Let's Talk SciComm

Is your writing too formal? Too boring? Or too hard to read? Have you been given the feedback that you need to make your writing more conversational?

Take five minutes to tune into Jen and Michael’s top tips on how to make your writing easier to read. 

You can find more great advice here:

It's that time of year when many of us are feeling overwhelmed by our to-do lists. If you have a big task on your list that you’re struggling to make headway with, it’s time for your 5-minute Friday pep talk. 

Join Jen and Michael for their top tips on how to manage a sense of overwhelm and get stuff done! 

You can find more great advice here:

Got a talk coming up? Worried your powerpoint slides are boring? Think your audience might get distracted or even doze off while you’re talking? 

Stop for 5 minutes and tune into Jen and Michael’s top tips on how to improve your Powerpoint slides. 

You can find more great advice here:

Keen to start a new habit? Maybe you want to exercise regularly, read more papers or get more writing done? Well, if you’ve got 5 minutes, Jen and Michael are back with a new season of Listen To This If….

This week they’re giving you a quick Friday pep talk with their top tips on how to get started with a new habit. Listen now! 

You can find more great advice here:

Three years later and we couldn’t be more excited to be sharing Episode 100 of Let’s Talk SciComm with you. We are so proud to still be creating this podcast and couldn’t be more grateful to YOU, our fabulous listeners, for continuing to support us. 

To celebrate reaching episode 100 and the end of Season 13, Jen and Michael decided to turn the spotlight inwards and ask each other some of our favourite quick-fire questions, with a few new questions thrown in for good measure. We hope the result is a fun conversation in which you can get to know us a bit better and learn something about effective science communication along the way. 

We’ll be back with more episodes of ‘Let’s Talk SciComm’ and ‘Listen To This If…’ in February 2025 and in the meantime, we wish you all the best for a lovely Festive Season and hopefully holidays filled with fun and rest. 

We’d love to connect with you here:

It’s hard to believe this is the 99th episode of Let’s Talk SciComm! 

As you can imagine, we are very excited to still be producing our podcast three years and 99 episodes later. To celebrate, we invited the rest of our fabulous teaching team - Dr Catriona Nguyen-Robertson, Dr Linden Ashcroft and Dr Graham Phillips back to the podcast. The five of us spend half an hour reflecting on the highs and lows of our science communication experiences and what we’ve learned along the way about how to be more effective communicators. We hope you’ll find our reflections helpful!

You can connect with us here:

This week we had a fascinating conversation with speech pathologist and science communicator Dr Georgie Johnson. Georgie is a clinical researcher with an interest in childhood stuttering treatment and addressing the psychological impact of stuttering for children. Georgie completed her PhD in 2024 investigating management of stuttering during the school years. Part of this program of research was a treatment trial of an intervention to support 6-12 year old children who stutter from across Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Hong Kong. From this trial, Georgie and colleagues have published a range of freely accessible practical recommendations and clinical resources for community clinicians to use to optimise treatment outcomes for their school age clients. Georgie is also one of the Directors of the Stuttering Association for the Young Australia (SAY AU) and continues to work in the field to explore psychosocial support for young people who stutter. 

You can follow Georgie and find out more about her work here:

This week we had the most wonderful conversation with wildlife scientist, woman in STEMM/STEAM, science communicator, author and vessel operator, Dr Vanessa Pirotta. You’re going to love hearing Vanessa’s infectious enthusiasm for all things science and science communication. 

Vanessa’s research uses innovative technologies for wildlife conservation. Vanessa works collaboratively across both marine and terrestrial environments merging cutting edge technology to access animals in unique ways. Most notable works include drones to collect whale snot and the use of computer algorithms and AI for the detection of illegal wildlife trafficking.

Vanessa is a passionate and experienced science communicator who plays an important role in society by making science accessible across generations. Vanessa’s spoken on the TEDx platform and has been recognized by the Australian Financial Review as one of the top 100 Women of Influence and recently, a 2024 finalist in the Australian’s Museums Eureka awards for promoting understanding of science and winner of the 2024 Women’s Agenda Leadership Awards Emerging leader in Science.

Vanessa is working collaboratively with indigenous knowledge holders such as the Gamay Rangers, to learn more about the marine mammals in our blue backyard but also identifying appropriate ways scientists can respectfully incorporate First Nations perspectives into marine research. Vanessa is also the lead scientist of the citizen science program Wild Sydney Harbour, connecting community with its blue backyard.

Vanessa is also a proud children’s book author, with her book The Voyage of Whale and Calf, serving as an annual reminder of humpback whale biology and ecology in Australian waters. In 2024, Vanessa also released two additional books; The Humpback Highway: Diving into the mysterious world of whales and a second children’s book, Oceans At Night.

Vanessa is a highly experienced presenter and was the invited MC for the prestigious Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science at Parliament House, Canberra in 2023/24.

