The award winners with Professor Paulo de Souza. Image credit: Kylie Plunkett Photography (www.kylieplunkett.photography).
The Edith Cowan University (ECU) Media Awards ceremony took place on Thursday, 17 September. The Awards shine a spotlight on the academic staff whose work has had an exceptional media impact in the last year.
Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Paulo de Souza congratulated the winners and runners-up, commending their commitment to "high quality and impactful research which connects ECU with global audiences in a positive and powerful way". The Awards recognise researchers at all stages of their careers, from Professor to PhD student.
The Conversation Awards
In 2025, 75 articles were published by ECU academics in The Conversation, the world's leading outlet for research-based news, opinion and analysis, generating more than two million reads.
Associate Professor Shannon Bosch from the School of Business and Law received the accolade of Most Prolific Author in The Conversation. Professor Bosch had 12 Conversation articles published during 2025. This was her first year of publishing in this outlet, and since her first article in May 2025, she has become a go-to for expert commentary on human rights issues, particularly within conflict zones. Dr Giselle Woodley (School of Arts and Humanities) was Highly Commended for her articles on sexual education.
Members of the audience enjoying the celebrations. Image credit: Kylie Plunkett Photography (www.kylieplunkett.photography).
Associate Professor Shannon Bosch and Professor Joshua Aston (School of Business and Law) together won the title of Most Widely Read Conversation Article by an ECU researcher: their article "Israel's call-up of 130,000 reservists raises legal risks for dual citizens and their home countries" received more than 134,000 reads and was republished 14 times. Highly Commended was an article by Dr Ahmed Ibrahim and Dr David Cook (both from the School of Science) on what it actually means to accept or reject website cookies.
Media Campaigns
The Best Research Media Campaign for 2025 went to postdoc Dr Nicola Bondonno, from the Nutrition & Health Innovation Research Institute (NHIRI) at the School of Medical and Health Sciences, for the media campaign "Black tea and berries could contribute to healthier ageing" which garnered 303 media mentions, reaching a potential audience of 1.53 billion people, with the media valued at US$14.2 million.
Highly commended in this category was Dr Benjamin Parmenter (postdoc at the School of Medical and Health Sciences and NHIRI member) for his research into the significance of flavonoids in health and longevity.
Postdoc Dr Francesco Bettariga, from the Exercise Medicine Research Institute, received the award for Best Media Campaign by an HDR student, for work based on his PhD on the role of exercise in people living with cancer.
Expert Commentary
Dr Naoise McDonagh (School of Business and Law), a leading voice in geopolitics and international trade, won Best Expert Commentary. Well-known expert in cyber-security, Professor Paul Haskell-Dowland (School of Science), was Highly Commended.
Broadcast Media
The Best in Broadcast in 2025 Award went to Dr Catherine Archer (School of Arts and Humanities) for her work around the social media ban for teenagers.
Research with Impact
Postdoc Dr Simone Marino (School of Arts and Humanities and School of Education) explored utilising the power of music and storytelling to support the wellbeing of older Italian migrants, including those living with dementia; this research was recognised in the Research with Impact category.
Professor de Souza highlighted the importance to ECU of not just carrying out world class research but also communicating it to a wider audience.
"These academics represent the best of ECU, in carrying out high-quality research and then translating this into knowledge that benefits the broader community, demonstrating impactful work which also has strong connections to the community."
