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 for postgraduate 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 AUD$3000 and is offered at most once a year to a single candidate. Preference will be given to travel where the applicant is seeking to learn microfossil identification or advanced characterization techniques from an expert(s).
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 specialist conference) or expert(s) willing to host the applicant; and (4) a budget listing anticipated expenses. 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. A successful awardee must provide a letter of acceptance by the expert offering assistance and the proposed timing and duration of the visit. 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 a 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 to be designated by its Director, are to oversee the applications once a year set by a date advertised on the AQUA website as well as the RSES website.
Applications for 2025 are to be submitted to the current AQUA President A/Prof Tim Barrows (president@aqua.org.au) by September 27, 2024,
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
- 2023 – Kelly-Anne Lawler, ANU
- 2022 – Vikki Lowe, UQ
