An ant diversity scientist, astrophysicist, physical chemist, English literature scholar and marine ecologist have all been awarded prestigious 2025 Forrest Fellowships.
Forrest Fellowships are awarded to early-stage post-doctoral researchers who have outstanding academic profiles and have already made significant personal research contributions within and beyond their discipline.
The Forrest Research Foundation brings together post-doctoral researchers across a diverse range of fields, to explore creative ways to solve some of the world’s most pressing problems.
Northern Territory-based François Brassard will join UWA’s School of Agriculture and Environment to advance our understanding of ant diversity to further biodiversity conservation and habitat restoration.
Dr Barbara Mazzilli Ciraulo will join the International Centre for Radio Astronomy at The University of Western Australia to investigate galactic winds and how they impact the evolution of galaxies.
Dr Peter Watson will attend Curtin University to research the fundamental processes in the formation of clouds. He completed his PhD at UWA, as well as two post-doctoral fellowships at Oxford University, and is a physical chemist who specialises in the design and construction of novel instrumentation simulating atmospheric processes.
Nicholas Duddy, a doctoral candidate in English at the University of Oxford, has taught at the University of Adelaide and the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney and will join UWA’s Westerly Research Group, which focuses on Australian literature. His focus is exploring Australian drama through its depiction of the natural world.
Seth Cones is currently based in Massachusetts and will join Murdoch University to examine the energy savings of soaring behaviours in evolutionarily diverse species, including birds, squid and fish. He aims to further our understanding of how these traits have shaped species’ distribution and ecosystem structure.
Professor James Arvanitakis is the Director of the Forrest Research Foundation and says the Forrest Fellowships drew a strong international field of applications.
“The outstanding 2025 Forrest Fellows reflect the highly competitive program and the growing global recognition of the Foundation,” says Arvanitakis.
“The Foundation is gaining prominence as a home of innovation, excellence and creativity.
“We are proud to be a world-leading collaborative centre for ground-breaking research, attracting the brightest minds from around the world to Western Australia.”
