ALUMNI Awards

2022 Emma Betts Alumni Award

Sarah Kaese (2010)

At 28 years of age, Sarah Kaese has overcome many difficulties and yet achieved so much. Sarah’s courage and desire to serve the nation began early when she enlisted in the Royal Australian Navy at the age of 17 as a Maritime Warfare Officer. Sarah’s enthusiasm to positively influence those working above, under, and alongside her was evident from the moment she began her initial officer training.

As an officer in the military, Sarah is passionate about representing her country with pride. In her various postings across eight different ships, Sarah also demonstrated a strong desire for mentoring, training and caring for others. She received a ‘Bravo Zulu Award’, issued by the Commanding Officer of HMAS Armidale, who commended Sarah for her “performance, professionalism and outstanding attitude while fulfilling the OP RELIEF Navigation Officer role. [Her] dedication and commitment during an extremely busy period has been noted by [the Commanding Officer and crew]. [Sarah’s] contribution to the training and development of [junior sailors and officers] has not gone unnoticed.”

2022 Mother Emma Alumni Award

Hannah Gartside (2004)

Hannah Gartside is an artist in every sense of the word. Her works span sculpture, installation and video. Characteristically sensual and poetic, she transforms found fabrics and clothing to articulate experiences and sensations of longing, tenderness, care and desire. Her work has most recently been exhibited as part of Primavera: Young Australian Artists at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney. For this exhibition, Hannah created a series of dynamic, fabric-mediated mechanised artworks.

Hannah’s list of exhibitions is extensive and covers a range of the museums and art galleries across the country.

Hannah has undertaken residencies at the Australian Tapestry Workshop, Melbourne and the Varda Artist Residency California USA. She received a Bachelor of Fine Art (Sculpture) from University of Melbourne, Victorian College of the Arts, in 2016, and a BFA (Fashion Design) from Queensland University of Technology in 2007. Prior to her visual art training, Gartside worked as costume-maker for five years, mainly on productions for Queensland Ballet.

Hannah is a multi-award winner of the National Gallery of Victoria Women’s Association Award and has been finalist and winner in a range of other national art awards.

Caroline Amy Alumni Award

Michele Sterling (1978)

Michele Serling remembers her time at St Aidan’s fondly and recalls the eventual alignment of her with curiosity and interest in science. After completing a clinical degree in physiotherapy and working as a clinical physiotherapist in both the public and private sectors in Queensland, Tasmania and Western Australia for 20 years, she undertook a Graduate Diploma in Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy, graduating with distinction, from Curtin University (Perth). This sparked her interest in chronic life-long pain. Having treated many patients with chronic pain, she saw first-hand the anxiety and depression they felt as a result and was driven to complete a Masters of Research and a PhD to understand why and how chronic pain develops.

Michele’s research has received national and international recognition. She has published over 200 scientific papers, three books (one a seminal physiotherapy textbook), received numerous awards and been invited to speak at over 40 international conferences. Michele has contributed to multidisciplinary clinical and research fields including physiotherapy, medicine, psychology, economics, rehabilitation amongst others and was made a Professor in 2012.

She currently leads a NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Road Traffic Injury Recovery at The University of Queensland, but her overall goal remains – to improve the health of people after injury so that they can return to productive and healthy lives doing what they enjoy.