Alumnae Awards

Biographies

The following biographies for the 2022 Alumnae Award winners were published in the 2022 Academic Dinner & Alumnae Awards program and were correct at the time of printing.

Dr Margaret (Margie) Bale

Dr Margaret Bale is Australia’s only dedicated camel veterinarian.

With nearly 30 years’ experience as a clinical veterinarian, Margie now specialises in camelid medicine and is renowned as a world expert on camel health. She is recognised as the leading authority on camel veterinary medicine in Australia and is part of an international professional network of camel veterinarians and camel milk/meat scientists worldwide.

During 15 years as a large animal clinician at The University of Queensland’s Dayboro Clinic, she practiced in all aspects of herd health, reproduction and surgery of production animals.

Margie has worked in Dubai in a camel embryo transfer and reproduction clinic presenting at conferences worldwide and championing this emerging industry. Through an Agrifutures program she has validated a Blood Pregnancy test for camels that was an adaptation needed for the unique Australian Camel Industry. She has also teamed with Plasvacc to develop an Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) accredited frozen Camel Plasma product.

Margie is currently undertaking postgraduate study and is a guest lecturer at UQ.

Alison Kubler

Alison Kubler has over 25 years’ experience as a curator in museums and galleries in Australia, and on major public art commissions. Alison worked as Arts Adviser to the Federal Minister for the Arts and Sport, held full-time curatorial positions at the QUT Art Museum and Gold Coast City Art Gallery, and worked as Associate Curator at The University of Queensland Art Museum.

Alison is the Editor of VAULT (vaultmagazine.com), a journal of art and culture and is a regular contributor to art magazines and journals. She is a Member of the Council of the National Gallery of Australia, sits on the Advisory Board of the Sherman Centre for Culture and Ideas (SCCI) and is a Director of Renshaw & Kubler Art Consultants.

She co-authored Art and Fashion in the Twentieth Century published by Thames and Hudson UK (2013), which has subsequently been translated into German and Japanese.

Moved by the plight of so many at-risk women and Australia’s domestic violence crisis, Alison joined the Second Chance Programme in February 2020, and immediately had an impact, contributing her arts and culture skillset.

Imogen Alton

Imogen Alton is an athlete whose mum was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in January 2020. ALS is a terminal and incurable form of motor neuron disease (MND).

Imogen’s mum passed away in 2021, and she felt the same powerlessness. Imogen was able to use Zwift Academy—an annual online competition used to select a new professional cyclist for the women’s world tour team Canyon/SRAM—as a way to push herself and bring positivity during a time when she felt none. Imogen was selected as one of five female finalists out of over 150,000 competitors. Simultaneously, she helped organise a charity ride to honour her mum and raise funds for MND and Me. She has now signed with the Sydney Uni-Staminade team and competes in the National Road Series, the peak road cycling competition in Australia. Imogen hopes to pursue cycling as a professional, and continues to contribute to MND through cycling.

Risa Utama

Risa is a recent graduate and works at Seven News Brisbane as an Assistant News Producer.

During her degree, she undertook internships in event management, business and entrepreneurship, and was an intern in radio, print, digital and television newsrooms. She hopes to secure her dream job as a news reporter so she can share stories that matter with her community.

Risa’s commitment to community and volunteering began when she was 15 years of age. She wrote, illustrated and published a children’s picture book Benny Bilby’s Wish to raise funds and awareness for the Save the Bilby Fund. She distributed her book to Gold Coast, Ipswich and Charleville libraries, conducting more than 25 author talks at local schools, kindergartens, public libraries and literature festivals. She raised over $3,000 for the Save the Bilby Fund and volunteered at their events.

While studying, Risa enjoyed working with Women in Media Queensland as a volunteer at their national conference. She was fortunate to meet mentors who supported her pursuits in the journalism industry.

Currently, Risa volunteers with Red Frogs as a team leader, for university events and Schoolies, where she supports young people dealing with alcohol, drug, sexual abuse and mental health problems.

Biographies

The following biographies for the 2021 Alumnae Award winners were published in the 2021 Academic Dinner & Alumnae Awards program and were correct at the time of printing.

Amanda Johnston-Pell

Amanda Johnston-Pell is Vice-President Marketing Services Center Asia (Bengaluru, India), leading the transformation agenda for IBM’s Artificial Intelligence, Cloud & Quantum computing business.

Member Chief Executive Women Australia, Advisory Board Member Sydney School of Entrepreneurship and Sparsha Trust, serving underprivileged children in India.

Prior roles include: Chief Marketing + Co-Customer Officer + Board Director IBM A/NZ; Co-Founder Tech Media Startup New York; Chief Marketing Officer Telstra; Executive Director BigPond; General Manager LANG; consultant for six Olympic Games; Non-Executive Director for AMP’s Self-managed Super Funds business; and Australian American Leadership Dialogue.

She is a graduate of University of Massachusetts, University of Queensland, Australian Institute of Company Director’s.

Suzanne Bosanquet

Suzanne Bosanquet is an Architect, Artist, Educator, Mother of four boys, Business Owner, Entrepreneur, Active Citizen and Philanthropist.

She graduated with an Architecture degree in 1999, and in 2001 became the youngest graduate to become a registered practicing architect in Queensland.

Suzanne travelled and worked overseas in sport stadiums and indoor arenas, such as Wembley, China Olympics, Suncorp Stadium and the MCG. She established her own architectural company in 2004 and has won multiple industry awards, and has published in the broad media, local and internationally.

Over the years, Suzanne has been involved with numerous grass roots community, institutional and professional body organisations, brokering partnerships to bolster and enrich communities and leading positive change and innovation through architecture, art and design.

Phoebe Young

Phoebe Young is a lawyer, writer, speaker and mum to two marvellous young sons. As a university student, she suffered a rare and near-fatal illness that resulted in the amputation of both her legs below the knee and her left hand at the wrist, and significant vision loss. After a gruelling stay in hospital, Phoebe learned to walk on prosthetic legs and navigate the world with low sight, eventually returning to university to complete degrees in Arts and Laws with Honours before working as a Supreme Court Judge’s Associate.

She has spent her legal career advocating for the most vulnerable people in our community through her work at not-for-profit legal centres, charities and government departments. Phoebe is an example of the courage and spirit that live within all of us, which—even when exposed to life’s greatest challenges—can never be extinguished.

Phoebe Thomas

Phoebe Thomas is an experienced Interior Designer who works for a commercial architectural practice. Phoebe loves mentoring and nurturing talent within her team, sharing knowledge and providing opportunities for growth and new experiences. Phoebe endeavours to foster a collaborative environment where people can all learn from each other.

Phoebe’s passions outside of work lie with Rotary, a global community service organisation that unites and takes action to create lasting change within our communities. Through Rotary, Phoebe has led a number of successful leadership and development youth programs, has been president of her Rotaract Club and has organised fundraisers which in total have raised over $150,000. The Rotary motto of “Service above Self” is one which Phoebe has aspired towards, and believes all individuals can change the world for the better.