You can follow Vanessa and learn more about her work here:

This week we are lucky enough to chat with Linh Do, an incredible sustainability leader, educator, and climate justice advocate based in Melbourne, Australia. As Director of the Wattle Fellowship at the University of Melbourne, she cultivates the next generation of sustainability leaders through an innovative year-long program. With over a decade of experience across advocacy, media, and social enterprise sectors, Linh has worked globally to drive climate action and community engagement.

Linh holds multiple leadership positions in the community, including chair of Climate Action Network Australia and a board member at the Lord Mayor's Charitable Foundation, and a research committee member at the Centre for Policy Development. She is a co-founder of the technology start-up OurSay and has previously led community organising at the Australian Conservation Foundation.

Linh's work bridges diverse disciplines and sectors to create holistic approaches to complex environmental challenges. Prior to her current role, she served as the Australia and Pacific lead for The Climate Reality Project, Al Gore's climate leadership program; and as publisher and editor-in-chief of The Verb during the Paris climate negotiations. She has collaborated with diverse organisations, from high school students to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Reuters Foundation.

 Externally, she has been recognised with for her sustainability leadership from Green Gown Awards Australasia Sustainability Leadership, as a Woman of Influence from the Australian Financial Review (AFR) and as the Australian Geographic Young Conservationist of the Year.

You can follow Linh and learn more about her work here:

This week we had the wonderful pleasure of catching up with one of our very own alumni! Rachael Vorwerk studied science communication with us many years ago and has gone on to forge an incredible career in the field. Rachael is a science communicator and freelance consultant who has been published in The Conversation, Cosmos Magazine and Eingana. She has helped scientists to share their research in BBC World News, The Independent, ABC and The Age, among others. 

Currently Rachael works at RMIT University as the Science Communication, Education and Outreach Manager at a 7-year Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence, the biggest research funding scheme available in Australia. She works with a group of around 50 researchers spanning PhD students through to Distinguished Professors – and helps the team to make their research more accessible to broader audiences.

You can follow Rachael and learn more about her work here:

This week it is a huge honour for us to speak with our long-time scicomm colleague Nancy Longnecker who is Emerita Professor of Science Communication at the University of Otago. She has collaborated in the production of communication resources and assessment of their effectiveness in work that is often multidisciplinary and cross-cultural. In a career spanning four decades, Nancy has produced both physical and virtual resources, including exhibitions, displays, podcasts, websites, and teaching resources. She has written over 100 books, book chapters and articles. Nancy has taught science communication and contributed to workshops in Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Singapore, Japan, the UK, and Denmark and has supervised over 50 science communication research students from 17 countries.

Welcome to Season 13 of Let’s Talk SciComm. We’re so thrilled to be kicking off another season as we head towards our 100th episode! 

To get the season off to a fabulous start, this week we’re thrilled to talk with the incredible Sarah Firth (she/ her).  Sarah is based on Wurundjeri Country in Melbourne, Australia. She is an artist, writer, cartoonist, graphic recorder and animator, originally trained as a classical sculptor. She has received a Talking Difference Fellowship from the Immigration Museum, was a finalist in the Incinerator Gallery Award For Social Change and her comics were part of Eisner Award-winning and Ignatz nominated comic anthologies. Her debut graphic novel Eventually Everything Connects was shortlisted for The Prime Minister’s Literary Awards 2024, selected as The Age’s Non-Fiction Pick of The Week, ALIA’s Notable Graphic Novels of 2023 and one of The Best Graphic Novels Ever by Refinery29.

You NEED to listen to this.

In this week’s episode of ‘Listen to This If…’ Jen and Michael explore how to grab your audience’s attention. In just five minutes Jen and Michael will discuss everything you need to know to turn heads and captivate your audience.

Upcoming presentation got your palms sweaty, knees weak, arms heavy? Don’t worry, forget mum’s spaghetti, because we’re not going to let you miss your shot. Tune in to this week’s episode of ‘Listen to This If…’ where Jen and Michael give you all the tips and tricks to turn those shaky hands into a killer mic drop. 

Doomscrolling getting in your way? Don’t worry! Jen and Michael have some great tips to break the scrolling cycle and get you back to your task. In this week’s episode of Listen to This If, we’re discussing addictive algorithms and what strategies you can employ to get off your phone and  back on track!

Over the word count on an assignment? It can be stressful trying to trim the writing you’ve put so much effort into.

Luckily in this week’s episode, Jen and Michael have some handy tips to wriggle down those words while keeping your writing sharp and relevant to the task. Tune in now!

Got an interview coming up? Don't worry, Jen and Michael are here to help! In this five-minute episode, they'll give advice to make sure you're prepared for a perfect interview. From putting your mind at ease to carefully studying the job posting, Jen and Michael will provide you with practical tips that will boost your confidence and help you land the perfect job. Listen now and get ready for your interview!

