2012 Australia Award Recipients

Australian Leadership Award (AusAID Awards) Ms Praon Udomprasert is a Foreign Relations Officer at the Department of Water Resources, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, who will undertake a Master?s degree in Environment at the University of Melbourne. ?My study focus is on governance and policy for water resource management and climate change.? These issues have increasingly become significant to our country.? Australia has a similar environment to Thailand due to geographical proximity, which provides a perfect setting for my study and professional goals?, she said. Endeavour Executive Awards Mr Patanon Kwansanit, MD., is a psychiatrist from Somdetchaopraya Institute of Psychiatry, Department of Mental Health, who will undertake professional training in Suicide Prevention at St Vincent Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Australia. ?Australia is widely recognised for its advanced development in the prevention of mental health problems.? As the suicide rate in certain parts of Thailand is still high, I wish to apply Australian knowledge to not only treating patients but also driving relevant policies and generating public awareness on mental health problems and prevention?, he said.   Prime Minister?s Australia ? Asia Awards Ms Udsanee Pakdeetrakulwong, a Software Engineering lecturer from Nakhon Pathom Rajabhat University, is among the top twenty Endeavour Postgraduate Award recipients to receive the prestigious Prime Minister?s Australia-Asia Award this year. She will undertake a doctorate program in Software Engineering at Curtin University in Perth, Australia. ?I am specifically interested in Software Engineering Ontology. An academic in Australia, who will be my PhD adviser, is a prominent pioneer in this area. This fascinating field provides a common language and better communication across people and organisations in different places of the world.? My future aim is to bring back the knowledge I obtain in Australia to teach students in Thailand,? she said.