Queensland Women in STEM Prize

About the Queensland Women in STEM Prize

The Queensland Women in STEM Prize celebrates the exceptional contributions of Queensland's women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

Now in its eleventh year, the Prize aims to foster passion, participation and leadership among women and girls in STEM. By recognising emerging leaders and showcasing their achievements, the Prize promotes gender equity, diversity and inclusion while highlighting the important contribution women make to Queensland's scientific, technological and research sectors.

Meet the 2026 Finalists

Queensland Women in STEM Prize

Important information

View our important information by clicking each of the below headings.

The Queensland Women in STEM Prize recognises individuals who have demonstrated exceptional leadership, innovation, and impact to Queensland across three awards:

The Judges’ Award ($10,000 excl GST prize money):
Proudly supported by Energex
Open to emerging leaders in STEM who identify as a woman and have been working in their field for no more than 10 years in total.

First Nations STEM Award ($10,000 excl GST total prize money):
Proudly supported by AECOM
Open to emerging leaders in STEM who identify as a woman and have been working in their field for no more than 10 years in total, and:

are of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander heritage;
identify as an Aboriginal and /or Torres Strait Islander person; and
are accepted as such by the communities in which live or have lived.

Breaking Barriers Award ($10,000 excl GST prize money):
Open to emerging leaders in STEM who identify as a woman and have been working in their field for no more than 10 years in total, and:

are an individual who has settled in Queensland as a refugee (as defined under the Migration Act 1958); and/or
have a disability (as defined under the Disability Services Act 2006); and/or
are a carer (as defined under the Carers (Recognition) Act 2008).

Winning recipients must use their Prize Money for professional development i.e., conference attendance, STEM-communication training, career-enhancing courses, research field trips, internships, purchasing new software etc.

Winners and Highly Commended recipients will also receive:

access to professional photo/s of the receipts at the Award Ceremony and professional head shots taken at the Award Ceremony,
a professional video package highlighting the achievements of the winners and highly commended recipients,
inclusion in Queensland Women in STEM Prize media releases and social media activity distributed by Queensland Museum, Department of the Environment, Tourism, Innovation and Science and Office for Women following the Awards Ceremony.

Submissions open: Tuesday 21 July 2026
Submissions close: Tuesday 18 August 2026 (5pm AEST)
All entrants contacted and finalists announced: October 2026
Award ceremony and announcement of prize recipients: Wednesday 11 November 2026

The 2026 Queensland Women in STEM Prize is presented by Queensland Museum and the Queensland Government through the Department of the Environment, Tourism, Innovation and Science, and the Office for Women.

Refer to the nomination booklet and Conditions of Entry.
Complete your nomination online. Nominations provided in hard copy or by way of email, USB or cloud storage will not be accepted.
Note: sections from the nomination booklet will also be included online throughout the nomination process as hint boxes which will pop up as the nominator progresses through each stage.

Nominations must include:

Response to all nomination questions (required)
Address the questions relevant to the selected nomination category – this must be completed to be a valid nomination and assessed by the judges. These responses should not include confidential information as the responses may be made publicly available should the nomination be shortlisted.

Consent (required)
If not self-nominating, the nominator is encouraged to contact the nominee prior to submitting the nomination to seek their consent and feedback prior to submitting the nomination.

A Short CV (required)
Please upload a short CV (maximum 2 pages) that summarises your career experience.

Employment Summary table
Please download and complete the Employment Summary table outlining the duration of each job/research position you have held, and the length of that position in months/years. This will be used by the judges to determine eligibility.

References (required)
Contact details for two referees must be provided. One of the referees must provide a signed letter of reference to be uploaded with the nomination. Only one letter of reference is required, however a letter of reference from both referees may be provided if desired.
References must be written by persons other than the Nominee (the person being nominated).
Letters of reference must be written in reference to the nomination and are to provide further information about the Nominee. As a guide, letters should include the following information:

referee's relationship to the Nominee;
referee's interpretation of how the Nominee has contributed to Queensland, including their support to women and girls; and
if able, provide qualitative and/or quantitative results on the Nominee's successes.

