It's an honour for alumni
 Alumni
University of Adelaide alumni have again featured prominently in the Australia Day Honours List. Among those recognised were South Australia's Lieutenant Governor, Hieu Van Le (who received an Order of Australia (AO) for service to the community of SA; graduate of the University with a Bachelor of Economics in 1989, an MBA in 2001 and a Doctor of the University in 2008) and recently retired Supreme Court Justice Bruce Debelle (Order of Australia (AO); graduate of the University in Law, 1961). Explorer, environmental scientist and public speaker Tim Jarvis was recognised as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) and said the honour ranked as a career highlight. "It is a great honour to be recognised for endeavours across the range of interests I have devoted myself to over the past 15-20 years, in particular the environmental field, and in helping individuals to realise their potential via the motivational speaking that I do related to the expeditions I've undertaken," Mr Jarvis said. "I always embarked on all of these with no thought of personal recognition but it is wonderful to have been recognised." Mr Jarvis graduated with a Master of Environmental Law from the University of Adelaide in 2002. He has undertaken unsupported expeditions to both polar regions and many of the world's deserts, mountains and rainforests, and also gives many public speaking engagements. One of his adventures, re-enacting famed explorer - and University of Adelaide geology Professor - Sir Douglas Mawson's epic 1912 Antarctic expedition was filmed for the 2007 documentary Mawson: Life and Death in Antarctica. He is now preparing for his next expedition, retracing polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton's two major feats: sailing a replica James Caird boat 1300km across the Southern Ocean from Elephant Island, Antarctica to South Georgia Island in the Southern Atlantic Ocean, and climbing South Georgia's mountains. "I think the polar trips I have done certainly help demonstrate the effects of climate change to audiences who might not otherwise listen to what science is telling us," Mr Jarvis said. "Sometimes images of large-scale ice melt speak a thousand words and certainly some of the impacts I've seen are pretty dramatic. "Of course my work in many aspects of the environmental field around the world and having a formal grounding in both environmental science and environmental law adds real weight to any statements I make about such observations. "Polar trips are essentially a very powerful vehicle for communicating an important message." www.timjarvis.org Story by Ben Osborne
For a full list of University of Adelaide alumni to receive 2010 Australia Day Honours, visit: www.alumni.adelaide.edu.au/ausday_honours
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