Appointments and awards

throughout the Darwin community

Professor Anne Ferguson-Smith

Professor Anne Ferguson-Smith

Professor Anne Ferguson-Smith has been appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to Medical Research in the King’s Birthday Honours List.

A longstanding Fellow of Darwin, Anne is Arthur Balfour Professor of Genetics, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and International Partnerships, Fellow of the Royal Society and President of the Genetics Society.

Professor Ron Laskey

Professor Ron Laskey

Professor Ron Laskey, Darwin Fellow and Emeritus Professor of Animal Embryology, has been named an Officer of the French National Order of Merit by President Emmanuel Macron.

Two Darwin alumni were recognised in the King's Birthday Honours in June.

Ms Jane Marriott and Dr Ed Garratt

Ms Jane Marriott and Dr Ed Garratt

Ms Jane Marriott OBE (MPhil in International Relations, 1998) was named as a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George for services to British Foreign Policy. Having served for the past four years as British High Commissioner to Kenya, Ms Marriott takes up the role of British High Commissioner to Pakistan this summer.

Dr Ed Garratt (MPhil English Literature 1999; PhD in English Literature 2005) received an OBE for services to the Integrated Care System, in his role as Chief Executive of the NHS Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board.

Dr Ioannis Kontoyiannis

Dr Ioannis Kontoyiannis

Darwin Fellow Dr Ioannis Kontoyiannis has been named Fellow of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics. Ioannis, who is Churchill Professor of Mathematics of Information, received the honour in recognition of his outstanding contributions to fundamental problems in information theory; and for consistent and important contributions in developing the deep connections of information theory with probability and statistics.

Darwin alumnus Lhendup Tharchen (MPhil Conservation Leadership, 2016-17) has been recognised by the Explorers Club as one of 50 "extraordinary individuals changing the world".

Founded in 1904, the Explorers Club is a multidisciplinary professional society headquartered in New York, supporting field research and scientific exploration. Since 2020 it has recognised 50 people each year in order to highlight their achievements and amplify their voices. A forester and conservation biologist from Bhutan, Lhendup has spent the past decade surveying the country's population of tigers and snow leopards, studying the co-existence of humans and wildlife, and developing conservation action plans.

Darwin alumna Dr Trang Nguyen has been selected as the overall winner of the Science and Sustainability British Council Study UK Alumni Awards in Vietnam, and is now a finalist in the global awards to be announced later this year.

With categories in Science and Sustainability, Business and Innovation, and Culture and Creative Art, the awards showcase the impact of higher education in the UK by celebrating those who have used their experience of studying here to make a positive contribution to their communities, professions and countries.

Dr Thorsten Boroviak

Dr Thorsten Boroviak

Darwin Fellow Dr Thorsten Boroviak has been awarded a Career Development Award by the Wellcome Trust. The scheme provides funding for mid-career researchers with the potential to be international research leaders, allowing them to develop their research capabilities and drive innovative programmes.

Daniel Buhl, a Darwin PhD student in Biological Sciences at the School of Veterinary Medicine, was awarded the Trinity Bradfield Prize this term, granting him support to commercialise his research. Daniel was awarded First Prize for Rapid Diagnostics, a diagnostic test for bacterial infections in cows. A reliable test would help to reduce the risk of antimicrobial resistance and infection from animals to humans.

Bea Jones and Isabel Esain-Garcia

Bea Jones and Isabel Esain-Garcia

Two Darwin students received medals at STEM for Britain, a major scientific poster competition organised by the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee. Bea Jones, a third-year PhD student in the Photoactive Materials group at the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, was awarded the Roscoe Medal (Gold prize) for Chemistry, while Isabel Esain-Garcia, fourth-year PhD student in Medical Sciences at the Cancer Research UK Institute and Department of Chemistry won the Physiological Society Prize in Biological and Biomedical Sciences.

Third year PhD student in Chemistry Niamh Hartley has been elected as DCSA President for the academic year 2023-24. Niamh takes over from Chelsea Edmonds, who has ably represented the student body for the past year. Originally from Manchester, Niamh studied as an undergraduate at the University of York, and spent time overseas as a visiting student at the University of Rochester, New York, and Tokyo Institute of Technology. Her PhD research is focused on electrochemical carbon capture.

Meg Groom, Darwin PhD student in Physics, and the College’s Sustainability Engagement Coordinator, received a Vice-Chancellor’s Social Impact Award at an event organised by Cambridge Hub, a student-led group promoting social action. The award recognised her academic research on lithium-ion batteries, as well as her involvement in sustainability and community-building initiatives in Darwin and at Cambridge.

Meg also received an award for community engagement at the University’s Green Impact awards, for her innovation of Project Second Life. Darwin Catering Manager Ivan Higney received the Sustainability Hero award at the same event.