If letters of reference are sent via email, letters must include a signature block from the sender incorporating email address and telephone number.
As part of the standard reference check process, referees may be contacted to verify their reference and provide additional information. Contact details for a third referee and/or additional letters of reference may also be supplied within your nomination, however this is not mandatory.

Supporting documentation (optional)
You may submit up to five items of supporting documentation with your nomination, such as photos or videos of you engaging with others about STEM, publications or report lists, newspaper articles and additional references. Supporting documentation must be relevant to the nomination. Supporting documentation must be uploaded via the online nomination portal as prompted and will not be accepted by any other means (maximum upload limit 3MB per item).

FAQs

The 2026 Queensland Women in STEM Prize is open to any person who:

identifies as a woman;
works in a science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) field including the social sciences, professionals, scientists, researchers or students from any company, institute, government, university, not-for-profit or educational institution;
resides and undertakes STEM activities or research in Queensland;
is an emerging STEM leader with up to 10 years of work experience in a STEM-related field (not inclusive of time spent in undergraduate or post-graduate training).

Applicants may include professionals, scientists, researchers, educators or students from any company, institute, government, university, not-for-profit or educational institution. Students are also eligible to apply.

No. Applicants are not required to hold a STEM qualification to apply.

Yes. You can nominate yourself or you can nominate someone you know.

If you are nominating someone you know, please ensure that they consent to their personal information being submitted as part of their nomination.

The Prize is open to women with up to 10 years of work experience in a STEM-related field.

The following will be considered towards 10 years of STEM career:

paid work in a STEM role,
volunteer work experience in a STEM role.

The following is not included in the 10 years in STEM career calculation:

time spent on leave, career breaks and study/work outside a STEM field,
time spent undertaking any formal STEM education or research, including TAFE, undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications, including PhD.

To be eligible for the First Nations STEM Award, nominees must also:

be of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander heritage;
identify as Aboriginal and /or Torres Strait Islander; and
be accepted as such by the communities in which they live or have lived.

To be eligible for the Breaking Barriers Award, nominees must also:

identify as having a disability (as defined under the Disability Services Act 2006); or
be a carer (as defined under the Carers (Recognition) Act 2008); or
be an individual who has settled in Queensland as a refugee (as defined under the Migration Act 1958).

Nominations can only be submitted online.

Receipt of all nominations will be acknowledged via an automatically generated email from Award Force. Please ensure you provide a correct email address on your nomination form. If you do not receive a confirmation email within two business days after submitting your nomination, please notify the organiser via email or telephone (07) 3153 3000. No responsibility will be taken for nominations that do not receive a confirmation email.

You may be contacted after submitting a nomination and asked to provide further details.

Nominations must be received by 5pm Tuesday 18 August 2026.

Late nominations will not be considered. No responsibility will be taken for nominations that are not received by the closing date.

Applications must be submitted by an individual. Teams are ineligible to apply. Entrants working as part of a team are encouraged to apply as an individual by focusing their application on their contribution to the team project.

Previous winners of the Queensland Women in STEM Prize are ineligible. If you have entered a previous Queensland Women in STEM Prize, but did not receive an award, you are welcome (and encouraged!) to enter again.

Eligible entries will be judged by a panel of experts in September 2026.

Nominations will be assessed on:

a well-articulated summary of the Nominee’s contribution to or impact to Queensland through STEM;
a clear demonstration, with practical examples, of how the Nominee has acted as a positive role model and provided support to women and girls aspiring to work in STEM; and
the evidence of the Nominee’s engagement in promoting STEM to a wider audience.

All questions must be completed, and CV uploaded, in order to progress through to judging. When answering the questions, it is important to provide specific examples of your / the Nominee’s achievements, or significant contribution to Queensland through STEM.

The awards will be determined by a panel of judges, including representatives from Queensland Museum and the Queensland science community, the Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation and the Office for Women, Department of Women, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships and Multiculturalism.

