{"id":31777,"date":"2026-08-03T10:31:29","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T02:31:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/?post_type=media-release&p=31777"},"modified":"2026-08-03T10:31:34","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T02:31:34","slug":"curtins-young-poppies-named-among-was-top-emerging-scientists","status":"publish","type":"media-release","link":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/media-release\/curtins-young-poppies-named-among-was-top-emerging-scientists\/","title":{"rendered":"Curtin\u2019s Young Poppies named among WA’s top emerging scientists"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Five Curtin University researchers have been named 2026 Western Australian Young Tall Poppy Science Awards<\/a> winners for work spanning cancer diagnosis and recovery, children’s mental health, affordable clean energy and biodiversity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Presented by the Australian Institute of Policy and Science<\/a>, the Tall Poppy Science Awards<\/a> acknowledges outstanding early-career researchers who combine research excellence with a commitment to engaging the broader community with science in each state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curtin\u2019s winners span a diverse range of research, including health (Dr Chloe Maxwell-Smith, Dr Elizabeth Hill and Dr Amelia Harray), environmental conservation (Dr Kit Prendergast) and sustainable energy (Dr Xiaomin Xu).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curtin Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research Professor Melinda Fitzgerald<\/a> said this reflected the breadth of research excellence across the University and highlighted its strength in delivering research with the potential to improve lives and tackle major global challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCongratulations to Chloe, Xiaomin, Elizabeth, Amelia and Kit on this outstanding achievement,\u201d Professor Fitzgerald said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Young Tall Poppy Awards celebrate researchers who are not only producing world-class science, but who are also committed to sharing their knowledge and helping people understand why research matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhether they are improving cancer outcomes, making mental health care more accessible, advancing clean energy technologies or protecting biodiversity, these researchers are delivering real benefits for communities in Western Australia and beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curtin University 2026 WA Young Tall Poppy winners<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Dr Chloe Maxwell-Smith<\/strong><\/a>, Curtin School of Population Health<\/em>
Dr Maxwell-Smith\u2019s research is helping improve cancer outcomes by identifying why people delay screening or seeking medical help, particularly in regional communities, and by developing practical ways to help cancer survivors rebuild healthy routines and improve their quality of life after treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Dr Xiaomin Xu<\/strong><\/a>, Curtin Centre for Advanced Energy Materials and Technologies
<\/em>Dr Xu develops low-cost materials for hydrogen production, carbon dioxide conversion and other clean energy technologies, with the aim of making sustainable fuels more affordable and accelerating Australia’s transition to a net-zero economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Dr Elizabeth Hill<\/strong><\/a>, Curtin School of Allied Health<\/em>
Dr Hill\u2019s research is improving access to mental health care for children and young people with developmental language disorder and other communication difficulties, ensuring they can receive support tailored to their needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Dr Amelia Harray<\/strong><\/a>, Curtin School of Population Health\/University of Western Australia<\/em>
An Adjunct Research Fellow, Dr Harray\u2019s research focuses on improving health outcomes through evidence-based public health research and behaviour change approaches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Dr Kit Prendergast<\/strong>, School of Molecular and Life Sciences\/University of Queensland<\/em>
An Adjunct Research Fellow and native bee scientist, Dr Prendergast is internationally recognised for her research and science communication focused on conserving Australia’s native bees and pollinators and promoting biodiversity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Five Curtin University researchers have been named 2026 Western Australian Young Tall Poppy Science Awards […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4457,"featured_media":31778,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","wds_primary_category":3,"wds_primary_research-areas":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[115,3,41,79,284],"tags":[],"research-areas":[],"class_list":["post-31777","media-release","type-media-release","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-awards-and-achievements","category-campus-and-global-community","category-environment","category-health","category-science-and-engineering"],"acf":{"experts":false,"post_options":{"":null,"additional_content":{"title":"","content":"","image":false},"related_courses":[{"title":"","qualification":"","link":"","description":"","faculty":""}],"credits":{"author":"","photographer":"","media":[22646,30634]},"display_author":true,"banner":{"image":false}}},"featured_image":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/YTP-2026-1000x1039.jpg","author_meta":{"first_name":"Sam","last_name":"Jeremic","display_name":"Samuel Jeremic"},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media-release\/31777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media-release"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/media-release"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4457"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media-release\/31777\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31778"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31777"},{"taxonomy":"research-areas","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research-areas?post=31777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}