In her more than 40 years in the field, Canberra professor Susanne von Caemmerer's research into the modelling of photosynthesis has become the global standard.
However, she said she came into the field of plant science purely by accident.
"It was very serendipitous. I had finished a degree in pure mathematics and I was looking for jobs, and one of them asked for someone to collaborate with on mathematical modelling of photosynthesis, and it went from there," Professor von Caemmerer said.
While the Canberra professor's body of work may have been born from chance, she has since become one of the leading experts in the field.
Her decades of work have seen her honoured with one of Australia's most prestigious science prizes, as one of 24 recipients of the Australian Academy of Science's annual awards.
Professor von Caemmerer received the Suzanne Cory Medal at the awards. It was the first time that honour had been handed out.
She was one of four Canberrans to be recognised at the 2021 awards, which will be officially handed out in online ceremonies. Another ACT recipient was Dr Janice Scealy, who was a joint winner of the Moran Medal for her work on statistical analysis methods for data.
Professor David McClelland was announced as the Academy's Thomas Ranken Lyle Medal winner, following his work as the lead Australian investigator at an international observatory which detected the death spiral of two stellar-mass black holes.
Dr Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick was honoured with the Dorothy Hill Medal, named for Australia's first female professor.
