Education research awards and recognition initiatives

Professional Staff Award for Service

Penny Bredenkamp

Executive Assistant

The Professional Staff Award for Service recognises professional staff who go above and beyond to provide exceptional service, or to ensure continuity in extraordinary circumstances, to colleagues and/or students.

Professional Staff Award for Innovation and Improvement

Anita Johnston-Oost

Curriculum and Accreditation Coordinator

The Professional Staff Award for Innovation and Improvement recognises professional staff for implementing change/s to our practices that have had a positive impact.

Educator of the Year

Patrick Bruck

Associate Lecturer

Winner determined by teaching feedback metrics - the highest mean student feedback across all sessions/terms for the last 12-month period.

Commendation for Teaching Excellence

Renee Stokes-Marshall

Casual Academic (Teaching)

This award is determined by teaching feedback metrics, being the second highest mean student feedback across all sessions/terms for the last 12-month period.

Researcher of the Year

Associate Professor Louise Phillips

Chair of Discipline (Initial Teacher Education)

Determined by the most number of registered HERDC publications, successful external grants and HDR completions.

HDR Supervisor of the Year

Professor Liz Mackinlay

Director of Higher Degree Education

Determined by nominations reviewed by a panel including the Dean of Education, other senior academic Faculty of Education staff, and an external senior academic member.

Outstanding Research Publication

Dr Megan Kelly

Associate Lecturer

Best ERA eligible publication by a staff member as determined by the Faculty's Research Committee.

"A sense of belonging at university: student retention, motivation and enjoyment" published in the Journal of Further and Higher Education by the authors, Dr Megan Kelly, Dr Royce Willis & Dr Johanna Nieuwoudt.

Early Career Researcher of the Year

Dr Megan Kelly

Associate Lecturer

Determined by the most number of registered HERDC publications, successful external grants and HDR completions.

HDR Excellence Award

Marie-Laurence Paquette

HDR Candidate

Best ERA eligible publication by a Higher Degree Research (HDR) candidate as determined by the Faculty's Research Committee.

"Young people’s understandings and attitudes towards marine debris: a systematic scoping review" published in Children's Geographies by authors Dr Antonia Canosa, Marie-Laurence Paquette, Professor Amy Cutter-Mackenzie-Knowles, Professor Alexandra Lasczik, and Dr Marianne Logan.

SAGE Award for Service

This award acknowledges the service of the Student Advisory Group for Education (SAGE) leadership team in their efforts to form a diverse and passionate community of students.

• Angela Ashcroft – President and Secretary
• Christina Bijkerk - co-Vice President and co-Secretary
• Kurt Breed – Secretary
• Josie Hockey - Vice-President and President
• Benjamin Hockey - Vice-President

Byron Writers Festival Prize

The Byron Writers Festival Prize is awarded to an Associate Degree of Creative Writing graduate with a GPA of 5.5-6.0 (Distinction Average) for the prior year (2021). The winner of the award is invited to the annual awards evening to receive acknowledgement of their hard work and dedication to achieving academic excellence in Creative Writing.

The winner of the 2021 Byron Writers Festival Prize was Caleb Eriksson.