
As we are currently celebrating National Science week, I thought I would highlight Professor Tanya Monro who I first started photographing at the University of Adelaide’s Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing. She is now the University of South Australia’s deputy vice-chancellor of research and innovation.
Since winning her first major award, The Bragg Gold Medal for Excellence in Physics for the best PhD thesis by a student from an Australian university in 1998, Professor Tanya Monro has gone on to become a superhero of science! She has won more awards and has more letters after her name than any early forty year old woman I know, including the prestigious Eureka Prize one year ago for her breakthrough cancer research. She was also the 2011 South Australian of the Year.
Not only is Tanya a smart physicist but she is a fantastic role model for women, young and old, encouraging them to embrace science.
As part of Science week, this Friday there will be a display of women in science projected on the Flinders University Building in Victoria Square where I’m lucky enough to have my photos of Tanya on show.