We're thrilled to launch an exciting new series of our podcast, 'Listen To This If...'. 

Jen and Michael will deliver a speedy, five-minute Friday fix packed with practical hot tips to tackle your toughest science communication challenges.

Next Friday, we're starting with something we all want to know: how to ace a job interview!

An enormous thank you to the University of Melbourne Science Communication students who form the production team for Listen To This If: Madeleine Kelly, Riccardo Petroni, Meiqi Peng and Lorne Whytcross.

We’re ending Season 11 with a fabulous conversation with climate change communicator Dr Simon Torok. Simon is CEO and Director of Scientell, a science communication company that seeks to maximise the impact of scientific information. He distils technical information for non-scientific audiences to communicate the importance of science in our lives and its role in understanding the environment. Simon has a Graduate Diploma in Science Communication from the Australian National University, and completed a PhD in climate change science at the University of Melbourne. He has managed communication for CSIRO in Australia and for the Tyndall Centre in England. He was editor of the Helix and Scientriffic science magazines, and has published more than 200 newspaper, magazine and scientific journal articles. He has co-authored 20 popular science and climate change books, several of which have been translated into Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean and Hungarian.

You can follow Simon and learn more about his work here:

This week we absolutely loved speaking with highly skilled communications coach David Crisante. David has had a career in journalism, political speechwriting - including for Australia's Foreign Minister -  and science communications. These days he helps professionals to master storytelling techniques so that they’re more effective when communicating with stakeholders.  David is founder of the Sydney Comedy School, where students discover their unique communication styles and how they can be more confident and charismatic, in public speaking and in everyday life.

He is the director of Future Science Talks, and in 2024 he took his Science Comedy Program around Australia, training hundreds of scientists in the art of using humour to build rapport with audiences.

David’s career history includes reporting for the ABC and SBS, as well as an international correspondent in Tokyo for several years, where he specialised in reporting on the nuclear disaster of 2011. He was a political and crisis response specialist for Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.  David has managed a wide array of PR crises, such as international kidnappings, pirate attacks and the disappearance of MH370.

You can follow David and learn more about his work here:

This week we were incredibly fortunate to speak with Dr Catherine Richards Golini in Switzerland. Catherine is a Healthcare Publications Editor at Karger Publishers, specializing in creating, developing, and editing resources for patients and HCPs. Holding a PhD in Applied Linguistics from Swansea University, and with published research on patient communication, she is also a skilled plain language writer and reviewer of plain language summaries and patient materials. With expertise in health discourse, medical communication,and patient communication, Catherine also brings a wealth of experience in educational course development and language assessment. She cofounded and served as director of EALTHY, the European teachers‘ association for medical and healthcare English, demonstrating her commitment to advancing medical language education.

You can follow Catherine and learn more about her work here:

This week we had the wonderful opportunity to talk with Sara Garfield - a true expert in communicating about science in English as a non-native language.

Sara is a dedicated educator with a diverse academic and teaching background that spans multiple countries and disciplines. Raised in Italy speaking English at home, her early fascination with languages and literature has paved the way for her academic interests and teaching career.

Her undergraduate studies led her to earn a Bachelor's Degree in Modern Languages and Literature from Università Cà Foscari Venezia in Venice, Italy. During this time, she specialised in English and French languages and literature. Throughout her studies, she worked as an English private tutor, proof-reader and translator.

Her true passion, though, has always been teaching and language learning. That is what drove her to train as an English language teacher in London, UK. Seeking to deepen her understanding of language acquisition and pedagogy, she pursued a Master of Science degree in Applied Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition at Worcester College, University of Oxford, UK.

Currently, she holds a permanent position as an English language instructor and course coordinator in the Department of Languages and Communication at the College of Science and Technology, University of Bordeaux.

With a diverse teaching background, she has taught English for Specific Purposes and English for Science and Technology at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Her teaching philosophy emphasises active pedagogy, student-led learning, and the integration of digital tools for enhanced engagement.

Among her research interests are topics linked to science communication using English as a lingua franca in international settings, teaching methodologies, intercultural communication, and the relationship between language and thought. Her approach is interdisciplinary and dedicated to fostering students’ linguistic, intercultural and communication competencies.

