international research colleagues, while her long term monitoring projects assume increasing significance with current climate change. Selkirk served on the Australian Antarctic Program's Antarctic Scientific Advisory Committee (1995–2001), and the Antarctic Research Evaluation Group (AREG) and the Australian Academy of Science's Australian National Committee for Antarctic Research (ANCAR). Trailblazing in Antarctica Selkirk was one of the first women scientists to spend substantial time conducting field work on Macquarie Island. In 1959, the first women scientists (Isobel Bennett, Susan Ingham, Mary Gillham and Hope Macpherson) visited the island for a short period of time during the station's annual resupply and worked each day off the Nella Dan. Isobel Bennett visited for three more short times in 1960, 1965, 1965. In 1976, the first female medical practitioner (Zoe Gardner) spent a year on the island, followed by Jeannie Ledingham in 1977 and Lynn Williams in 1979. In 1979/80 scientists Selkirk and Jenny Scott (then a PhD student) spent five months working on the island. She was the postgraduate supervisor of Antarctic ecologist Dana Bergstrom. Selkirk was also the first female scientist in the Australian Antarctic Program to spend a considerable time working at an Antarctic station. Prior to her first summer at Casey 1982/83, a single female medical practitioner (Louise Holliday) had spent the winter at Davis Station in 1981. Awards and honours Selkirk was awarded the Australian Antarctic Medal in 2004 for her 'outstanding service' in support of Australian Antarctic expeditions', as a 'trail blazer, teacher, and inspirational role model for women scientists in Antarctica'. She is considered a pioneer of Australian Antarctic Science. In 2017 the University of Sydney awarded Selkirk an Alumni Award for Professional Achievement. The Australian Antarctic Gazetteer includes Selkirk Creek, a Macquarie Island stream named after Patricia Selkirk, in honour of her scientific research on Macquarie Island. In 2018 Selkirk was awarded the Phillip Law Medal for significant contributions to Antarctic science. In June 2022, Selkirk was appointed Companion of the Order of Australia in the 2022 Queen's Birthday Honours for "eminent service to science and conservation, particularly through research of Antarctic and sub-Antarctic terrestrial ecosystems, to tertiary education, and as a mentor and champion for women". References 20th-century Australian botanists 20th-century Australian women scientists 1942 births Living people Australian Antarctic scientists Companions of the Order of Australia Women Antarctic scientists Women ecologists Australian ecologists 21st-century Australian botanists