John Curtin Distinguished Professor Kliti Grice has been awarded the prestigious Australian Organic Geochemistry (AOGC) Medal.
The Medal is awarded biennially to a distinguished member of the scientific community for lifetime achievement in the field of organic geochemistry. It was presented at the Australian Organic Geochemistry Conference in Adelaide on 1 December.
Professor Grice joins an illustrious list of previous award winners, which includes Curtin colleagues, Emeritus Professor Robert Alexander, the 1998 recipient, and Emeritus Professor Robert Kagi, who received the award in 2008.
Professor Grice is the first-ever female recipient of the AOGC Medal.
Professor Grice is an internationally recognised and widely-published organic geochemist. She is especially well known for identifying a geological and environmental basis for the largest mass extinction in Earth’s history, which happened at the end of the Permian Period, about 252 million years ago.
Her outstanding research reputation has attracted many national and international PhD and postdoctoral Earth Sciences scholars to Curtin.
Curtin Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research and Development, Professor Graeme Wright, said the award was due recognition from the scientific community for the quality and depth of Professor Grice’s research and her determination to discover new knowledge.
“Kliti works exceedingly hard at her research and is a highly productive scientist. She is prolific and well connected to a global network of collaborators.
“Over the years Professor Grice has received many accolades for her research which has helped to place Curtin at the forefront in the field of organic chemistry.
Professor Wright said.
Professor Grice completed an honours degree in Applied Chemistry 1991, before studying under Professor James Maxwell in the Organic Geochemistry Unit at Bristol University.
She finished her PhD in 1995 and went on to a research fellowship at the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research before joining Curtin in 1998, where she has successfully established the WA Organic and Isotope Chemistry Centre.