You can follow Sara and learn more about her work here:

This week we were absolutely thrilled to speak with one of our favourite people: Tilly Boleyn. Tilly (she/her) is the Head of Curatorial, Science Gallery Melbourne, University of Melbourne. Basically, she’s a massive nerd, curious about the world and everything in it. She is a collaborative creature at heart and heads the team with a mixture of organisation, chaos, humour and sassy backtalk. She loves connecting people, making space for thought, and challenging people to back up their opinions in an imagined recreation of Mad Max Thunderdome. Her background is in museums, galleries, education, events, festivals, broadcasting and research. Originally a microbiologist, Tilly ran from the lab to the ABC, where she discovered a talent for science gossip – talking about other people’s science rather than doing her own. She then morphed into a curator and has created exhibitions on health, medicine, experimentation, the voice, engineering, sustainability, mental health, dark matter, identity and genders. Tilly is delighted by blurring the boundaries between science, art, design, technology, maths, engineering and large-scale-batteries-powered-by-human-urine. Currently she plots with scientists and artists to deliver a rolling series of innovative and thought-provoking shows to engage audiences with the bleeding edge of human knowledge.

You can follow Tilly and learn more about her work here:

This week we had a fabulous conversation with multi-award winning science journalist Dr Jackson Ryan. Jackson is a former molecular biologist and current freelance science journalist with a focus on longform and narrative non-fiction science writing. He served as the Science Editor at CNET.com between 2018 and 2023 and was the 2022 winner of the Eureka Prize for Science Journalism. In 2024, he is co-editing the Best Australian Science Writing anthology -- and you should buy it! His longform writing has appeared in The Guardian, The Saturday Paper, The Monthly and Nature. 

You can follow Jackson and learn more about his work here:

This week we were privileged to have a wonderful conversation with Dr Rachel Nowak who is a consultant, an advisor, a scientist and a journalist. She has been working in science, technology and innovation on three continents.

Her specialities include science journalism, knowledge mobilisation, research and technology assessment, and stakeholder engagement.

She has been Washington Bureau Chief and Australasian Editor of New Scientist magazine. She was Director of Research Marketing and Communications at the University of Melbourne. She founded the social-good brain tech start-up The Brain Dialogue and is currently a Consultant Editor with Custom Media at the Nature Springer group. 

Rachel did her PhD in agricultural science at the University of Leeds. She studied writing, alongside poets and novelists, at The Johns Hopkins University.

Her award-winning science journalism has changed R&D and medical practice, and research law and policy around the world.

Rachel immigrated to Australia on a Distinguished Talent visa for her international record of outstanding achievements in science communication.

You can follow Rachel and learn more about her work here:

We’re so thrilled to be back with you for Season 11 of Let’s Talk SciComm. And to get the season off to a brilliant start, we had a wonderful conversation with Sara Phillips.

We’re ending Season 10 on a high, chatting with Brendon Bosworth in Cape Town, South Africa. Brendan is a communications specialist and science communication trainer who runs Human Element Communications. Brendon’s goal is to make research on topics of global concern, such as climate change and sustainable development, more accessible to non-specialists.

After working as a communications officer on a large international climate change adaptation project in 2018, and as a journalist for more than 10 years before that, Brendon decided he wanted to work with scientists to build their communication skills. He partnered with Dr Tali Hoffman (director of Honeyguide Science Communication) to develop a science communication training programme, ‘Communicating Science for Impact.’

Since launching the programme in 2020, he and Dr Hoffman have trained over 300 people from institutions including UNEP, FAO, the University of Cape Town, the University of Ghana, the University of Nairobi, and the University of Saskatchewan to communicate about science with non-specialists more effectively. 

Brendon is a Fulbright scholar with a master’s degree in Journalism from the University of Colorado Boulder. In his previous life as a journalist, he wrote about everything from ocean acidification to mental health, with some surf travel writing in between.

He is also a photographer whose work has been featured in exhibitions in South Africa and abroad.

As a consultant, Brendon has provided writing, editing, and communication services to clients including UN-Habitat, CARE, the Global Center on Adaptation, and the World Urban Forum.

You can follow Brendon and learn more about his work here:

This week we have the immense pleasure of speaking with the brilliant Alicia Sometimes. Alicia is a multi-award winning poet and broadcaster who is deeply passionate about both art and science. She has performed her poetry at many venues, festivals and events around the world. Alicia is director/co-writer of the art/science planetarium shows, Elemental and Particle/Wave. In 2023 she received ANAT’s Synapse Artist Residency and co-created an art installation for Science Gallery Melbourne’s exhibition, Dark Matters. Her new book is Stellar Atmospheres.

You can follow Alicia and learn more about her work here: 

This week we had the great privilege of speaking with Dr Craig Cormick OAM. Craig is the Creative Director of ThinkOutsideThe. He is one of Australia’s leading science communicators, with over 30 years’ experience working with agencies such as CSIRO, Questacon and Federal Government Departments.

In 2014 he was awarded the Unsung Hero of Science Communication by the Australian Science Communicators, and in 2011 was a co-winner of the International Association of Public Participation’s national best practice award for the development of the Science and Technology Engagement Pathways (STEP) framework.

Craig has headed up several communications and marketing units, before moving to consultancy work. He specialised in communicating complex science to the general public – and in communicating the complex attitudes and beliefs of the public to scientists, particularly on topics of biotechnology and nanotechnology.

