Deakin Professor 2024 Australian Museum Eureka Prize finalist
Media release
Deakin University congratulates Life and Environmental Sciences Professor of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, Professor Euan Ritchie, for being selected as a finalist of the prestigious 2024 Australian Museum Eureka Prizes.
The winners of these awards will be announced at a ceremony in Sydney later this year.
The awards recognise leaders in Research and Innovation, Leadership, Science Engagement and School Science.
This is Professor Ritchie's third nomination for the Celestino Eureka Prize for Promoting an Understanding of Science, having also been a finalist in 2022 and 2023.
Professor Ritchie is recognised across Australia and internationally for his ecological and conservation focussed research and prolific, passionate, and sustained science communication.
In celebrating his nomination, Professor Ritchie said:
'Australia is home to truly extraordinary ecosystems and wildlife, known and loved the world over.
Tragically, since European colonisation, Australia's natural environments and biodiversity have suffered, including numerous species declines and extinctions, and they continue to face significant pressures and uncertain futures.
Never has it been more important to empower people and communities through communicating how science can help provide solutions for overcoming these tremendous challenges.
I am incredibly honoured and grateful to be selected as a finalist for a third successive year for the Celestino Eureka Prize for Promoting an Understanding of Science. Beyond this personal achievement, I hope my nomination will help to bring increased public awareness to the many social, cultural, economic, and environmental values of Australia’s wildlife and ecosystems, and the urgent need for their increased care and protection.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the many people that support me and that I’m privileged to work with.'
Presented annually in partnership with some of the nation’s leading scientific institutions, government organisation, universities and corporations, the Eureka Prizes raises the profile of science and science engagement in the community by celebrating outstanding achievement.
Since the prizes were established in 1990, close to 500 Eureka Prizes have been awarded.
The winners will be announced during a live broadcast event on September 4.
Deakin wishes Professor Ritchie the best of luck.
