicepresident@aqua.org.au) by September 28th, 2025.

The community is encouraged to make donations to the travel fund. Donations may be made by direct deposit to:

BSB: 062-303

Account number: 10884327

Account name: Australasian Quaternary Association

For international transfer:

Bank name: Commonwealth Bank of Australia CommBank BIC/SWIFT code: CTBAAU2S 14-digit account number: 062303 10884327

Please include your name in the reference field, and email treasurer@aqua.org.au for a receipt if required.

This travel award will continue to be offered annually until funds have expired.

Past recipients

  • 2024 – Molly Husdell, UQ
  • 2023 – Kelly-Anne Lawler, ANU
  • 2022 – Vikki Lowe, UQ