高清福利片

Dr Patricia Selkirk doesn鈥檛 mind the cold. Awarded the Australian Antarctic Medal in 2004, she has spent big chunks of her career on Macquarie Island (1500km south of Tasmania) and Heard Island (4000km southwest of Fremantle) where the temperature hovers about聽five degrees Celsius. How did she work in such conditions? 鈥淚 just put on more clothes,鈥� she laughs.

In the summer of 1983, Patricia was the first woman to live at Antarctica鈥檚 Casey Station while conducting research, though she characteristically downplays this too.聽鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know I was going to be the only woman until the ship was part way there,鈥� she says. 鈥淣ot聽that聽it would鈥檝e changed my mind 鈥� I just got on with it.鈥�

Graduating from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Science (Hons) in 1964 then completing a PhD in 1969, she attributes her abiding interest in bryophytes (mosses and liverworts) to an inspiring botany teacher, Geoff Berrie, and the collegial, academic atmosphere at Women鈥檚 College, where she lived for four years.

Her studies led her a long way south. 鈥淭he subantarctic islands are of immense interest botanically because they鈥檙e very isolated,鈥� Patricia says. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e not previously been connected with a continental land mass.鈥� Plants got here 鈥渂y air mail鈥� 鈥� carried by the wind. 鈥淭he islands are beyond the latitudinal limit at which trees can grow, the largest plants are tussock grasses,鈥� she says. Bryophytes assume a vital role here in soil formation, water retention and nutrient cycling.

Dr Selkirk鈥檚 book, Subantarctic Macquarie Island: Environment and Biology,聽published in 1990, is a key work in the field. She describes working with a colleague to blend nascent satellite technology with exploration on foot, 鈥渟cribbling on image copies in the rain鈥�. The result was a detailed map that is still very much in use for both research and island management.

Possessed of a great spirit of adventure, Patricia describes a trip to Heard Island made possible only by helicopter support. She and two colleagues were the first to visit some sites, collect mosses and 鈥渆xpand the knowledge of the island鈥檚聽vegetation鈥�.

With this comes a note of caution, however. 鈥淪ince the 1950s, the glaciers have retreated by a kilometre or more and there are big lakes in front of them that you can鈥檛 get across, where once you could walk across snow and ice,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the most dramatic evidence of聽climate change that I鈥檝e seen.鈥�

Solitary fieldwork is unsafe in this environment, but this opens up great opportunities for collaboration, says Patricia, who has been involved in finding a new orchid species and a new plant virus, uncovering vegetation history, geomorphology and mapping. 鈥淎ll sorts of things to do with the plants and the climate,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 all interconnected, like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.鈥� Patricia鈥檚 PhD students also speak highly of her warmth and mentoring.

Yet there have been frustrations too, some to do with funding, some with logistics. Then there was the reporter from a popular women鈥檚 magazine who, even in 1980, was more interested in questioning Patricia about 鈥渁bandoning鈥� her husband and children than finding out about her research. 鈥淭he world has moved on now,鈥� Patricia says.

Patricia exudes a great love for the unique landscape of her research. 鈥淭he islands are wonderful, just magic,鈥� she says. 鈥淭he scenery, the plants, the whole environment, are just beautiful. And on the beach you鈥檒l meet, depending on the season, seals and penguins and all聽kinds of seabirds.鈥� She sums up her hopes for the region in one elegant phrase: 鈥淧eace, conservation and science.鈥�

Dr Selkirk and other winners will receive their awards in an official ceremony in Great Hall on Thursday 27 April.