ABOUT ME
I’m an academic researcher, an educator and a professional science communicator.
My career path has been anything but linear.
I currently work as a researcher for the Office of the Women in STEM Ambassador, an Australian Government initiative that addresses gender inequities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). I lead research projects to investigate how to dismantle barriers to girls’ and women’s participation in STEM. I also lead the Office’s national efforts to embed evaluation into equity programs — producing an evaluation guide and creating the STEM Equity Evaluation Portal to support program evaluation on a national scale. In addition, my role at the Office involves contributing evidence-based advice to federal Ministers and the STEM sector on the best ways to improve gender equity in STEM (read more).
However, my career started in a very different place — as a high school science teacher. After a few years of teaching, I took a detour into the world of science communication. I worked at various museums in Canada and Australia, developing and performing science shows, doing science demonstrations for daytime television. I produced award-winning education programs for the Australian Museum and the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney. I co-founded and directed the Sydney Science Festival — an annual world-class science festival delivered by over 60 associated partners and attended by ~100,000 people (read more).
The teacher in me was curious to understand what people were learning from the science programs I produced. So, my career took a turn into education research. I embarked on a PhD at the University of New South Wales to explore the science of science education — measuring if and how science communication and education programs change people’s scientific literacy and perspectives of science. My PhD led me to where I am today.
Throughout my career, I have given talks worldwide, including on the TEDx stage, and been interviewed on television, radio, podcasts and various news outlets about science education and gender equity (read more).