He has a broad background in both the theory and the practice of working with social attitudes to new technologies, and methods of community engagement, particularly on how different values influence attitudes and receptiveness to messages or behaviour change.

He has been a member of the Society of Risk Analysis and has published research papers on risk communications and risk perception, as well as giving many workshops and talks, both in Australia and overseas, on the differences between public and scientific perceptions of risk.

Craig has a particular interest in evidence-based, and client- and audience-driven, communications and marketing. He has also published more than 40 books and won many writing awards. 

You can follow Craig and learn more about his work here:

This week we had such a wonderful time speaking with Laura Bibiana Ospina-Rozo, who joined us all the way from her home in Columbia. Laura is a scientist who finds joy in tackling research questions in the field of biophotonics: where light and living matter interact. She completed her undergraduate and masters degrees at the University of Los Andes in Colombia and her PhD in 2022 investigating beetle colours at the University of Melbourne. As a postdoc at the Stuart-Fox lab at the University of Melbourne, she analyzes biological samples combining microscopy and colour-measuring techniques, and spends most of her time talking to people from different disciplines to interpret the results together. Her work has taught her the importance of communicating science in an engaging and efficient way, as well as listening to diverse perspectives around common questions. That is why she eagerly participates in science communication competitions such as the 3MT competition and the Big Science Pitch and also likes being part of the diversity and inclusion committees at the University of Melbourne. 

You can follow Laura and learn more about her work here: 

This week we had a wonderful time speaking with Dr Jen Payne about her amazing initiative STEMpals. Jen grew up in a small country town, where the closest thing to scientists she saw was her teachers. She had no idea really what a scientist was or could be. Fast forward to now, where Jen is a research scientist, minimising deadly infections due to antimicrobial resistance.

She is an award-winning science communicator who is passionate about real-world STEM in the classroom. This led to becoming the founder and CEO of a STEM charity the Curiosity Factory, which runs STEMpals. STEMpals is a pen pal program for upper primary school students where each student in the classroom is paired with their very own STEM professional to exchange handwritten letters across the year. This cross-curricular program inspires our next STEM generation one letter at a time. Jen also fosters greyhounds and has represented Australia around the world playing ultimate frisbee.

You can follow Jen and learn more about her work here: 

What a treat this week’s episode is! We had a blast catching up with one of our brilliant former science communication students, Milly Formby.

Milly is a qualified zoologist, pilot and illustrator of the children's book, A Shorebird Flying Adventure. In 2022-23 she was the first woman to fly a microlight aircraft around Australia. The aim of the adventure was to promote protection of wetland habitats for endangered migratory shorebirds. Milly took 160 hours of flight time over 365 days covering 14,000 kilometres to complete the journey. Along the way she visited 105 primary schools reaching over 6500 students in remote, regional and urban Australia.

Milly has extensive experience in many different types of science communication and we know you’re going to love this conversation!

You can follow Milly and learn more about her work here:

This week we had the great pleasure of speaking with Brian Lin in Washington DC. Brian oversees EurekAlert!, a non-profit news release distribution platform operated by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). He has more than two decades of experience as a science communicator, having interned at a national daily technology TV show in Canada before serving as a press officer for 13 years at the University of British Columbia, where he helped communicate scientific and medical research while developing and delivering media training for faculty and students. Since joining AAAS in 2014, he has more than tripled web traffic at EurekAlert! and led the development of a new platform that launched in 2021. His current focus is expanding access to EurekAlert! in low and middle-income countries and fostering diversity, equity and inclusion in and through science communication.

You can follow Brian and learn more about his work here: 

Welcome back to Season 10 of Let’s Talk SciComm! We’re thrilled to be back with you for another season of fantastic conversations exploring how we can all communicate about science in more effective and engaging ways.

To get the season off to an amazing start, we’re thrilled to have caught up with science tourism and dark skies guru, Marnie Ogg. With over 17 years of experience as a Managing Director at Dark Sky Traveller, Marnie has seamlessly combined a passion for astronomy, tourism, and conservation to curate unique and unforgettable experiences for travellers and communities alike. As a dedicated Dark Sky Defender, Marnie holds a Diploma of Psychology and a Diplome de Francaise, leveraging these qualifications to champion the protection and promotion of the night environment, while educating and inspiring diverse audiences.

Among her notable achievements are securing the designation of Australia's first Dark Sky Place, founding and spearheading the Australasian Dark Sky Alliance, orchestrating a Guinness World Record attempt, and managing a pivotal report for the Commonwealth Government on light pollution. Through these endeavors, Marnie has developed skills in facilitation, public speaking, project management, and conservation, all while striving to leave a positive and enduring impact on our world.

