Category: Education, Science & Technology
Recipient: Tom van Gerwen
Nominated By: Australian National Insect Collection, CSIRO Entomology
Tom arrived in Australia from Holland with his parents and siblings in 1955. He was introduced to the world of insects in 1956 and obtained a position as Technical Officer in CSIRO Entomology until his retirement 40 years later in 1996.
In February 1998 he was asked to put his general interest in insects and his excellent organising and people skills to good use by coordinating the Australian National Insect Collection’s Volunteer Scheme.
He accepted the position as the scheme’s first volunteer which was a welcomed opportunity to learn more about the interesting world of insects and their place in the ecosystem, to become more familiar with the collection and, foremost, to help support this valuable and unique, world class institution.
Tom himself a volunteer, has enthusiastically applied his organising and people skills to the task of coordinator of the ANIC volunteers. He was responsible for setting up the scheme in 1998 and has run it for the past 10 years.
Tom takes great pride in seeing the volunteers gain knowledge, learn new skills and supplement their existing skills. This is reflected by the number of student volunteers who have successfully gained paid work at CSIRO Entomology.
Tom has fostered a very strong rapport with the volunteers truly being part of the ANIC. As a part of this he organises twice-yearly barbeques to recognise their efforts and to give them the opportunity to talk to other volunteers and members of the research team.
The volunteers come from all walks of life, from students to retirees, several being former scientists, and tom has the necessary patience and diplomatic skills to deal with a group of often strong-willed people. Being attentive to personal interests and needs, he manages to motivate people to enjoy working at often repetitive tasks, creating an atmosphere where the volunteers realise what an important part of the ANIC they are.
He works tirelessly to increase the range of activities to make volunteers’ work, as interesting as possible and to provide regular social occasions to foster the rapport.