09- 09 - 2022

Join us for this week's roundup of inspiring Scholar news...

^{_{Left to right: Ben Mylius, 2014 Murray-Darling Basin Authority John Monash Scholar; Michael Grebla, 2016 Zelman Cowen John Monash Scholar, Dr Johnathon Ehsani, 2008 John Monash Scholar; Bridget Hickey, 2017 Zelman Cowen John Monash Scholar; Mark Shelton, 2017 Zelman Cowen John Monash Scholar; The Hon. Arthur Sinodinos AO; Samuel Parker, 2020 Susan and Isaac Wakil John Monash Scholar; William Witheridge, 2018 Commonwealth Bank John Monash Scholar; Dr Brett Shannon, 2021 Australian Universities’ John Monash Scholar.}} 

On 25 August, the Ambassador of Australia to the United States, The Hon. Arthur Sinodinos AO, privately hosted a group of John Monash Scholars based in the US to discuss the need to continue building academic networks overseas to help develop Australia’s future leaders and continue upholding the strong relationship with the US.   

Mr Sinodinos said, “A pleasure spending the afternoon with this outstanding group of Monash Scholars. These postgraduate students are studying everything from neuroscience to medicine & music composition in the US. They are great ambassadors for Australia and are honouring the legacy of Sir John Monash”.   

This event was a professional development opportunity hosted by the John Monash Foundation Leadership Academy, which facilitates opportunities for collaboration between industry and academics and fosters the leadership capabilities of our Scholars. 

_{^{Left to right: Milan Gandhi, 2022 Lee Liberman John Monash Scholar; Tonianne Dwyer, John Monash Foundation Board Director; The Hon. Anthe Philippides SC; Abigael Mawby, 2016 Chairman's Circle John Monash Scholar.}} 

Last week, the John Monash Foundation Leadership Academy partnered with the Democracy Forecast for their inaugural event— “Democracy: An Anatomy of Public Power." 

The event began with an insightful keynote speech by the Hon. Anthe Philippides SC, setting the scene for an engaging discussion between panellists Professor Graeme Orr, John Kettle, and 2016 Chairman's Circle John Monash Scholar Abigael Mawby. The speakers addressed a range of interesting topics under the theme of democracy, its history, evolution and health in 2022. Fellow partners also included QUT Law, Hellenic Australian Lawyers Association (QLD), McCullough Robertson, Queensland Council for Civil Liberties and The Legal Forecast.  

A special mention to 2022 Lee Liberman John Monash Scholar, Milan Gandhi who was the curator/ moderator of the event and a National Director of The Legal Forecast. Milan is headed to Oxford this weekend to study a Master of Public Policy and MSc in Public Policy Research.  

This event was a professional development opportunity hosted by the John Monash Foundation Leadership Academy, which facilitates opportunities for collaboration between industry and academics and fosters the leadership capabilities of our Scholars. 

Maja Arsic, 2017 BHP John Monash Scholar, is a part of a multidisciplinary research team working between the Australian National University (ANU) and CSIRO, that has just been awarded over $1 million in funding as part of the inaugural ANU-CSIRO Agri-food Collaboration Program to boost Australia’s developing circular economy in the food security space, by creating new synthetic biology technology to harvest critical resources from wastewaters. 

The program is a joint investment by ANU and Australia’s national science agency as part of a renewed push to combine their world-leading expertise and resources to solve some of the challenges facing the world today and into the future. Maja is currently a CSIRO Early Research Career Fellow and completed a PhD degree in Plant Science at the University of Copenhagen with her John Monash scholarship. 

Dynamic, community-oriented creative work on climate futures at Columbia

Ben Mylius, 2014 Murray-Darling Basin Authority John Monash Scholar, is founding convenor of the Columbia Climate Imaginations Network (CCIN), a group working to offer moral, creative and financial support to students and others who are building community around creativity, climate and imagination. CCIN's has launched its website here, to serve as a hub for connections, events and resources on these fronts.  

Ben is originally from the Barossa Valley, South Australia. He’s currently pursuing a PhD in ecological political philosophy at Columbia, having completed an LL.M. and Clinical Fellowship at Yale Law School. Ben is interested in what it might mean to ‘think ecologically’ – in the structure, processes and limitations of reason(ing) as the way we think together about how to move and live in the world, and how we engage with the Anthropocene. 

In this episode, we speak with 2009 John Monash Scholar and Board Director, Dr Mark Schembri about his work as practitioner in both human and animal medicine and as the Chairman of the National Selection Panel for the Sir John Monash Scholarship.

Dr Schembri is a leading multidisciplinary educator, academic and practitioner in both human and animal medicine. A practising Doctor in Women’s Health at Royal North Shore Hospital and Veterinarian with the Australian Turf Club, his career highlights include a Master in Public Health degree (Infectious Disease Epidemiology) at Harvard and selection as Veterinarian to the Australian Equine Team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Congratulations to Global Australian Award Winners Frances Voon, 2008 John Monash Scholar, recipient of the Social Impact award and Dr Martin Seneviratne, 2017 Roden Cutler NSW John Monash Scholar, recipient of the Emerging Leader award.  

Frances is a global human rights leader who has dedicated her life to advancing the rights of refugees. As Executive Manager of UNSW’s Andrew and Renata Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, Frances provides strategic leadership at the world’s first centre for international refugee law, with the aim of placing evidence and principle at the centre of what remains a divisive topic of public and policy debate. With her John Monash Scholarship, Frances undertook an MPhil in Development Studies at Oxford University. Her research addressed policy and assistance for self-settled refugees in protracted situations.  

Martin is a doctor-turned-data scientist, bridging the divide between technology and healthcare. As a Senior Clinical Scientist with Google Health in London, he is an emerging leader in the nascent field of digital health, working on mobile tools and machine learning to improve the quality and accessibility of care. Martin completed a Masters in Biomedical Informatics at Stanford as a John Monash Scholar. 

In the media

Sarah Milne, 2005 John Monash Scholar was featured in an article by KI Media discussing the deforestation concerns in Cambodia’s Metta forest. 

Dr Gemma Sharp, 2007 John Monash Scholar, was featured in The Australian explaining the cause for Australia’s psychologist shortage and the barriers preventing students from attaining their degrees.  

Professor Kate Manne spoke to the Chinese Global Television Network for Women’s Equality Day (USA) to discuss gendered disinformation and how it has the potential to distort the public’s understanding of the capabilities of women in leadership.