Griffith University School of Humanities lecturer, Dr Peter McAllister, has won the Runner Up prize in the inaugural Bragg UNSW Press awards for Science Writing, announced last month.
The prize, which included a cheque for $1500, was awarded by Australia’s chief scientist, Professor Ian Chubb, at a ceremony at the Tyree Energy Technology Building at the University of New South Wales on November 22.
First prize was won by Jo Chandler for her piece on climate change Storm Front.
The Bragg awards are sponsored by the University of New South Wales Press and aim to showcase and raise the profile of science writing in Australia. They also honour Sir William and Sir William Lawrence Bragg, the Australian father and son team of physicists who won the Nobel Prize in 1915.
The Bragg awards are open to writers of any piece of short, non-fiction science writing aimed at a popular audience and Dr McAllister won the prize for his article in the monthly Australian science journal, Australasian Science. The article was entitled Manthropology: The Evolution of the Inadequate Modern Male and was based on Dr McAllister’s book of the same name, which was published in 2010.
Dr McAllister describes himself as an archaeologist and paleoanthropologist.
“It’s wonderful to receive the award, of course,” he said, “but it is especially good to be part of a much-needed initiative like the Bragg awards.”
Science writing, he said, was crucial for helping the general public understand and support science, yet it was often neglected and relegated to second-class status compared to fiction and non-fiction journalism.
Dr McAllister said he fully supported the Bragg awards initiative and praised UNSW Press for creating the event.