Australian scientist who alerted world that Covid is airborne wins top science prize | Coronavirus
When the World Health Organization announced – incorrectly, as it later emerged – in March 2020 that the Covid-19 virus was not airborne, Professor Lidia Morawska knew she had to do something.
Renowned air quality and health expert Morawska from the Queensland University of Technology began reaching out to international colleagues. It ultimately brought together 239 scientists around the world to highlight the risk of airborne transmission of Sars-CoV-2.
Public pressure ultimately prompted the WHO and other authorities to update their public health guidelines.
For her work during the pandemic, Morawska was named one of Time magazine’s most influential people of 2021.
On Monday evening, she also received the biggest gong in the Prime Minister’s Science Awards, for her “pioneering research into the air we breathe”.
Morawska described receiving the $250,000 Prime Minister’s Prize as “an incredible joy”, but stressed that the prize would bring attention to her area of research.
His current work focuses on ultrafine particles – tiny pollutants tens to hundreds of times smaller than PM2.5 and thought to have larger health impacts, but which are not yet widely regulated.
“Because they are so small, they can penetrate deep into human airways,” Morawska said.
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Morawska’s recognition comes at a difficult time – an “age of anti-science,” as she calls it.
“In the United States, the situation is particularly difficult,” she said. “Science and scientists are nowhere near as listened to as… in the past, and decisions are not based on science. It’s a problem she hopes to solve by bringing scientists together as she did during the early years of the pandemic.
“If we operate individually, it is very easy to dismiss us… but we hope that ultimately the voice of a large scientific body, which can be respected, will make a difference.”
The Prime Minister’s Science Awards, now in their 26th year, are Australia’s most prestigious awards recognizing achievements in scientific research, innovation and teaching.
Anthony Albanese said in a statement: “I congratulate and thank Professor Morawska for his incredible work over many years influencing how Australia and the world have mitigated the risks associated with Covid-19.
“I extend my congratulations and thank you to all the recipients.”
In a category awarded for the first time this year, Professor Michael Wear received the Prime Minister’s Award for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Knowledge Systems.
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Wear, a traditional Malgana custodian from Gutharraguda (Shark Bay) in Western Australia, received the $250,000 award in recognition of his marine conservation work. He is the founder of Tidal Moon, Australia’s first indigenously owned and operated sea cucumber fishing and marine restoration company.
Wear founded the company several years after a marine heatwave in 2010-2011 led to the loss of 22% of Shark Bay’s seagrass meadows.
“When the seagrass died, we noticed the sea cucumbers were getting bigger,” he said. “We built a free market business… around sea cucumbers as an export product. »
Profits from the sale of these sea cucumbers, primarily in the form of cosmetic products, fund the organization’s seagrass restoration efforts, with 12 indigenous divers trained to date.
The company plans to restore 20 hectares of seagrass beds next year.
Science Minister Tim Ayres said he was proud that the awards “now recognize and elevate the extraordinary contributions that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have made and continue to make to science and our nation”.
“Professor Michael Wear’s work illustrates the continuing importance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledge systems to people, communities and place,” Ayres said in a statement.
“I’m happy to be the first [recipient]” said Wear, “but I don’t want to be the last one.”
Other award winners include Professor Yao Zheng from the University of Adelaide, recognized for his work producing clean hydrogen directly from seawater; and Dr. Vikram Sharma, founder of QuintessenceLabs, recognized for translating quantum science research into cybersecurity protections.