You can follow Marnie and learn more about her work here: 

To finish Season 9 of Let’s Talk SciComm, we had a truly wonderful conversation with Dr Samantha Grover, who leads the Soil-Atmosphere-Anthroposphere Lab at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia.

Sam’s team explores the interconnections between food, climate change and people. They collaborate with farmers, NGOs, industry, government and other researchers around the world to more sustainably manage landscapes. They focus on high carbon systems such as peatlands, regenerative agriculture and composting. As a soil scientist, Sam applies techniques from soil physics, soil chemistry and soil microbiology with micrometeorology to explore the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum. She collaborates with economists, social scientists, policy analysist as well as other biological and physical scientists to generate whole-of-system knowledge. Through her teaching of Bachelors and Masters of Environmental Science, as well as her public engagement as a Superstar of STEM, President of Soil Science Australia, VIC, various Board and Committee roles and growing media profile, she communicates her research to create impact.

We talked with Sam about the many different types of science communication she’s involved with, including giving a TED talk and writing a children’s book. Sam has a wealth of scicomm experience and knowledge to share and we’re sure you’ll enjoy the conversation!

You can follow Sam and learn more about her work here:

This week Jen and Michael had a wonderful conversation with Professor John Besley about strategic science communication. John studies public opinion about science and scientists’ opinions about the public. His goal is to help science communicators be more effective by helping them consider evidence-based and strategic communication choices. He also does research aimed at understanding how peoples’ views about decision-makers and decision processes (i.e., trustworthiness and fairness beliefs) affect their overall perceptions of science and technology (S&T).

John has published more than 100 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters. This work has appeared in high-ranking journals including Risk Analysis, Science Communication, Public Understanding of Science, and the Journal of Risk Research as well as a range of edited volumes. He has received funding from the National Science Foundation, the United States Department of Agriculture, and a range of foundations. He is the associate editor for risk communication for Risk Analysis.

In addition to his regular research, John was the lead author for the 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2020 National Science Board chapters on public attitudes and knowledge about science and technology. Michigan State University awarded John its William J. Beal Outstanding Faculty Award in 2021 and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) honored him as a fellow in 2018. In 2013, the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication awarded him the Hillier-Krieghbaum Under 40 Award.

You can follow John and learn more about his work here:

What a wonderful conversation we had with Jessie Panazzolo this week! Jessie is the founder of Lonely Conservationists, a global online community working to help conservationists thrive by providing a platform to be heard, a strong community foundation and educational resources about caring for conservationists. Lonely Conservationists has become a pioneering platform in creating a space for environmentalists across the globe by giving them a safe space to share and normalise their lived experiences in the field.

You can follow Jessie and learn more about her work here:

This week we had a fascinating conversation with visual science communicator extraordinaire Dr Sarah Treit. With a PhD in Neuroscience, ~25 peer-reviewed publications, and a 5-year H-index of 16, Sarah combines a strong research track record with a passion for communicating science through visuals. Through her company, Figures First, Sarah provides grant application support, including peer-review style feedback, writing, editing, and creation of visually appealing and impactful figures to help Investigators craft their story. She also shares her enthusiasm and knowledge through workshops and educational services for graduate students, faculty and other researchers.

You can follow Sarah and learn more about her work here:

We know many of our listeners are keen to get more experience in science communication but don’t know where to begin. Have we got the episode for you!

This week we had a fantastic chat with Dr Donovan Garcia-Ceron about how he got started in science communication and the things he’s doing to build his scicomm profile.

As you’ll hear, Donovan is kind and curious. He works in research to protect crops from pests, with the aim of increasing food security and enabling healthier communities.

He has worked in the creation of eco-friendly insecticides, and investigated how fungi “sneeze” to cause stronger infections in plants. As a research officer, Donovan now develops next-generation fungicides that can “switch off” the genes that fungi use to cause diseases, without being harmful to the environment.

During his PhD, Donovan developed an interest in science communication. He won prizes for the 3-minute Thesis and Visualise Your Thesis competitions in several years, and has been invited to write for blogs and to participate in philanthropic events to pitch science projects. He is passionate about making scientific knowledge accessible and open to anyone, and is interested in connecting with other science communicators. In his spare time, Donovan does Brazilian drumming and builds furniture using reclaimed wood (IG: @slothfurniture).

You can follow Donovan and learn more about him and his work here:

This week we had the great pleasure of speaking with Alfred Deakin Professor, Jo Salmon about the importance of effective science communication in research, especially when it comes to co-designed research.

