We’re holding a series of courses at JCU in Cairns and Townsville.
Meet working journalists from TV, radio and online, learn what they need, and how to keep it accurate – Cairns on Tuesday 17 September, Townsville on 19 September and Monday 23 September.
Find out how to talk to business, government and the community: Cairns on Wednesday 18 September, Townsville on Friday 20 September.
[continue reading…]
Michael won the award – presented at a glittering ceremony at the Australian Museum in Sydney on Wednesday, August 28 – for a feature he wrote on plastic pollution. The story was published in Cosmos magazine.
At the time of publication, Michael was also features editor of the magazine, working alongside editor Andrew Masterson – who is now editor-in-chief at Science In Public.
[continue reading…]166 events and exhibitions, 13 online activities, and dozens of great stories and talent.
National and international talent, researchers, experts, and other interesting people available for interview around the country. Plenty of photo opportunities.
Adelaide
New South Wales
Tasmania
International Society for Stem Cell Research 2018 Annual Meeting: 2,500+ stem cell scientists from 50 countries will hear from 150+ speakers including:
Fred ‘Rusty’ Gage (USA) is making mini-brains from human stem cells in the lab. But in order for these new tissues to function, they need to become well-connected.
Fred is pioneering research to explore how transplanted human neural organoids (mini-organs) can mature into tissues with blood vessel and nerve connections. This work could lead to methods of replacing brain tissue lost to stroke or disease, and repairing spinal cords damaged by trauma.
Right now, the stem cells in your bone marrow are making one billion new red blood cells per minute. Andrew Elefanty (Australia) is studying both embryonic stem cells and more specialised blood-forming stem cells to reveal how our body makes blood and what leads to leukaemia and other blood diseases. He will reveal his team’s latest insights. [continue reading…]
Case studies and profile building
We can help you raise the profile of your research and researchers by:
For example, for $5,000 we can write 10 short case studies; for $10,000 we can write them, share them, and get some attention for your researchers. If you’d like more information give me a call – 0417 131 977.
China and Japan
If you’ve had any recent success with collaborations in China or Japan, I’d love to hear about it. I’m visiting China and Japan at the end of the month with a City of Melbourne Business Mission. I’ll be tweeting and We-Chatting about great collaborations in research and also drawing on our past lists and case studies: http://stories.scienceinpublic.com.au/japanand http://stories.scienceinpublic.com.au/china
Training
Communication training for researchers is happening around the country over the next few months. If your researchers need some guidance, mentoring or practice in media interviews, social media or pitching, check out the courses in Sydney, Perth, Adelaide, and Melbourne. Details below.
The Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science
$750,000 for science/innovation/teaching—nominations for the Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science now open
Have you ever nominated someone for a prize? Felt the buzz on anticipation when you hear they are a finalist? Shared the thrill as they win? Then watched the impact it has on their career?
It’s time to put forward your unrecognised leaders and your rising stars for a Prime Minister’s Prize for Science. And if you don’t have time to drive the nomination, pass this email on to someone who does.
And more prizes
Read on for details about the PM’s Prizes and other prizes open right now including the Eureka’s, L’Oréal, Tall Poppies and Academy awards.
Regards,
Niall
Today:
Adding whole grains to chicken food boosts meat production efficiency and could improve global food security. It’s also likely to be good for backyard chickens, says Sydney scientist Amy Moss.
Amy’s research at The University of Sydney’s Poultry Research Foundation showed that replacing some of the ground grain in chickens’ feed with whole grain both improved their digestion and how efficiently they produced meat.
Amy is available for interview and is presenting her research at the 29th Australian Poultry Science Symposium, which starts in Sydney on Monday 5 February.
She’s the NSW winner of Fresh Science 2017—our national competition helping early-career researchers find, and then share, their stories of discovery.
We’ll be sharing the other winners’ stories via this bulletin in the coming weeks.
On Friday:
Nobel Laureate Steven Chu launches new institute at UTS – 9.30 am Friday 2 February 2018, UTS Great Hall (Building 1).
Instant results at home, at the surgery, and at the bedside for every major medical test. That’s the vision for a new research institute at UTS.