Members of the judging panel will be required to declare any conflicts of interest that may arise from a personal or professional relationship with the nominees. Where a direct conflict of interest with a nominee exists, the judging member will abstain from ranking, scoring or voting for the nominee during judging panel deliberations.

Winning recipients are required to acquit their prize within 12-months, providing evidence of what professional development activity their prize money was spent on.

Winners and Highly Commended recipients will also receive a promotional package comprising:

access to professional photo/s of the receipts at the Award Ceremony and professional head shots taken at the Award Ceremony,
a professional video package highlighting the achievements of the winners and highly commended recipients, to be filmed by the Office for Women following the Awards Ceremony,
inclusion in Queensland Women in STEM Prize media releases and social media activity distributed by Queensland Museum, Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation and the Office for Women, Department of Women, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships and Multiculturalism following the Awards Ceremony.

Meet the Finalists: 2026 Queensland Women in STEM Prize

The remarkable achievements of eleven Queensland women working across science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields have been recognised with the announcement of the finalists for the 2026 Queensland Women in STEM Prize.

Selected from a highly competitive field, the finalists have demonstrated outstanding leadership, innovation and impact within their respective disciplines. Their work is helping to address complex challenges, advance knowledge and inspire the next generation of STEM professionals across Queensland.

Winners will be announced on 11 November 2026 at an Awards Ceremony in Brisbane.

Finalists

Davina Smith

Transforming Indigenous Health Through Community-Led Research
Davina Smith is a proud Gooreng Gooreng and South Sea Islander woman, Senior Indigenous Research Officer at Mater Research, and an emerging First Nations STEM leader dedicated to improving health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities across Queensland.

Through her leadership in Indigenous-led health research, including the landmark Strong Families Study, Davina works alongside communities to ensure research is culturally responsive, community-driven and centred on Indigenous knowledge systems. She has consulted with communities across Queensland to identify health research priorities, contributed to evidence that informs health policy and service delivery, and provides cultural mentorship to strengthen research practices across the sector.

Combining scientific rigour, cultural leadership and a deep commitment to self-determination, Davina is helping to create a more equitable and inclusive future for Indigenous health research while inspiring the next generation of First Nations women and girls to pursue leadership in STEM.

Dr Jenna Wraith

From Queensland to the Globe : Leadership in Conservation Science, Digital Infrastructure, and Women in STEM
Dr Jenna Wraith is a conservation scientist and digital infrastructure leader whose work is transforming biodiversity science, ecological modelling and conservation planning across Queensland and Australia.

As Head of Sustainable Futures at QCIF Digital Research, Jenna leads the development of nationally significant platforms enabling researchers, governments and conservation practitioners to make better data-driven decisions for biodiversity conservation and climate resilience. Her leadership has secured major national investment, established international partnerships with organisations including Google DeepMind, Google Research and the UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre, and contributed to the EcoCommons Australia team's recognition as a 2026 Eureka Prize winner.

A passionate advocate for women in STEM, Jenna is also a dedicated mentor, science communicator and author who actively inspires and supports the next generation of scientists. Through her technical innovation, conservation impact and commitment to inclusion, Jenna is helping position Queensland as a global leader in biodiversity science and environmental technology.

Associate Professor Taylor Dick

Building the Future of STEM Through Research, Leadership and Mentorship
Associate Professor Taylor Dick is an internationally recognised biomedical scientist, researcher and STEM leader whose impact spans the entire STEM pipeline, from inspiring schoolgirls to pursue STEM careers to developing the next generation of researchers and leaders.

Through her co-leadership of the nationally funded Biomechanics Research and Innovation Challenge (BRInC), Taylor has connected hundreds of girls with authentic research experiences, female role models and mentoring opportunities, while also supporting women researchers to build leadership skills.

As Associate Professor, Deputy Associate Dean (Research), and recent ARC Future Fellow at The University of Queensland, she combines world-class research in biomechanics, neuromuscular physiology and wearable robotics with a strong commitment to strengthening STEM participation, representation and workforce development. Through her mentoring, advocacy, public engagement and international leadership, Taylor is helping create a more inclusive STEM future where girls and women can see themselves not only participating in STEM, but leading it.

