Deakin hails its first Royal Society Fellow

FORMER Geelong resident and Deakin University academic Professor John Endler has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, the world’s oldest science academy.
Professor Endler, who now lives in Southern Queensland is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading evolutionary biologists.
His research spans animal behaviour, evolution and ecology.
Professor Endler, who lived in Geelong for more than 10 years and retired only two months ago, said he was delighted to be elected to the Society.
“It is a very high honour. I have always liked to do science for its own sake, but this is just amazing and very good news for my scientific fields.”
He was recruited to Deakin in 2009 by Professor Andy Bennett, who was then head of the School of Life and Environmental Sciences and establishing Deakin’s Centre for Integrative Ecology in Geelong.
Professor Endler was the first of three new professors in the Centre, which is now a thriving research hub for more than 150 researchers.
He said his move to Deakin was pivotal to continuing his research on Australian wildlife, which allowed him to continue to achieve breakthroughs.
Fascinated by animals since he was four years of age, he has worked with various animals, achieving his most influential findings by observing wild guppies and bowerbirds.
“Deakin set me up extremely well, with long-term equipment and supplies to continue my research with bowerbirds, and my Deakin colleagues were a huge support,” he said.
“My main motivation has always been to try to figure out what makes animals do what they do and I was drawn to Australia by its unique wildlife. There is nothing in the world like bowerbirds.”
Deakin deputy vice-chancellor (research) Alfred Deakin Professor Julie Owens said the announcement marked the first time a Deakin academic has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.
“We are delighted and very proud of Professor Endler’s achievements.
“He has made a tremendous contribution both to research at Deakin and to global understanding of the natural world and how natural organisms adapt and interact with their environment.
“This will play a crucial role in conservation efforts as we seek to reduce the impact of climate change, over-population and habitat destruction into the future.”
Originating in the 1660s, the Royal Society of London has reflected the story of modern science. Its 8,000 Fellows elected since then have been the leading scientific lights of the past four centuries, from Newton to Darwin to Einstein to Hawking. Professor Endler is one of 51 new Fellows elected in 2020, which includes six Nobel Laureates.
Royal Society president Venki Ramakrishnan said election as a Fellow was a recognition of exceptional individual contribution to science and, more significantly, provided a network of expertise that can be drawn on to address issues of societal and global significance.
“This year’s Fellows and Foreign Members have helped to shape the 21st century through their work at the cutting-edge of fields from human genomics, to climate science, to machine learning.”