Science Teachers’ Association of New South Wales Inc.
Providing leadership and promoting excellence in science education
Rosemary Hafner Memorial Scholarship
Margaret Shepherd
The Science Teachers’ Association of New South Wales established the Rosemary Hafner Memorial
Scholarships in memory of and to recognise the significant contribution of Rosemary Hafner to science
education. Rosemary Hafner was one of NSW and Australia’s leading science educators in the late 20th
and early 21st centuries. Her influence on Science Education ranged from Kindergarten through to the
Higher School Certificate in NSW schools and spread the message about the need to engage students
more effectively in Science across Australia and internationally. Rosemary believed in teachers and
believed that they needed strong and effective support, including professional development. Rosemary
was a councilor, then Executive Member of the Science Teachers’ Association of New South Wales
(STANSW) and served with distinction as a councilor on the Australian Science Teachers Association
(ASTA) Council from 2004 – 2007. Rosemary was a regular presenter at both NSW and ASTA
conferences. From her first year as Inspector Science, Rosemary provided presentations that were well
known for being stimulating, insightful and sometimes challenging. Her contributions were always made
with a passion for science teaching and learning and with a positive outlook to the future. STANSW wants
to support those teachers who share Rosemary’s ideals.
Provided funds are available, STANSW will provide two scholarships for K-12 teachers of science each
calendar year.
In 2017 the winner of RHM Scholarship was Tanya Riach from Condobolin High School.
2017 STANSW Young Scientist Awards State Program
Ann Hanna
Starting with a bang and ending with an explosion
2017 was a year where the profile of the STANSW Young Scientist Awards continued to escalate:
2017 BHP Billiton Science and Engineering Awards
After a resounding 2016, STANSW Young Scientist were immediately recording our best-ever results at
the 2017 BHP Billiton Science and Engineering Awards. 13 of the 26 national finalists were from the
STANSW Young Scientist Awards and we went on to win half of the major awards. In the primary division
5 of the 8 national winners were NSW projects.
Launch of Rural STANSW Young Scientist Awards
We received the offer of a new suite of rural awards by the Sapphire Foundation. The Sapphire
Foundation is an Australian not-for-profit charitable fund operating on the Far South Coast of NSW whose
mission is to support and encourage children to pursue their interest in science, maths and technology by
providing grants which can be allocated to community science-related programs and projects. The
Sapphire Foundation has agreed to donate $4,000 in prizes for high-performing rural projects and an all-
expenses-paid trip to ISEF for the top two rural projects and one rural teacher chaperone for the next four
years.
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