Dr Larissa Dirr

From Sugars to Solutions: Advancing Respiratory Virus Research, Translation, and STEM Inclusion
Dr Larissa Dirr is an internationally recognised glycovirologist, structural biologist and research leader whose work is advancing the fight against respiratory viruses with epidemic and pandemic potential.

As an ARC Future Fellow and Senior Research Fellow at Griffith University, Larissa leads innovative research into how viruses interact with human cells, translating discoveries into novel antiviral therapies with real-world health impact. Her research has resulted in patented technologies, successful commercialisation outcomes, international collaborations and major investment in Queensland's biomedical research capability.

A passionate advocate for women in STEM, she mentors students and early-career researchers, supports initiatives that foster connection and professional development for women in science, and actively promotes STEM pathways through outreach and public engagement. Through her scientific leadership, commitment to mentoring and dedication to translating research into practical health solutions, Larissa is helping strengthen Queensland's global reputation for biomedical innovation while inspiring the next generation of scientists.

Dr Rabina Giri

From Discovery to Therapeutics: Advancing Microbiome Science in Queensland
Dr Rabina Giri is an emerging biomedical researcher, microbiologist and biotechnology leader whose work is advancing new approaches to understanding and treating inflammatory bowel disease and colorectal cancer.

Based at Mater Research in Brisbane, Rabina investigates how gut microbes, host genetics and the intestinal barrier interact to drive chronic gastrointestinal disease, translating these discoveries into potential new therapies and diagnostic approaches. Her research has led to patented intellectual property and the development of a Queensland biotechnology spin-out, Micromune Therapeutics, where she serves as Biology Lead, helping progress locally discovered treatments towards clinical application.

Despite being only two years post-PhD, she has built an impressive research track record, secured significant competitive funding, and mentors the next generation of scientists. Through her leadership in research, innovation and commercialisation, Rabina is helping position Queensland as a leader in microbiome-based medicine while inspiring emerging researchers, particularly women, to pursue careers in STEM.

Dr Loan Nguyen

Transforming Agriculture Through Genomics Innovation and Research Leadership
Dr Loan Nguyen is an agricultural genomics researcher and ARC Early Career Industry Fellow at The University of Queensland whose work is transforming livestock breeding and agricultural innovation in Queensland.

Originally from Vietnam, Loan is developing practical genomic technologies that bring advanced genetic testing directly to the farm. In trials on three cattle properties, her team was the first to show that a single, low-cost test on a tail-hair sample can reveal an animals genetic value, age and parentage within 24 hours, with industry partnerships extending its impact. Her broader genomics research has led to commercial partnerships that now support the testing of hundreds of thousands of cattle annually, helping to improve productivity, sustainability and decision-making across the beef industry.

An emerging leader in agricultural biotechnology, Loan has attracted significant research funding, built genomics capability across Queensland, and mentored the next generation of researchers, particularly women in STEM. Through her innovation, leadership and commitment to making science accessible, Loan is helping position Queensland at the forefront of agricultural genomics while inspiring future scientists to pursue impactful careers in research and industry.

Jade Gould

Reconnecting Science, Country and Culture Through First Nations Ecology
Jade Gould is a proud Butchulla and Woppaburra woman, CSIRO Research Fellow and emerging First Nations scientist whose work is reshaping how Australia understands ecology, climate adaptation and land management. Through her PhD research at the University of the Sunshine Coast, Jade combines palaeoecology with Traditional Ecological Knowledge to develop a pioneering First Nations Ecology framework that recognises First Nations peoples as active ecological curators of Country.

Her work on K'gari is providing new evidence to inform fire, land and climate management while ensuring Indigenous knowledge holders remain central to how knowledge is represented and applied. Alongside her research, Jade supports Indigenous-led climate initiatives through CSIRO, has contributed to major environmental and water quality programs across Queensland, and has played a significant role in advancing Butchulla self-determination, including the successful restoration of the traditional name K'gari. Through her leadership, research and advocacy, Jade is helping create a future where Indigenous knowledge and Western science work together to strengthen the care of Country, climate resilience and environmental stewardship.

