Dr Brooke Williams, a research fellow of the Global Conservation and Sustainability Lab, won a 2024 Queensland Young Tall Poppy Science Award. The annual Queensland Young Tall Poppy Science Awards are hosted by the Australian Institute of Policy and Science (AIPS) in partnership with the Office of the Queensland Chief Scientist.The awards recognise and celebrate researchers who demonstrate world-class scientific excellence combined with a unique passion for science communication, which can inspire young people to enter STEM study and careers. The awards are held on a state-by-state basis to celebrate researchers across all areas of science.
Brooke uses spatial information on biodiversity, ecosystem services (the benefits people derive from nature – such as carbon sequestration), and human activities to develop innovative tools and metrics to better inform decision makers on the outcomes of broadscale environmental policies and markets.
Her work has made headlines multiple times. For example, in 2020 she revealed to the world that 1.9 million km2 – an area approximately the size of Mexico – of land relatively free of human disturbance became highly modified, and in 2022 she revealed just 15.5 percent of coastal regions globally were in good condition.“This is a great honour and reinforces my dedication to advancing our knowledge of humanity’s influence on ecosystems on a global scale and to finding solutions to empower communities to carry out their own conservation actions in challenging contexts,” Dr Williams said. “I am a great believer in collaborating with non-academic counterparts, which has led to a rich network of conservation practitioners and land managers across multiple continents.”