In March 2020, after the WHO incorrectly stated that Covid-19 was not airborne, Prof. Lidia Morawska of Queensland University of Technology mobilized 239 scientists to address the airborne transmission risk of Sars-CoV-2, influencing public health guidelines. For her efforts, she was named one of Time magazine’s most influential people in 2021 and recently awarded Australia’s Prime Minister’s Prize for Science, which comes with a $250,000 prize. Morawska aims to draw attention to air quality research, particularly focusing on ultrafine particles that pose health risks but are not well-regulated.
She also highlighted the challenges of an “age of anti-science,” noting that scientific voices are not as respected today, especially in the U.S. Morawska advocates for collective scientific efforts to be more impactful.
In other awards, Prof. Michael Wear received the inaugural Prime Minister’s Prize for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledge systems for his marine conservation work, specifically focusing on sea cucumber fisheries to fund seagrass restoration in Shark Bay. Other recipients included Prof. Yao Zheng for clean hydrogen production and Dr. Vikram Sharma for advancements in cybersecurity from quantum research.