They plan to use quantum dots and other nanotech to make small, inexpensive diagnostics as simple to use as a pregnancy test and as ubiquitous as smartphones.
And with their technology the human eye can now watch a single molecule at work inside a living cell.
Want more Stories of Australian Science?
Using drones to protect swimmers (and sharks); tracking space junk; detecting toxic algal blooms in Tasmania, China, and France; using silk to repair damaged eardrums; stopping people going into floodwaters; and more.
Each year we pull together a publication with some of the highlights in Australian science from the year. We’ve just published all the stories from 2017 online (along with our previous collections) at www.scienceinpublic.com.au/stories.
You can filter by state, discipline and organisation, as well as search by keyword. If you’d like to speak with any of the scientists, feel free to contact them directly or we can help you make contact.
If you’d like a hard copy of the publication let me know and I can post some to you.
Do your colleagues like science stories too?
Please feel free to share this bulletin with your colleagues, or they can subscribe at: www.scienceinpublic.com.au/category/bulletins/media-bulletin
We send updates like this every couple of weeks with science news and talent from around Australia.
Kind regards,
Niall [continue reading…]
We’re looking for a science communicator to join our team at Science in Public. We need someone who is organised, loves science and wants to help scientists get their work into the public space.
Macquarie University is pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Dali Kaafar as Scientific Director of the Optus Macquarie University Cyber Security Hub.
Prof Kaafar will move from CSIRO Data61 on 3 October 2017.
“It is a pleasure to appoint Prof Kaafar who is regarded worldwide as one of the leaders in cyber security, in particular regarding data privacy issues,” says Dr Christophe Doche, Executive Director of the Cyber Security Hub.
“Privacy is a fascinating and important research area as it cuts across fields of information technology, business, law, criminology, psychology, and ethics,” he says. “This research topic is thus very well aligned with the philosophy of the Cyber Security Hub, which is to tackle cyber security issues with an interdisciplinary mindset. Privacy-preserving technologies are key to enable collaboration amongst organisations and to foster private and confidential data-sharing for wider and more powerful cyber security approaches.”
We’re looking for a science communicator to join our team at Science in Public for 3 to 6 months with an immediate start.
We need someone who is organised, loves science and wants to help scientists get their work into the public space. Ideally you’ve got a couple of years professional work experience and can hit the ground running.
454 events and exhibitions, 21 online activities, and dozens of great stories and talent.
National and international talent, researchers, experts, and other interesting people available for interview around the country. Plenty of photo opportunities.
New dating of ancient human teeth discovered in a Sumatran cave site suggests modern humans were in Southeast Asia 20,000 years earlier than previously thought.
The international research led by Dr Kira Westaway from Macquarie University and published in Nature, has pushed back the timing of when humans first left Africa, their arrival in Southeast Asia, and the first time they lived in rainforests.
This evidence of humans living in the Sumatra rainforest more than 63,000 years ago, also suggests they could have made the crossing to the Australian continent even earlier than the accepted 50,000 to 60,000 years ago.
Other Australian universities involved in the research included the Australian National University, the University of Queensland, the University of Wollongong, Griffith University and Southern Cross University.
National Science Week officially kicks off 12 August—but there are a few cheeky events sneaking in early (this week).
Below are some highlights we’ve picked out of the 1,800+ events—you can see all our picks here.
From tonight in Melbourne
There will be ‘Blood’
‘BLOOD: Attract & Repel’—the inaugural exhibition of Science Gallery Melbourne—opens today, exploring the significance and fascination of blood in science, medicine, art, and religion.
Science Gallery Melbourne director Rose Hiscock and ‘BLOOD’ creative director Ryan Jeffries are available for interviews.
Media enquiries via Katrina Hall kathall@ozemail.com.
Tomorrow in Melbourne
Is GMO the solution to feeding a growing global population? What does the science say?
A new movie ‘Food Evolution’, narrated by Neil deGrasse Tyson, explores the facts, fictions and feelings swirling around genetically modified crops and the role of biotechnology in food.
