Amazing eight: top honours for world-leading ANU researchers

Eight remarkable ANU researchers have been honoured as leaders in their fields. Between them, the group is tackling some of the world’s most pressing issues in areas as diverse as solar technology, Indigenous health and economics. 

In recognition of their trailblazing work, Professors Genevieve Bell, Andrew Blakers, Alex Brown, Paul Burke, Ray Lovett, Helen Sullivan, Chris Danta and Katie Steele are being celebrated by some of the country’s leading independent academies of experts.

Social science superstars

ANU Vice-Chancellor and renowned anthropologist and futurist, Distinguished Professor Genevieve Bell, has been named among 20 new Fellows of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia. She’s joined on the list by Dean of the ANU College of Asia and the Pacific, Professor Helen Sullivan, and Professor Paul Burke from the ANU Crawford School of Public Policy.  

Bell was appointed the first female Vice-Chancellor of ANU in January 2024. She worked for tech giant Intel in Silicon Valley before returning to Australia to establish the 3A Institute at ANU and went on to become the inaugural director of the ANU School of Cybernetics. Her research investigates what it means to be human in a digital world. 

Professor Helen Sullivan describes herself as a “quick thinker, slow writer and eclectic dresser”. She also happens to be one of the world’s leading political scientists.    

She says it’s an honour to be elected to a body that does so much to promote the development and use of social sciences.

Professor Paul Burke is Head of the Arndt-Corden Department of Economics (ACDE) and Deputy Director of the ANU Crawford School of Public Policy.  

He’s also a convenor of the Zero-Carbon Energy for the Asia-Pacific initiative at ANU.  

His work encompasses energy and environmental economics, as well as transport economics.

Burke says Australia has real potential to accelerate the move to renewables-based energy systems and help tackle the growing energy crisis.  

“Successfully addressing important challenges – from the energy transition to sustainable development in our region – relies on high-quality research and insights from the social sciences, including my discipline of economics.”

The trio will join an impressive cohort of ANU experts on the list of the Academy’s current Fellows – numbering more than 700 from across Australia. 

Improving Indigenous health

A leader in the Indigenous health field, Professor Ray Lovett (Ngiyampaa/Wongaibon) is among 31 new Fellows elected to join the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences (AAHMS). 

Lovett is the Associate Director of Culture and Wellbeing Research at the Yardhura Walani Centre at ANU. 

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community has been the “driving force” for his research efforts over the last 15 years.  

Lovett says this appointment recognises the many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities who have shaped and guided his work. 

Engineering a better future

 Professor Alex Brown (Yuin Nation) has similarly dedicated his career to the health of Australia’s Indigenous peoples.  

A pioneer in the field of Indigenous genomics, Brown holds dual roles as a Professor of Indigenous Genomics at The Kids Research Institute Australia and as the Director of the National Centre for Indigenous Genomics at ANU.  

His work has focused on using the power of genomic research to address chronic diseases in vulnerable communities.  

Professor Brown – already a Fellow of AAHMS – is one of 32 new Fellows of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (AATSE). 

Professor Andrew Blakers has also taken out one of AATSE’s top honours, winning the 2024 Clunies Ross Award for innovation.  

His research has been instrumental to the renewable energy transition, including the development of solar technology that is now used worldwide.  

Blakers says innovation is about taking ideas and turning them into real work solutions at vast scale.  

His field is one that has seen rapid growth over the past 40 years. 

“Now we’re showing that very large-scale rapid deployment of solar and wind does not lead to technical problems, but leads to very low cost, very stable electricity systems,” he says.  

Blakers was also part of a team that created a comprehensive atlas of potential sites for pumped hydro energy storage. 

Making their mark on the humanities

Professor Katie Steele’s research spans various aspects of decision-making.

She’s also a past recipient of the ANU Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Advancing Research.

“My work is about what responsible decision making looks like in the face of more and less severe uncertainty about the possible consequences of our actions,” Steele says.

“Australia benefits immensely from its outstanding tradition in philosophy and the humanities more generally. The Academy plays an important role in strengthening and safeguarding this national treasure.”

An internationally recognised literary historian and theorist, Professor Chris Danta is a Professor of Literature and ARC Future Fellow in the ANU School of Cybernetics.

“My work investigates how humans continually redefine themselves in relation to the nonhuman, especially natural and artificial environments, other animals and machines,” Danta says.

“I think we’re now starting to appreciate how literature, and particularly science fiction, can help us understand complex systems and consequences such as climate change and the emergence of AI that confront us with scenarios that would previously have been dismissed as fantastical.”

Steele and Danta are among 41 new Fellows elected to the Australian Academy of the Humanities.