Dorothy Hill Symposium 2025
The biennial Dorothy Hill Symposium brings together our community of researchers and students who work and study in broad fields related to the environment, including earth science and resources, environmental management, human and physical geography, marine biology, ecology and oceanography, science communication and education.
Researchers from UQ and beyond, higher degree researchers, postgraduate and undergraduate students, industry and government collaborators, secondary teachers and their students will share in a celebration of academic achievement and strength of our diverse, inclusive and vibrant community.
The symposium serves as a unique platform for career development and networking for earth and environmental scientists across disciplines and career levels.
In 2025, the Dorothy Hill Symposium will:
- celebrate and advocate for diversity and inclusion (especially of women) working in fields related to the environment
- provide the opportunity to reflect and consolidate on how we contribute to diversity and inclusion through the authentic experiences of women working in these fields
- provide professional development opportunities beneficial to researchers, industry collaborators and higher degree research students
- facilitate collaboration through opportunity for professional networking between the university, industry and our extended community
- excite our next generation of environmental practitioners through a curriculum-aligned future student program (with a focus on students studying QCE Earth and Environmental Science, and IB Environmental Systems and Societies).
Read more about the life and remarkable career of Dorothy Hill
Cost
The cost to attend the Research Symposium (includes refreshments for both days):
- UQ staff: $44
- External participants: $66
There is no cost for current UQ students to attend the Research Symposium, or for school groups to attend the Future Student and Teachers Stream of the symposium.
Additional events:
- Pre-symposium field trip: $220
- Conference dinner: $110
All prices listed include GST.
Registration
UQ staff and students, and external participants register online (school groups registration is separate):
Pre-Symposium Field Trip
Tuesday 4 November
9am–4pm
Limited places (40) are available for a pre-symposium excursion delivered by Professor Gregg Webb and Associate Professor Teresa Ubide:
- morning field-trip to the Moreton Bay to learn about the development and demise of previously thriving high-latitude Holocene reefs
- picnic lunch at Fingal Head (Northern New South Wales), followed by an outdoor lesson to learn about the distinctive volcanic headland of rectangular basalt columns
- cost includes meals and return transport to and from the UQ St Lucia campus.
Researcher Symposium
The Dorothy Hill Symposium 2025 takes place over 2 days. (Please note: this schedule is tentative and subject to change.)
Day 1: Wednesday 5 November
9:30am–4pm
Day 2: Thursday 6 November
9:30am–4pm
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 9:30am | Opening Address Keynote Speaker: TBC |
| 10:30am | Break |
| 11:30am | Workshop by WOMEESA |
| 12:30pm | Break |
| 1:30pm | Workshop TBC |
| 2:30pm | Workshop TBC |
| 3:30pm | Closing remarks, reflection, and vote of thanks Professor Gregg Webb, School of the Environment |
TBC: On Thursday 6 November, we invite Dorothy Hill Symposium participants to attend a UQ community engagement event in Redcliffe as part of our Healthy Moreton Bay initiative in the evening (tentatively 5pm to 7:30pm). A bus will be provided to take you to and from UQ St Lucia.
Future Student and Teachers Stream
Wednesday 5 November
9am–1:30pm
School groups are invited to attend an embedded stream dedicated to our community of future students and their teachers on Day 1 of the symposium.
There is no cost for school groups to attend, and bus subsidies may also be available to schools.
To register, email Dr Gurion Ang (gurion.ang@uq.edu.au) with your school name, estimated number of students, and names and contact details of accompanying teachers.
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 9:30am | Acknowledgement of Country, Welcome and Housekeeping Opening Address Dorothy and Me Keynote Speaker: Recipient of 2025 Dorothy Hill Medal, Australian Academy of Science |
| 11am | Break |
| 11:45am | Paleontology workshop Associate Professor Gilbert Price and Vikram Vakil |
| 12:45pm | Break |
| 1pm | Science Literacy workshop (focussed on environmental science literature) Dr Gurion Ang |
| 2pm | Departure |
Dorothy Hill Symposium 2025 is held at UQ St Lucia campus. The UQ Accommodation website provides options for those coming from outside the Brisbane region.
Legacy of the Dorothy Hill Symposium
The symposium celebrates the life and remarkable career of Dorothy Hill. If the field of earth sciences is still largely dominated by men now – in 2025 – you can only imagine what it was like for Dorothy Hill when she began her studies at UQ in 1925. To have had the career she had, at the time she lived and worked, makes her not only an extraordinary researcher, academic, and lecturer, but also a truly special woman – and a trailblazer.
Among her many career highlights and achievements, Dorothy was the first woman:
- to graduate from UQ with a gold medal, the highest accolade for an undergraduate at the time
- president of the of the Royal Society of Queensland
- professor at an Australian university
- fellow of the Australian Academy of Science
- president of the Australian Academy of Science.
She was an inspiration for generations of women and took her responsibility as a role model seriously, advocating strongly for young women to take up the study of science and to fight gender inequality.
The first Dorothy Hill Symposium was held in 2017 by the former School of Earth and Environmental Sciences. A key legacy of the inaugural symposium was the creation of the network for Women in Earth and Environmental Sciences in Australasia (WOMEESA), which today has 1,000+ members and has become a strong voice for advocacy and support of gender minorities in geoscience.