Libby Robin, Fenner School Academic, was awarded the 2007 Australian History Prize ($15,000) for her book: How a Continent Created a Nation, UNSW Press, February 2007, 272pp

Libby was presented the NSW Premier's Prize in Australian History in Sydney 9 Oct 2007. Libby is particularly pleased that her book which focuses on Australian science (including the work of several Fenner scientists) has been recognised by this broad, cultural prize. It is an opportunity for us all to celebrate the interdisciplinary communication fostered by the Fenner School.

About The Prize

The NSW Premier's History Awards were first presented in 1997 to honour distinguished achievement by Australian historians. They remain the only comprehensive set of history awards to be offered by an Australian state government. The primary focus for these awards is the promotion of excellence in the interpretation of history, through both the written word and non-print media.

About The Book

A highly original history of the complex relationships between nature and culture in Australia , How a Continent Created a Nation is also an impassioned call to weld them together for a sustainable future. Drawing on a wide range of primary and secondary sources, this important book examines the complex and shifting ways in which the natural world has been envisioned by people with keen interest in it – amateur and professional scientists, educationists and farmers, whose research and experience complement Aboriginal knowledge and cultural understandings.

With an astute eye for narrative significance, Libby Robin covers a broad temporal and spatial canvas, using crisply focused stories from a fascinating range of sites to support her arguments about the interplay between the natural and social characteristics of Australia . She interrogates the varied historical meanings of a cast of non-human ‘characters', including the wattle, the platypus, the lungfish, the pure Merino and the museum, to produce an intriguing reading of Australian national identity.

Robin communicates clearly, imaginatively and with authority. Her book is both provocative and inclusive, written with understanding of the failed aspirations of the past and with a sense of the profound urgency with which we need to address the task of finding new ways of dwelling in this land in a time of global change. (extracted from University of NSW Press Ltd)

Available through UNSWPRESS:

http://www.unswpress.com.au/isbn/0868408913.htm