It's always good to be recognised for a job well done. Some past awards for excellence include:

• Reef Report Video (Best Electronic Media, Australian Tourism Awards). A magazine-style news video for commercial fishermen, tourist operators and marine park rangers in the Great Barrier Reef. Market research indicated it had high impact, strong visual messages and recall rates, and often used by broadcast media.

• Marine Park Tourist Training Courses (Best Tourist Service, Queensland Tourist Awards). A series of regional natural history and reef management seminars for frontline tourist industry staff. The course, supported by the Association of Marine Park Tourism Operators, evolved into an accredited course provided by qualified instructors.

• Recreational Fishing Campaign (Gold Serif Award, Australian Society of Business Communicators). A multi-media information campaign promoting responsible codes of behaviour and a marine conservation ethic for fishers. The campaign resulted in new fishing regulations, reef closers, increased use of zoning maps, and established regional marine advisory groups in Queensland.

• Reef Research Project (Banksia Environmental Foundation Award). An integrated communication and extension program for the Great Barrier Reef Cooperative Research Centre. It involved training courses, websites, media publicity, technical reports, newsletters for scientists and managers.

• Marine Educators Society of Australasia (President's Award). For outstanding services to the development of marine education and communication in Australia, particularly in promoting Seaweek, securing funding, hosting conferences and expanding a national network of marine educators.

• Healthy Waterways Campaign (Coastal Cooperative Research Centre Corporate Award). A four-year public awareness campaign to show how science and community action are addressing catchment and water issues in Central Queensland. The campaign gained significant industry sponsorship and increased community support for water conservation and management.