At the Melbourne 2022 conference our panel spoke eloquently about their ideas and activities. We asked two of our panelists to write their ideas for the Autumn issue of HERDSA CONNECT magazine.

Georgina Aiuto - science communicator

Georgina Aiuto studied a Bachelor of Science majoring in Physics at Swinburne University. Georgina shares what was useful in developing her employability and skill-building throughout university.

I was introduced to the world of Science Communication, or SciCom for short, through lecturers and tutors who had discussed their own career interests in the field. Because of which, during my twelve month placement, I worked at a digital marketing firm, August.

To a lot of people outside of the Physics and STEM community, this choice is very strange to them, as almost every second person outside of this bubble has said “What job will you even get with physics aside from a researcher?” including some staff members who specialise in employability. However to increase my skill set for my goal of SciCom, this placement was incredibly useful as I worked in multidisciplinary teams, learnt how businesses communicate, coding, video editing, agency agile, google ads, podcasts and more. This is one of the troublesome stereotypes many STEM students face when it comes to employment.

Swinburne’s club community and extracurricular events were also very helpful, from the Physics Club to participating in an In2Science, where I communicated sciences to low socioeconomic high school students. Swinburne staff also introduced me to the undergraduate SciCom organisation Let’s Torque, where I won the people’s choice award for their public speaking competition. In 2022, I was the head of Let’s Torque and that wouldn’t have been possible without these lecturers encouraging me to try the smaller scale internal competition first. This year, I am working with a supervisor who specialises in Maths Education Research, to critically analyse Victorian STEM Outreach programs through a Vacation Scholarship. My goal is to bring STEM education through SciCom to the Australian Youth as well as taking this research further.

Shannon Ng Krattli - a passion for research

Shannon Ng Krattli is an international student from Malaysia who recently completed her Honours in Nutrition Science at Deakin University. Shannon shares her experience and some insights into teaching practices that support or hinder learning.

I came to Australia wanting to become a dietician but found my passion for research along the way. While at Deakin, I was given the opportunity to intern for Geelong Food Relief Centre where I worked with a team of diverse students to conduct extensive research on Jamie Oliver’s Ministry of Food. I also interned for Cancer Council Victoria and witnessed firsthand how a research study is conducted from start to finish. I am now planning to enrol in a PhD. I was also given the opportunity to be a student partner where I worked as a co-researcher and consulted for many of Deakin’s research projects for equity and inclusivity. These experiences led me to obtaining three journal article publications, primary author of a book chapter, presented in eight academic conferences, and I am now a lecturer at Deakin College. Those experiences were very helpful as I learn best through hands-on work experiences. Applying my knowledge to the real world gave me confidence and helped my personal and professional development.

Some not-so-helpful things were when there was a lack of communication between the unit chair and unit staff. This affected the information passed on to the students which had a negative impact on my grades. When additional assessment material/resources did not correspond to the assessment instructions and rubric it became difficult when completing assessments. If the teaching academic is not clear on the information, the students ultimately suffer the consequences. An effective hierarchy of communication needs to be prioritised, and all staff involved in delivering unit content and assessments should be included in discussions prior to releasing information to students.

Photo: L to R Sally Male (convenor) with HERDSA conference student panel members Shannon Ng Krattli, Georgina Aiuto, and Omkar Kishor Auti.