The winners of the 2017 Australian Women in Wine Awards were announced on Tuesday 26 September, at a ceremony at Australia House in London.
Professor Eileen Scott, University of Adelaide School of AFW, was named the Workplace Champion of Change winner. This award recognises those who have provided outstanding support and advocacy for women in the industry and/or have been instrumental in implementing female friendly work practices.
Since 2013, Professor Scott has been the Faculty of Sciences Deputy Dean for Gender, Equity and Diversity and has been instrumental in the University of Adelaide joining the Science in Australia Gender Equity (SAGE) Initiative. As J.A.T. Mortlock Professor of Plant Pathology, her research focuses on the diagnosis, epidemiology and management of fungal and bacterial diseases of grapevines, horticultural crops and pulses.
The Researcher of the Year award was won by CSIRO Agriculture & Food researcher Dr Christine Böttcher, also based at Waite. This category recognises an individual or team who have demonstrated excellence in the field of grape and/or wine research.
For the last ten years Dr. Böttcher has worked to improve our understanding of the grape berry ripening process leading to the development of plant growth regulator-based methods for ripening manipulation that improve fruit and wine quality and resolve climate change-related harvesting issues.
Assoc. Professor Kerry Wilkinson & Dr Renata Ristic (Adelaide University School of Agriculture, Food and Wine) and Patricia Williamson (AWRI) were also finalists in the 2017 Researcher of the Year category.
The Australian Women In Wine Awards are an initiative of The Fabulous Ladies Wine Society to acknowledge and reward the work of women in the Australian wine community, and community leaders who champion equality and fairness for all sexes in the workplace.
The nine awards presented this year were Winemaker of the Year, Viticulturist of the Year, Owner/Operator of the Year, Workplace Champion of Change, Researcher of the Year, Cellar Door Person of the Year, Marketer of the Year, Woman of Inspiration, and the Honorary Australian Woman in Wine.
Congratulations to Eileen, Christine and all the 2017 finalists.
Professor Eileen Scott
Dr Christine Böttcher