An astrophysicist, ant diversity scientist, English literature scholar, physical chemist and marine ecologist have been awarded prestigious 2025 Forrest Fellowships.

The Forrest Research Foundation brings together postdoctoral researchers across a diverse array of fields to find creative ways to solve some of the world’s most pressing problems.

Dr Barbara Mazzilli Ciraulo will join the International Centre for Radio Astronomy at The University of Western Australia to investigate galactic winds.

Dr Mazzilli Ciraulo, who received her PhD from the Observatoire de Paris, will be part of an international team using telescopes to unravel the mysteries of galactic winds and their impact on galaxy evolution.

Northern Territory-based François Brassard will join UWA’s School of Agriculture and Environment to advance our understanding of ant diversity to further biodiversity conservation and habitat restoration.

Mr Brassard aims to encourage greater public appreciation of the importance of invertebrate diversity.

Nicholas Duddy, a doctoral candidate in English at the University of Oxford, will return to Australia having previously studied at the University of Adelaide and the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney.

He will join UWA’s Westerly Research Group, which focuses on Australian literature to explore Australian drama through its depiction of the natural world.

Dr Peter Watson will attend Curtin University to research the fundamental processes in the formation of clouds.

Dr Watson, who completed his PhD at UWA and two postdoctoral fellowships at Oxford University, is a physical chemist specialising in the design and construction of novel instrumentation simulating atmospheric processes.

Currently based in Massachusetts, Seth Cones will join Murdoch University to examine the energy savings of soaring behaviours in evolutionary diverse species, including birds, squid and fish.

Mr Cones, who completed his PhD in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program in applied ocean physics and engineering, aims to further our understanding to how these traits have shaped species’ distribution and ecosystem structure.

Director of the Forrest Research Foundation, Professor James Arvanitakis, said the Forrest Fellowships drew a strong international field of applications.

“The outstanding 2025 Forrest Fellows reflect the highly competitive program and the growing global recognition of the Foundation,” Professor Arvanitakis said.

“The Foundation is gaining prominence as a home of innovation, excellence and creativity.

“We are proud to be a world-leading collaborative centre for ground-breaking research, attracting the brightest minds from around the world to Western Australia.”

Forrest Fellowships are awarded to early-stage postdoctoral researchers who have outstanding academic profiles and who have already made significant personal research contributions within and beyond their discipline.

Image above: François Brassard , Nicholas Duddy, Dr Barbara Mazzilli Ciraulo, Seth Cones and Dr Peter Watson