Australia Day honours for ANCORS Director and former staff member

The Director of the Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security (ANCORS), Professor Martin Tsamenyi, has been awarded an AM in the Australia Day honours list.

Professor Tsamenyi was made a Member (AM) in the General Division for his work in maritime and fisheries law in the Asia-Pacific region through ANCORS.

After completing a law degree at the University of Ghana Professor Tsamenyi was awarded a postgraduate scholarship to the Australian National University where he completed masters and doctoral degrees in international law.

Before UOW he taught at the University of Papua New Guinea and was Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Tasmania from 1990.

His areas of specialisation include fisheries law, fisheries monitoring, control and surveillance, shipping law, marine environmental law and ocean policy.

Professor Tsamenyi has written extensively on these subjects and undertaken consultancy and advisory work for several governments and international organisations.

“I am very honoured to have received this award yesterday. I have to stress that it could not have happened without the strong institutional support I have received in general from UOW.

“The University has given me the flexibility to undertake what I have to do to make ANCORS what it is today,” Professor Tsamenyi said.

Meanwhile, UOW alumna, Professor Tracey T. A. McDonald, was made a Member of the Order of Australia in the General division (AM) "for services to nursing, particularly in the area of aged care, through advisory roles with the United Nations Expert Groups on Social Policy and the development of public health and social welfare policy".

Professor McDonald was employed in the Faculty of Health Sciences at UOW for 15 years, with some time also spent as Head of School at Monash University. She currently holds the Australian Catholic University Research Chair in Ageing sponsored by RSL LifeCare.

In late 2011 the Minister for Health appointed her to the National Lead Clinicians Group which is set up to provide high-level strategic oversight and leadership on clinical issues, including complementing the role of other national bodies by prioritising the development and implementation of evidence-based clinical practices.

Professor McDonald has been involved in nursing for 46 years and in aged care for more than 28 years. Her career has covered hospital and tertiary education, nursing, management, federal and state legislation and policy review at all levels.

She was elected in 2009 to chair the Royal College of Nursing Australia (RCNA) Faculty of Health and Wellness in Ageing which provides policy and professional advice to RCNA.

“I believe that the experiences and networks developed while at the University of Wollongong have been pivotal to my career and personal goals which have now been acknowledged with the Order of Australia,” Professor McDonald said.