Honours Student Prizes
Each year the School of Biological Sciences recognises our outstanding Honours students through presentation of the following prizes.
Biology Honours Prize (Professor Margaret Clayton – Leader and Role Model)
Awarded to the student with the highest combined aggregate score for Biology Honours.
Professor Margaret Clayton inspired students of biology, advocated for female staff, and provided strong leadership over three decades at Monash University. After graduating with a PhD from The University of Melbourne, Professor Clayton began a distinguished teaching and research career when she took up a position as a junior lecturer at Monash in 1973. Margaret’s research focused on the reproductive biology and physiology of marine algae. Margaret served as Head of the School of Biological Sciences from 1994 to 2002, overseeing its formation from the merger of a number of Departments. One of Margaret’s key achievements while in Biological Sciences was the redevelopment of the Honours program. She was Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Science from 2003 to 2005. She was highly committed to working for equity for women and was recognised with the inaugural Vice-Chancellor's Equity and Diversity Award. In 2006 Margaret took up a position with the Australian Research Council as Executive Director of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, and was appointed Emeritus Professor of Biology at Monash.
Genetics Honours Prize (Professor Margaret Clayton – Leader and Role Model)
Awarded to the student with the highest combined aggregate score for Genetics Honours.
Professor Margaret Clayton inspired students of biology, advocated for female staff, and provided strong leadership over three decades at Monash University. After graduating with a PhD from The University of Melbourne, Professor Clayton began a distinguished teaching and research career when she took up a position as a junior lecturer at Monash in 1973. Margaret’s research focused on the reproductive biology and physiology of marine algae. Margaret served as Head of the School of Biological Sciences from 1994 to 2002, overseeing its formation from the merger of a number of Departments. One of Margaret’s key achievements while in Biological Sciences was the redevelopment of the Honours program. She was Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Science from 2003 to 2005. She was highly committed to working for equity for women and was recognised with the inaugural Vice-Chancellor's Equity and Diversity Award. In 2006 Margaret took up a position with the Australian Research Council as Executive Director of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, and was appointed Emeritus Professor of Biology at Monash.
Honours Prize (Dr Beth Gott AM - Pioneer and Role Model)
Awarded to the student with the best thesis with applied outcomes/benefits
Dr Beth Gott graduated in Botany from Melbourne University, later studying the life-cycle of Rye cereals at London University. On her return to Melbourne, she conducted research on wheat varieties grown in Australia before turning her attention to ‘ethnobotany’ and the study of the traditional uses of native plants. Since the 1980’s Beth has assembled extensive databases of plants used by the Aborigines of south-eastern Australia, while also documenting the landscapes created by Aboriginal management, including the use of fire. Dr Gott created and curates the Aboriginal Educational Garden at Monash University. In 2017 Beth was made a Member of the Order of Australia for "significant service to the biological sciences as an ethnobotanist specialising in the study of the use of native plants by Indigenous people".
Click here for more information about Dr Beth Gott