- ARC Centre for Excellence in Plants for Space enlists public help to grow extreme-environment microgreens for astronauts tired of ‘packaged slop’, supported by a National Science Week 2025 grant and promotion.
- 250+ ‘Grow for Launch’ kits distributed to schools in every state and territory. ‘Space Food Cookbook’ coming soon. Capacity crowds at workshops in public museums, gardens and Outback pubs.
- Positive national media coverage and ‘hard-to-reach’ audiences engaged.
“National Science Week provides the opportunity for science engagement teams to connect with people who are harder to reach throughout the rest of the year…”
– Dr Lieke van der Hulst, Plants for Space Engagement and Communications Officer
For scientists at the ARC Centre for Excellence in Plants for Space, the mission to grow nutritious ‘future foods’ on Mars and beyond, starts on planet Earth.
Not just in labs, but schools, urban spaces, public gardens and Outback communities.
This is precisely why participating in National Science Week 2026 sits high on the agenda of Plants for Space Engagement and Communications Officer Dr Lieke van der Hulst.
The two-time #ScienceWeek event organiser (2024 and 2025) is already planning ‘out-of-this-world’ activities after her team submitted a 2026 national grant application.
In 2025, Plants for Space was among 31 recipients awarded a National Science Week grant by the Australian Government. The funding helped supersize the organisation’s ‘Grow for Launch’ program:
- More than 250 ‘Grow for Launch’ microgreens kits delivered to schools in every state and territory, complete with seeds, hydroponics gear, test tools, and guidance on how to alter plant sensory traits (colour, taste, smell and texture) and investigate conditions that help sustainable growth.
- Creation of a ‘Space Food Cookbook’, including Science Week participants’ test results, recipes and ideas, alongside contributions from astronauts, nutritionists and chefs. Due for release early 2026.
- Science in the Outback Pub events organised by the Outback Communities Authority in partnership with Plants for Space. Staged in Andamooka and Copley, the forums tackled the question: ‘Is it easier to grow food on Mars than in the South Australian Outback?’. Achieving food security is a key challenge for remote communities and disproportionately impacts First Nations Australians. Plants for Space scientists shared insights on future food missions, in Space and on Earth, and explored how their research, technologies and processes could benefit Outback communities. They also delivered school workshops.
- Events at public museums and gardens. At Melbourne’s Scienceworks, families participated in Grow for Launch workshops and decorated plant growth bottles as space rockets. At the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, school students designed lunar-adapted plants. In Western Australia, students joined space salad workshops and explored plant growth in space-like conditions at Kings Park.
The expansive program meant Lieke had limited time to focus on media outreach.
She says: “In 2024, we shared our events with media teams at our partner universities (University of Western Australia, University of Adelaide, Flinders University, University of Melbourne and La Trobe University) and were either mentioned in a local press blast about ‘What’s on during National Science Week’ or produced a media release specifically for our events to be shared through these teams.
“This year, we didn’t have the opportunity to do this work ourselves. But, thanks to being included in media releases developed by Science in Public, we received steady press attention across all three states regardless.
“I was very excited about the support provided by Science in Public.”
As a result, media coverage included:
- ABC News online article (national)
- 2 x ABC TV (South Australia) reports
- ABC Radio Perth interview
- Triple M (South Australia) ‘Rural Focus’ radio interview
- FIVEAAA ‘Gardening Show’ radio interview
- ARN Regional Network (South Australia) radio interview
Lieke’s biggest tip for individuals or organisations interested in participating in National Science Week?
“Get started with your planning as soon as you can – events often have quite a bit of lead time, so being able to register your events early will help you get your head around the months leading up to National Science Week,” Lieke said.
“We have individual learnings from all our events, but they are often quite specific to the form of the event – for example, making sure you have a dedicated MC for your speaking events; considering a small entrance fee which can help manage participant numbers; and establishing local connections for your event so you have a network of people working with you.
“But my biggest advice would probably be to just try something. You find ways of connecting with your community through these types of events and who knows what will follow on from it!”
National Science Week 2026 runs from Saturday 15 to Sunday 23 August.
For news and updates, including how and when to register your National Science Week 2026 events, apply for grants and more, visit: www.scienceweek.net.au