She takes over in the new year, replacing Alan Finkel  

Dr Foley is widely admired in the science policy community and this is a popular appointment. She is politically astute, endlessly energetic and considered a generous mentor to young researchers.

Dr Foley understands how to make her case in the rooms where it happens and how to present to the public why science matters.

As such, a learned reader suggests, she combines the big skills of her two predecessors, – Ian Chubb’s deep policy experience and Alan Finkel’s ability to challenge the orthodoxy and make things happen.

Dr Foley moves from chief scientist at CSIRO