Four Griffith graduates have been awarded Churchill Fellowships to explore some of the country’s most pressing and emerging challenges.

Master of Environment 2011 graduate Clytie Binder will use the award to explore education methods and partnership models to support community composting, and travel to the US, Canada and Cuba for her studies.

Petah Chapman. Image courtesy of Dean Agar Photography.

Petah Chapman (pictured), who completed a Bachelor of Music in 2015, will head to the UK and Denmark to pursue excellence in opera and build international relationships with cultures in which opera thrives.

Bachelor of Physiotherapy and Bachelor of Exercise Science 2006 grad Sian Spencer will use the fellowship to develop and prepare Australian athletes for international paraclimbing competitions by undertaking research in the US, Austria, France and the UK.

Paediatrician Dr Billy Garvey, who graduated from Griffith with a Bachelor of Medicine and a Bachelor of Surgery in 2009, is looking to improve child health and development using technology to support evidence-based parenting practice in the US, the UK and Sweden.

Vice Chancellor and President, Professor Carolyn Evans

Griffith Vice Chancellor and President, Professor Carolyn Evans, was thrilled to hear Griffith graduates were pursuing such worthy endeavours.

“We are incredibly proud of our four alumni recipients of 2019 Churchill Fellowships who are making positive change in the lives of others in such diverse ways ranging from childhood development, paraclimbing participation, community composting models and opera partnerships,” she said.

Prior to being appointed at Griffith in February 2019, Professor Evans studied as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University and was awarded a Fulbright Senior Scholarship in 2010 to travel as a Visiting Fellow to American and Emory Universities to examine questions of comparative religious freedom. She sees immense value in opportunities like the Churchill Fellowships.

“Griffith values its relationship with the Churchill Trust and the opportunities created through the Fellowships for recipients to travel overseas and conduct research in fields not readily available in Australia.”

In total, 115 Churchill Fellowships have been awarded this year, including 20 from Queensland, 24 from New South Wales, 22 from Victoria, 14 from Western Australia, 8 from the Australian Capital Territory, 10 from South Australia, 10 from Tasmania and 7 from the Northern Territory.

It is 54 years since the first Churchill Fellowships were awarded in honour of Sir Winston Churchill.