Jo is the Director of the Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition (IPAN) at Deakin University and currently holds a NHMRC Level 2 Investigator Grant. She has spent the last 20 years conducting research on the development of effective programs to promote children’s physical activity and reduce sedentary behaviour. Jo has been a Chief Investigator on over 30 nationally funded research projects and 14 international projects worth more than $28.8 million and has supervised 26 PhD students to completion and 14 postdoctoral fellows. She has published her research extensively with over 450 peer reviewed papers and book chapters, and for the past 7 years has been named a Clarivate Highly Cited researcher, which ranks her in the 1% most cited authors in the world for her subject field. Jo is the past President and a Fellow of the International Society for Behavioural Nutrition and Physical Activity, and the founding current President of the Asia Pacific Society for Physical Activity (ASPA). She also played a key role in development of movement guidelines for youth in Australia (2004; 2008; 2014).

You can follow Jo and learn more about her work here:

Welcome to Season Nine of Let’s Talk SciComm! We’re thrilled to be back with another season, chatting each week about our very favourite topic – how we can all be more effective when it comes to communicating about science.

We’re kicking off the season talking with our good friend Dr Shane Huntington OAM (@DrShaneRRR) – in case you haven’t listened yet, you can get to know Shane on episode 9 of Let’s Talk SciComm! Shane is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Little Big Steps; a charity helping kids with cancer.  

Shane is also a speaker, trainer and facilitator. He has been providing consulting services in communication and strategy for over 25 years and is the host and producer of 3RRR’s science radio program Einstein A Go Go. In 2020 he was awarded an Order of Australia in recognition of his science communication work.

In this episode we asked Shane to share his advice on how to ask good questions. Whether you’re going to a conference or interviewing someone about their work, being able to ask interesting, thoughtful questions is an important skill. And given Shane has interviewed thousands of scientists over the past 30 years on radio, he’s a great person to get advice from!

Shane is also a prolific writer with articles on Medium.com read more than 100,000 times. He is the Founder and Director of the Innovation Group Pty Ltd, a scientific equipment supplier in Australia and New Zealand since 1999 and is a Senior Associate with consulting firm Outside Opinion.  

Until January 2019 he was Deputy Director of the Melbourne Academic Centre for Health (MACH) which he established in 2011. Prior to his work in the Faculty of Medicine, he was Principal Strategy Adviser to the Vice-Chancellor of The University of Melbourne, Prof. Glyn Davis.  

From 2005 to 2008 he was the CEO and Founder of Quantum Communications Victoria within the School of Physics at the University of Melbourne. Quantum Communications Victoria was a $9.3Million Government funded centre which developed telecommunications security based on Quantum Physics and exported Australia’s first quantum product. 

Shane’s specialty was in Photonics and Imaging and he has published more than 75 refereed journal papers during his 10 years in research.  

Shane was the Founder of the Telescopes in Schools Program, a Victorian based initiative designed to bring the wonders of Astronomy and education to low SES schools in Melbourne’s Northern and Western suburbs and rural districts through the prevision of research grade telescopes and support.  

He holds an honorary appointment at the University of Melbourne in the School of Engineering and is an Ambassador for the Lost Dogs Home. 

You can follow Shane and learn more about his work here:

This week we are so delighted to chat with Olly Dove. Living up to her bird name, Olly Dove is a marine ecology PhD candidate researching the foraging behaviour of little penguins and short-tailed shearwaters in lutruwita/Tasmania. Olly’s favourite part of working in zoology is undoubtedly the exciting fieldwork it leads her to, and she loves sharing stories about the natural world with others.

When not hanging out with critters, Olly is an incredible science communicator. She is the weekly host, a co-manager, and an editor on the nipaluna/Hobart-based radio/podcast show, That’s What I Call Science, which was recently awarded a prestigious Eureka Prize for STEM inclusion. Other recent scicomm adventures for Olly have included performing at the Festival of Bright Ideas in 2022 and competing in the FameLab Australia Finals in 2023, both with a shearwater puppet for her on-stage co-star!

You can follow Olly and learn more about her work here:

This week we have the enormous pleasure of speaking with Dr Jenny Gray who is the Chief Executive Officer of Zoos Victoria, charged with the operation of the Melbourne Zoo, Healesville Sanctuary, Kyabram Fauna Park and Werribee Open Range Zoo.  

Over the last decade Zoos Victoria has transformed into a Zoo Based Conservation Organisation, committed to fighting extinction and creating a future rich in wildlife. Working closely with 27 critically endangered species and engaging with over 2.6 million visitors and 360,000 members, Zoos Victoria is testing models of optimism and bravery to address threats to species survival and enhancing care of wildlife.  

Jenny has a wide range of public and private sector experience having worked in transportation, airlines and banking, before moving into the zoo industry in South Africa, then Australia. Jenny has qualifications in Civil Engineering, Transportation Engineering, Business Administration and Ethics. Jenny is the Deputy Chancellor at Victoria University and serves on the Board of the Biodiversity Council.

This week we were thrilled to have the opportunity to chat with Emily Denniss who is a PhD Candidate at the Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition at Deakin University. Her research is focused nutrition communication and misinformation on social media and how social media is used by young adults to seek information about food and nutrition. Emily also teaches into undergraduate public health and nutrition science units at Deakin and gave us lots of food for thought about understanding online misinformation.

