Anna Dumitriu uses pathogens in her art, and helps to uncover new insights in biology through her unconventional collaborations.
“You don’t come to science because you’re close-minded. You come to science because you’re creative”, says Dr Laura Lindenfeld, who’s helping researchers communicate their work in unconventional ways.
Turning 82 this year, this Nobel laureate and former Australian of the Year underscores a deep involvement in communicating evidence-based science and combating misinformation with a refreshing irreverence.
By not celebrating and talking about success, it means we don’t have the language or tools to give potential investors the confidence that they are investing with people that know what they are doing. Pitching to investors is as much about pitching yourself, as it is about the idea.
You need to be comfortable in your own skin, talking about your own worth and your own successes. And that takes practice and an environment in which you can practise. In Australia we don’t create that environment, we suppress people by discouraging or ignoring these stories. It’s a part of the research commercialisation challenge we simply must address.
As a behavioural scientist, Vanessa Hill understands what makes us tick. But her choice to communicate that knowledge through video developed quite organically.
A talented cellist at an early age, she had her sights set on the Sydney Conservatorium High School. But her mother saw that the emphasis on music translated into a reduced school curriculum, and her daughter would not be able to study her other passion: science. “She said to me, ‘Tanya, you’re too young to narrow yourself and rule out science.’ It was the biggest trauma to hit my 11-year-old self, but I’m so grateful now,” says Monro.