Bachelor of Urban and Environmental Planning graduate Ethan Bowering led Griffith University’s impressive performance at the recent Awards for Planning Excellence 2014 held at Parliament House in Brisbane.
Presented by Queensland’s Assistant Minister for Planning Reform, The Honourable Mr Rob Molhoek MP, Ethan won the Minister’s Town Planning Prize and the Planning Institute of Australia final year student prize for his project ‘Adapting to climate-induced sea level rise on the Gold Coast: Lessons from the Netherlands’.
Though work commitments prevented him from attending the awards, Ethan said the recognition capped off his time at Griffith University.
“I had an amazing experience at Griffith and the support and expertise I received has led to this acknowledgment,” he said.
After graduating in 2013, Ethan joined the Federal Department of the Environment in Canberra in February this year.
“It’s a graduate position and I’ve been rotating through the various areas within the Department, including environmental assessment and strategic policy,” he said.
Universities from throughout Queensland participated in the Awards for Planning Excellence which acknowledge the planning studies, research projects or dissertations deemed to best contribute to the advancement of town planning practice. The awards aim to keep government informed of innovative practical work undertaken by planning students.
Along with Ethan’s success, Griffith produced two runners-up in the Minister’s Town Planning Prizes, namely Lisa McKay for ‘Urban Consolidation: Green space, is there enough?’ and Michael Tanko for ‘Planning styles in conflict, an exploration of the mode choice decision in the Brisbane Bus Rapid Transit Project’.
In the PIA Student Academic Prizes, Griffith winners were Michael Hethorn (best first year performance), Tiffany Prigg (second year), Samantha Colbran (third year), Ethan Bowering (final year) and Joel Ingles (Master of Urban and Environmental Planning).