One of the experts featured in the doco Dr Alison Van Eenennaam (University of California, Davis) is in Melbourne for a screening and is available for interviews.
Contact her directly via alvaneenennaam@ucdavis.edu, or via Belinda Griffiths on 0400 042 297.
We’re looking for an experienced science communicator to join our team at Science in Public, someone:
You must be able to write fluently and accurately, manage a number of projects at once, and work to tight deadlines. A solid grounding in WordPress, Twitter and MailChimp would also be useful.
The position is full-time or near full-time. Pay will be negotiated based on experience and hours can be negotiated to be family-friendly.
If you are interested, please send me a short email summarising:
Science in Public is a specialist science communication business based in Spotswood, Melbourne. We have a core team of six plus associates around the country. We work with governments, universities, research institutes and individual scientists to help them present their work in public. You can read more about us and our work at www.scienceinpublic.com.au.
If you have any questions, you can give Sarah Brooker a call on 0413 332 489. Otherwise, email your one-pager addressing the above and a CV to sarah@scienceinpublic.com.au by lunchtime Friday 7 April.
Sarah and Niall have a new baby boy, Ben, born 1 December 2016. He’s 3.6 kg and in a hurry to grow up.
Science in Public has no connection with Shac Communications. [continue reading…]
On Sunday 14 February for journalists at the 2016 AAAS, Washington DC
Forty of the world’s leading science journalists will join me for a good dinner, Australian shiraz, and a briefing on some of the best of Australian science on Sunday 14 February 2016 during the AAAS Annual Meeting in Washington DC.
Science in Public’s Australian Dinner has become a minor tradition during the AAAS. It enables Australia to build on the links with international science reporters which were created when Melbourne hosted the World Conference of Science Journalists back in 2007.
Our guests in 2015 included:
Our partners in past dinners have included the Australian Government’s industry department, Australia’s SKA team, Inspiring Australia, COSMOS and the Australian Science Media Centre. We welcome partners who share our interest in sharing the best Australian science achievements with the world.
Footy player, netballer and ballet dancer available for interview
Re-training the brain with painless exercises may be the key to stopping recurring tendon pain, according to Melbourne researchers.
Dr Ebonie Rio
AFL, basketball and netball players are the major sufferers, with tendon pain in the knee debilitating and long-lasting. The injury can sideline a player or cause them to give up the sport entirely.
“More than 50 per cent of people who stop sport because of tendon pain still suffer from that pain 15 years later,” says Dr Ebonie Rio of the Monash University Tendon Research group.
“Our simple exercise is revolutionising how we treat tendinopathy.”
Geoff Carr, Science Editor, Economist. Credit: Edge.org
Join us for a conversation with Geoff Carr, The Economist’s Science Editor, hosted by the University of Melbourne on behalf of the Parkville Precinct Communications Group, at a special viewing of the exhibition TRANSMISSIONS | Archiving HIV/AIDS | Melbourne 1979-2014. The exhibition showcases artworks, manuscripts, and other material from private collections and public archives explores the history of AIDS as seen in Melbourne.
Geoff Carr is in Melbourne for AIDS 2014. We have asked him if he could join us for a conversation about science, science journalism, The Economist, and his impressions from AIDS 2014.
12.30 – 2pm Thursday 24 July
Light lunch is provided followed by discussion in the George Paton Gallery – Level 2, Student Union Building, University of Melbourne, Parkville Campus
M/C: Niall Byrne, Creative Director, Science in Public
After training as a zoologist, Geoff Carr joined The Economist in 1991 as Science Correspondent. He then became Tokyo Correspondent in 1994 and in 1995 moved to his current job as Science Editor.
When he isn’t editing he has particular interests in evolution, genomics, biotech, AIDS and malaria, and renewable-energy technologies.
This is a free forum aimed at journalists, science communicators and researchers.
Places are limited, RSVP essential to niall@scienceinpublic.com.au
For more information about the exhibition contact or if you’re lost on the day contact Rebecca Scott | Acting Director Media and PR| University Communications Mobile +61 417 164 791, rebeccas@unimelb.edu.au
