The Rock’s Sarah Verdon was relaxing on her honeymoon when she found out she was the winner of the Australian National University Science Leadership Award.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Luckily her parents were on hand at the gala dinner to stand in for her and accept the award.
“It is an honour to be chosen, I was really surprised I was the only female in the category,” Ms Verdon said.
“It’s nice to see child communication issues seen as important and it’s really important for my field of work.”
The 27-year-olds vision for the speech pathology industry was a major factor in winning the award.
The research she is working on aims to implement ways professionals like nurses, teachers and doctors can interact better with immigrant children whose first language isn’t english.
Now working as a research fellow at Charles Sturt University in Albury, the same university she studied her undergraduate degree at, she hopes to continue her research.
In October she will move to Fiji for six months to complete a research project.
Her new husband, Dennis Pedemont, will make the move with her and complete volunteer work.
Ms Verdon made it through the first stage of the selection process in February when she was named in the top three finalists from across NSW and ACT.
The awards aim to encourage, acknowledge and reward individuals who have made a difference.
She will continue to use her maiden name for her research work.