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https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/nov/03/australia-prime-ministers-prize-for-science-lidia-morawska-covid-michael-wear-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-knowledge>
"When the World Health Organization announced – incorrectly, as became apparent
later – in March 2020 that the Covid-19 virus was not airborne, Prof Lidia
Morawska knew she had to do something.
A renowned expert in air quality and health, Morawska, of the Queensland
University of Technology, began contacting international colleagues. She
eventually gathered 239 scientists globally to highlight the risk of airborne
transmission of Sars-CoV-2.
The public pressure eventually prompted the WHO and other authorities to update
their public health guidelines.
For her work during the pandemic, Morawska was named one of
Time magazine’s
most influential people in 2021.
On Monday evening, she also received the top gong at the Prime Minister’s
Prizes for Science, for her “pioneering research about the air we breathe”.
Morawska described receiving the $250,000 prime minister’s prize as “an amazing
joy”, but said importantly the award would bring attention to her field of
research.
Her current work focuses on ultrafine particles – tiny pollutants tens to
hundreds of times smaller than PM2.5 and believed to have more significant
health impacts, but which are not yet widely regulated.
“Because they are so small, they can get deep into the human respiratory
tract,” Morawska said.
Morawska’s recognition comes at a fraught time – an “age of anti-science”, as
she has called it.
“In the United States, it’s a particularly difficult situation,” she said.
“Science and scientists are nowhere near as listened to as … in the past, and
decisions are not based on science.” It is a problem she hopes to tackle by
bringing scientists together as she did during the early years of the pandemic.
“If we operate individually, it’s very easy to reject us … but eventually, the
voice of a large scientific body, which can be respected, hopefully will make a
difference.”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