You can follow Emily and learn more about her work here:

This week we had the great pleasure of chatting with Joshua Tinner who is full of fantastic advice about how to build your professional networks. Josh currently the Country Manager of the UK team at InternMatch, a company that helps students and graduates find internships as a step towards employment. Previously Josh has worked in a variety of businesses including managing the administration of a migration consultancy, helping run the division of Melbourne for two federal elections, assistant-coaching a football team, and seven years of bartending. As demonstrated through this loose associations of jobs, Josh believes that there is no one ‘pathway’ to a career and encourages people to “wander through the forest of possibilities, rather than stick to the motorway someone else has laid over it.”

The best piece of career advice that Josh ever received (as part of his EMA at the University of Melbourne, no less!) was the following: “People focus too much on what they want to do but not where or for what reason they want to do it.” Finding your passion is all well and good but Josh wants to help people find their cause, the reason they want to do what they do, and he has built his career on helping others find their answer to this very question.

You can follow Josh and learn more about him here:

This week we were thrilled Executive Recruiter and Scientist Marilyn Jones was able to make time to chat with us. Marilyn has over 25 years’ experience in resourcing staff for companies and assisting individuals with their career aspirations and we learned so much from her about how to get your dream job.

Marilyn undertook research in cancer and immunology, leading to managing an R&D project for the commercialisation of the purified components of snake venom for human therapeutic purposes. Combined with additional commercialisation projects in wheat identification and infectious diseases, she gained a comprehensive understanding of the diagnostics and drug development sectors.

After a period of selling complex scientific instrumentation systems into the Pharmaceutical, Research, Pathology, Analytical and Manufacturing sectors, she made the fortuitous move into Recruitment. Working for both boutique and multinational recruitment organisations, Marilyn has worked across many industry and business sectors. She particularly enjoys the challenge of ‘The Search’ for hard-to-fill senior roles.

Marilyn’s focus in starting her company in 2011 was to look after the individual. This has developed into an extensive program – mexec jobstrategy™ working with candidates in many industries to assist them on one on one in their career aspirations and job search strategy. mexec Executive Search Recruitment division assists start-ups to multinational companies with their HR and recruitment requirements from graduate to Board level.

You can follow Marilyn and learn more about her work here:

This week we were so lucky to have the opportunity to chat with Professor David Dunstan about being a research supervisor. David holds a joint appointment at the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute and Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia with the positions of: Head – Baker/Deakin Department of Lifestyle and Diabetes and Chair, Lifestyle and Diabetes (Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition, Deakin); and Deputy Director/Physical Activity Laboratory Head (Baker).

His research focuses on understanding the adverse health consequences of too much sitting and the potential health benefits resulting from frequently breaking up sitting time. In particular, he has developed effective strategies to reduce and break up sitting time in adults with or at risk of developing chronic diseases and to support office workers to reduce sedentary behaviour in workplace settings. His current focus is directed at understanding how best to implement efficacious ‘sit less and move more’ interventions at scale within the healthcare setting for those living with chronic diseases and elucidating the effects of sedentary behaviour on brain health. Relevant to our conversation, David has supervised many, many thriving and successful research students and has lots of excellent advice to share.

You can follow David and learn more about his work here:

This week we had the best time chatting with Belinda (Bel) Smith, science writer extraordinaire. Belinda became a science journalist after realising she wasn't going to cut it as a scientist. Based in Melbourne, she's currently science reporter at the ABC. Her work appears on the ABC News website and has featured in the Best Australian Science Writing 2016 and 2018. You can also hear her talking about science on local ABC radio and Radio National. In her spare time, Bel's a GPS artist who runs routes in the shape of animals.

You can follow Belinda and learn more about her work here:

Welcome to another season of Let’s Talk SciComm! We’re very excited to be back with Season Eight, podcasting about our very favourite topic – science communication.

We’re kicking off the season talking with the brilliant Julia Cleghorn about approaches to getting kids excited about science.

Julia is an extroverted science geek, science communicator, project manager and performer at heart. Her career combines science and the arts to promote engagement and curiosity in science. She has communicated science to kids on TV - as writer, producer and presenter for Network Ten’s Scope; in magazines - as writer for CSIRO’s Double Helix; and on stage - with the Shell Questacon Science Circus. 

She currently works at the University of Melbourne as the Manager of STEM Outreach Programs. Her team develops and delivers workshops, shows and mentoring programs to inspire high school students to study STEM. Many programs are equity focused to drive change for low SES, regional and Indigenous students. 

Ultimately, her goal is to contribute to a more informed and curious society. She believes the wonder of scientific research and discovery can help people feel alive, and have a better appreciation of the world around them.