{"id":808,"date":"2023-05-30T15:09:49","date_gmt":"2023-05-30T05:39:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.flinders.edu.au\/hdr-students\/?p=808"},"modified":"2023-05-30T15:09:49","modified_gmt":"2023-05-30T05:39:49","slug":"lucas-hearn-2022-recipient-of-the-vice-chancellors-award-for-doctoral-thesis-excellence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.flinders.edu.au\/hdr-students\/2023\/05\/30\/lucas-hearn-2022-recipient-of-the-vice-chancellors-award-for-doctoral-thesis-excellence\/","title":{"rendered":"Lucas Hearn – 2022 Recipient of the Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Doctoral Thesis Excellence"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lucas Hearn<\/strong> is from the College of Science and Engineering and is one of the 12 winners of the Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Doctoral Thesis Excellence for 2022.\u00a0 Lucas was supervised by Associate Professor Michael Schwarz.<\/p>\n

Lucas’s thesis “Evolution of sociality in insects: insights from the only known social colletid bee Amphylaeus morosus<\/em><\/strong>” which explored the process by which social organisms made the initial transition from a solitary lifestyle to a social one, focusing on a key Australian native bee species.<\/p>\n

We asked Lucas what winning this award means and about their research and journey.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/strong><\/h3>\n

What does winning this award mean?<\/h3>\n

Receiving this award for my PhD research is an incredible privilege that I never imagined was a possibility during most of my candidature. I feel deeply grateful to my supervisors and examiners who nominated me, as this recognition would not have been possible without their guidance and support.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tell us about your research<\/h3>\n

I conducted my PhD research on the evolution of sociality in insects with a particular focus on the Australian native bee, Amphylaeus morosus<\/em>. This project provided me with a unique opportunity to explore several areas of interest, including ecology, evolution, and genetics. The chance to incorporate these diverse fields into my research drove my passion for the project, and I was thrilled to see it through to completion.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

What has been one of the hardest parts of the journey?<\/h3>\n

Completing a PhD during the COVID-19 pandemic was a difficult period. I was unable to conduct fieldwork interstate for a significant period, requiring me to modify certain aspects of my project. Additionally, the inability to attend face-to-face conferences and workshops made it a lot harder to connect with likeminded researchers. Despite these difficulties, my supervisors and lab mates provided exceptional support, which was crucial to my perseverance during this period.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

Where are you now?<\/h3>\n

I am currently employed in a research role at the South Australian Research and Development Institute and will begin a postdoctoral fellowship in Japan at the end of the year investigating the impact of climate change on native bees.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

What advice would you give to current or prospective PhD students?<\/h3>\n

The two pieces of advice I could give from my personal experience would be to keep pushing forward even when you feel like you’re in the dark, with no sign of progress<\/strong>. Secondly, that building a reliable support system is crucial.<\/strong> Surround yourself with people who will encourage you during tough times and motivate you to keep going.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lucas Hearn is from the College of Science and Engineering and is one of the 12 winners of the Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Doctoral Thesis Excellence for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3518,"featured_media":812,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorised"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.flinders.edu.au\/hdr-students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/808","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.flinders.edu.au\/hdr-students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.flinders.edu.au\/hdr-students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.flinders.edu.au\/hdr-students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3518"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.flinders.edu.au\/hdr-students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=808"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.flinders.edu.au\/hdr-students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/808\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.flinders.edu.au\/hdr-students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.flinders.edu.au\/hdr-students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.flinders.edu.au\/hdr-students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.flinders.edu.au\/hdr-students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}