Reflecting on her time at The University of Queensland (UQ) as a geologist undertaking an Australia Awards short course in 2018, Johanna Linus can pinpoint the moment she realised she was in the right place. She observed the University’s slogan – Create Change – on campus signs and knew she would be able to make a difference here.
“I woke up to my potential at UQ,” she explains.
“It was the first thing that struck me. I saw that people are working to create change in the world and I thought, ‘I can create some change in the world',” Linus said.
In June 2025, Linus returned to UQ to commence her PhD as part of Professor Daniel Franks’ $1.2 million Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellowship at the Sustainable Minerals Institute (SMI). She is one of 3 PhD candidates selected from a large and competitive field to work with Professor Franks on this ground-breaking research, which will fill a crucial gap in understanding global poverty by assessing its mineral security dimensions.
