News Archive

Two graduates from The University of Western Australia were among just six Australians to receive 2012 Gates Cambridge scholarships.

Established in 2000 by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the scholarships are awarded to outstanding applicants from outside the UK to pursue a full-time graduate degree in any subject at Britain's prestigious Cambridge University.

Anthony Lamb studied physics, mathematics and mechanical engineering at UWA.  This led to work in the finance sector, focussed mainly on financing essential infrastructure, including water and electricity distribution networks and renewable energy plants.  More recently, he decided to follow a lifelong passion for the outdoors and the environment and completed a masters degree in environmental science.

"At Cambridge I plan to take this further and will be conducting research towards a PhD in conservation science, with a focus on the environmental impact of farming, particularly in developing countries," he said.

"Following my studies at Cambridge I hope to tackle issues relating to agriculture and food production in developing countries in a more hands-on capacity, possibly from within the Non Government Organisation sector.

Callum Shakespeare completed a Bachelor of Science (majoring in Applied Mathematics and Physics) at UWA before moving to Canberra to undertake Honours in Physics of the Earth at the Australian National University.

"My Honours project was in oceanography and developed a new model for the circulation and thermal structure of the oceans," he said.  This work is summarised in a paper in the Journal of Physical Oceanography entitled " An analytical model of the response of the meridional overturning circulation to changes in wind and buoyancy forcing .

"My academic interests extend broadly over most of macroscopic physics, and in particular, fluid dynamics - and it is in this area I intend to study at Cambridge."

The 50 successful candidates were selected from 4500 applicants on the basis of their intellectual ability, leadership capacity, academic fit with Cambridge and their commitment to improving the lives of others.

Media references

Michael Sinclair-Jones (UWA Public Affairs)  (+61 8)  6488 3229  /  (+61 4) 00 700 783