Dr Kristen Clarke

Advancing Forensic Science Through Research and Innovation
Dr Kristen Clarke is a forensic scientist and research leader whose work is transforming how forensic evidence is detected, analysed and used to support criminal investigations across Queensland. As a Senior Research Officer with the Queensland Police Service, Kristen leads applied forensic research that translates scientific innovation into operational practice, improving the recovery of critical evidence, strengthening investigative capability and supporting better outcomes for victims and the justice system.

Her research has delivered practical solutions adopted across Queensland, including innovative forensic techniques that have improved evidence detection while reducing costs and enhancing officer safety. A passionate advocate for evidence-based practice and accessible STEM pathways, Kristen collaborates with researchers, practitioners and universities, mentors emerging scientists, and actively promotes forensic science to students and the broader community.

Through her leadership, innovation and commitment to public safety, Kristen is helping build a stronger, more effective forensic science capability for Queensland while inspiring the next generation of STEM professionals.

Dr Carly Randall

Delivering Reef Solutions from Queensland to the World
Dr Carly Randall is an internationally recognised coral ecologist, restoration scientist and STEM leader whose work is helping secure the future of the Great Barrier Reef.

As a Senior Research Scientist and Team Leader at the Australian Institute of Marine Science, Carly leads innovative research that translates coral restoration science into practical, scalable solutions for reef conservation in Queensland and around the world. She has played a leading role in developing pioneering restoration technologies, including ReefSeed and CoralPods, while securing significant investment to advance reef resilience and climate adaptation.

Beyond her scientific achievements, Carly is committed to mentoring emerging researchers, supporting women in STEM, and building strong partnerships with Traditional Owners to ensure restoration efforts are both scientifically robust and culturally informed. Through her leadership, innovation and collaboration, Carly is strengthening Queensland's global reputation as a leader in reef science while inspiring the next generation of environmental scientists and conservation leaders.

Dr Louise Sternicki

Advancing Biomedical Discovery through Native Mass Spectrometry
Dr Louise Sternicki is a biomedical researcher and mass spectrometry specialist whose work is expanding Queensland's capacity for health and drug discovery research. As a Research Fellow at Griffith University's Institute for Biomedicine and Glycomics, Louise develops and applies advanced native mass spectrometry techniques to uncover how biological molecules interact in diseases such as cancer, stroke and infectious diseases, helping accelerate the development of new therapeutics.

Her research has delivered important breakthroughs in understanding next-generation medicines, supported collaborations with leading global pharmaceutical companies, and contributed to establishing Australia's first charge detection mass spectrometry capability at Griffith University.

A passionate advocate for women in STEM, Louise mentors emerging researchers, supports professional development opportunities for early-career scientists, and actively engages students in biomedical research. Through her scientific leadership, innovation and commitment to developing future talent, Louise is strengthening Queensland's position as a leader in biomedical discovery and health innovation.

Dr Kate Dutton-Regester

The species we thought we knew: building Queensland's echidna baseline
Dr Kate Dutton-Regester is a wildlife ecologist and conservation researcher whose work is transforming our understanding of Queensland's iconic short-beaked echidna. Recognising a critical gap in knowledge about echidna populations, Kate has built a statewide research and citizen science program that combines camera trapping, genetics, environmental DNA, telemetry and community monitoring to better understand and protect the species.

Since completing her PhD in 2023, she has secured multiple research grants, established partnerships across local government, universities and conservation organisations, and engaged nearly 2,000 Queenslanders in wildlife monitoring and conservation activities. Through her innovative approach to community-led science, Kate is generating the evidence needed to inform conservation decisions while creating opportunities for students, early-career researchers and women in STEM to build skills and experience. Her work is helping ensure Queensland's echidnas remain visible to science, conservation and the communities that share their landscape.