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A leading Australian ecologist and Director of the Centre for Ecosystem Science at UNSW, Prof. Kingsford has worked extensively across the wetlands and rivers of the Murray-Darling and Lake Eyre Basins. His research has made significant contributions to understanding the impact of water resource developments on these ecosystems. This includes the impact of dams��on downstream platypus populations, and the Eastern Australian Waterbird Survey, which is one of Australia’s most important long-term datasets on the health and biodiversity of the country’s river and wetland areas.

In his role as leader of the Wild Deserts project, Prof. Kingsford has worked on reintroducing locally extinct mammals into Sturt National Park. This decade-long project in north-western NSW has already returned two of the targeted seven species of locally extinct mammals to the area – the�� ���Ի�����– with more coming in future years.

Prof. Kingsford’s research has also influenced the policy and management of rivers in Australia, including through involvement on state and federal advisory committees.

Professor Skye McDonald

Professor Skye McDonald was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for distinguished service to clinical neuropsychology and research into social cognition disorders after traumatic brain injury.

Prof. McDonald has dedicated her career to understanding the social brain, which means how we use our brains to manage relationships with others. Her focus has been on understanding how this breaks down in people who suffer brain damage, such as from motor vehicle accidents, stroke or dementia.

One of her career highlights has been ‘cracking the code’ of personality change in an injured person, working out why these changes occur, what brain systems are involved and how we can measure and treat them.

Prof. McDonald said she was surprised and delighted to be named on the Honours list. “It is a wonderful reflection of how Australia respects both brain science research and the need to care for people with brain injuries. I work with many dedicated and gifted clinicians and researchers. I feel this is for all of us.

“I’ve seen first-hand how devastating changes in social function are for the person with an injury, but also their family and community. Being able to get on with others socially is critical to work, education and life in general. Without it, people and their families become increasingly isolated, and it’s something that’s been overlooked until recently,” she said.

Prof. McDonald and her team at the NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Brain Recovery developed a test of social cognition – (TASIT) – which is used by clinicians worldwide. The test is unique, as it can measure different forms of dementia and predict how well people will perform in everyday life after their brain damage.