ACRS medal applications
ACRS Awards
Since 2015, the ACRS awards a prestigious medal to recognise high achievers in the research and conservation of Australian coral reefs. The ACRS Medal is awarded in alternating years in the following categories, based on an individual’s contribution to science and conservation of Australian coral reefs:
- Established Researcher (>15 years): Next award 2028
- Mid-Career Researcher (>5 yrs and <15 yrs since completing PhD): CLOSED (closing 1st August 2025)
- Science Education and Conservation (any career stage): Next award 2026
- Early Career Researcher (< 5 yrs since completing PhD): Next award 2027
The ACRS medal will be presented at the Annual ACRS Conference and the awardee should give a plenary lecture within 2 years of the award.
2025 ACRS medals – now closed
The nominations for ACRS Mid-Career Researcher medal are now closed. All nominations are now being assessed and we are excited to announce the winner at the ACRS 2025 conference in September
ACRS Fellow / ACRS Life Membership
The ACRS awards Fellow and Life Membership status in recognition of members who have contributed to the science and management of Australia’s coral reefs and/or contributed substantial service to the broader community of Australian reef scientists and managers.
The distinction between the Fellow scheme and the Life Membership scheme is that for Life Membership status, the nominee needs to demonstrate BOTH (i) contributions to science/management, AND (ii) service to ACRS and broader community, whereas a nomination for ACRS Fellow only needs to demonstrate one of those (i.e. contributions OR service). To become a Life Member, the nominee is also required to have provided service over a prolonged period, whereas the Fellow is not. Life membership may also be awarded to those that have made a significant financial donation to the Society.
ACRS medal recipients
2024 Professor Morgan Pratchett
(Established Career Researcher Medal)
Morgan Pratchett is a Professorial Research Fellow in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, based at James Cook University, Townsville. He has broad interests in population and community ecology of coral reef organisms, especially corals and fishes. His current research focuses on major disturbances that impact coral reef ecosystems, with a view to understanding differential responses and vulnerabilities among coral reef organisms. Morgan has written many papers describing direct and indirect effects of coral bleaching and outbreaks of crown-of-thorns starfish, considering impacts on both coral assemblages and associated assemblages of coral reef fishes. He has also conducted extensive research on the biology and ecology of coral reef butterflyfishes. Morgan has also had meaningful impact on the management of coral reef ecosystems through his work on CoTS and harvest practices for corals. He has also been a highly active and engaged member of the national and international reef research community, with an extensive record of service for relevant societies, including ACRS (serving on council from 2006 to 2009). He continues to serve (since 2017) on the council of the International Coral Reef Society (ICRS) and is editor-in-chief of the journal, Coral Reefs.
2022 Dr. Kate Quigley
(Early-Career Researcher Medal)
Kate is a Senior Research Scientist at Minderoo Foundation, Research Director of the Minderoo Exmouth Research Laboratory, adjunct Research Fellow at the University of Western Australia, and ARC DECRA Fellow at James Cook University. As a molecular ecologist, her current research focusses on understanding adaptation and the genomic basis of stress tolerance and resilience of coral reef organisms across the Indo-Pacific and Indian Oceans. She uses ‘omics tools (population genomics, transcriptomic, metagenomic) with field, experimental, and modelling methods to understand what makes some species resistant to stress whilst others are more vulnerable.
2020 Prof. Andrew Hoey
(Mid-Career Researcher Medal)
Professor Andy Hoey is from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and James Cook University. His work focuses on broad-scale ecological processes and the functional importance of different taxa to the resilience of coral reef ecosystems, in particular the functional role of herbivorous fishes and the dangers of seaweed expansion on coral reefs. He has worked at over 30 locations spanning the world’s tropical oceans and this experience has provided him with considerable insight into the differences among these systems in terms of diversity, reef community structure, human use patterns and, perhaps more importantly, the underlying processes.
2019 Prof. Maria Byrne
(Established Researcher Medal)
Professor Maria Byrne from the School of Medical Sciences and School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney and former Director of One Tree Island Research Station has undertaken research on coral reef invertebrates for over 30 years. Her substantial body of work, includes important discoveries on invertebrate evolution and ecology and impacts of climate change, alongside a continued record of considerable service to the reef science community.
2018 Assoc Prof Tracy Ainsworth
(Early Career Researcher Medal)
Associate Professor Tracy Ainsworth is a Scientia Fellow at in the School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of New South Wales. Tracy’s research focuses on the impact of environmental stress on reef-building corals, their host-microbe interactions, symbioses and disease outbreaks.
2017 Dr Russell Kelley
(Science Advocacy Medal)
Dr. Russell Kelley is a science communication consultant and program director of the Coral Identification Capacity Building Program. Russell’s output spans scientific papers, book chapters, educational tools and television productions.
2016 Prof Terry Hughes
(Established Researcher Medal)
Dr. Terry Hughes is the Director of the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies. His research focuses on the linkages between the ecology of reefs and their importance for societies and economies.
2015 Dr Nick Graham
(Early Career Researcher Medal)
Dr. Nick Graham is now a Professor at Lancaster University, UK. He tackles large-scale ecological and social-ecological coral reef issues under the overarching themes of climate change, human use and resilience.
ACRS Fellows
2020 Dr Jennifer Donelson
Dr Jennifer Donelson is a Senior Research Fellow at James Cook University. Her research investigates the ecology and early life history of marine fishes, as well as the potential for animals to cope with future climate change. Her research to date has utilized temperature controlled aquaria to examine the ecological impacts of climate change to marine fishes and the potential for species to acclimate to the predicted environmental changes.
2020 Dr Mark Baird
Dr Mark Baird leads the Coastal Biogeochemical Modelling team at CSIRO and is responsible for developing key components of the eReefs marine modelling system that is being used to estimate the water quality properties of the Great Barrier Reef, and optimise the reduction of loads of sediments and nutrients for the purposes of water quality improvements. He has obtained over $1m in ARC grants, held both an ARC Australian Postdoctoral and Australian Research Fellowship.
