Alex Zelinsky was one of 22 new fellows elected to the Australian Academy of Science last night. Professor Zelinsky became VC of the University of Newcastle last November, moving from Chief Defence Scientist.

Eight of his colleagues among the new fellows are women. This is in line with the last five years, during which 36 per cent of new fellows were women and well-up on the overall 15 per cent women among the total of 543 fellows. However president John Shine says the academy is using, “best-practice measures to ensure that the outstanding contributions of our female scientists are properly recognised.”

The new fellows are:

Warren Alexander – medical researcher, Walter and Eliza Hall.

David Balding – genetic statistician, Uni Melbourne.

Lyn Beazley – neuroscientist, Murdoch University.

Debra Bernhardt – chemist, Uni Queensland.

Maria Byrne – marine biologist, Uni Sydney.

Mark Cassidy – civil engineer, Uni Melbourne.

Peter Corke – robotics, QUT.

Joanne Etheridge – physicist, Monash U.

John Hamilton – medical researcher, Uni Melbourne.

Paul Hodges – medical researcher, Uni Queensland.

David Karoly – atmospheric scientist, CSIRO.

Christopher Barner-Kowollik – polymer chemist, QUT.

Kerry Landman – mathematic biologist, Uni Melbourne.

David McClelland – physicist, ANU.

Maria Makrides – nutrition research, SA Health and Medical Research Institute.

Alex Molev – pure mathematics, Uni Sydney.

Surinder Singh – plant science, CSIRO.

Catherine Stampfl – physicist, Uni Sydney.

James Whelan – plant scientist, La Trobe U.

Cynthia Whitchurch – microbiologist, UTS.

Ian Wright – plant ecologist Macquarie U.

Alexander Zelinsky – engineer, Uni Newcastle.