Let's Talk SciComm

Is your writing too formal? Too boring? Or too hard to read? Have you been given the feedback that you need to make your writing more conversational?

Take five minutes to tune into Jen and Michael’s top tips on how to make your writing easier to read. 

You can find more great advice here:

• https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-write-conversationally

• https://www.ukri.org/what-we-do/developing-people-and-skills/mrc/the-secrets-of-science-writing/

• https://entomologytoday.org/2014/11/25/5-ways-to-improve-your-science-writing/ 

Transcript: https://go.unimelb.edu.au/7t8p

It's that time of year when many of us are feeling overwhelmed by our to-do lists. If you have a big task on your list that you’re struggling to make headway with, it’s time for your 5-minute Friday pep talk. 

Join Jen and Michael for their top tips on how to manage a sense of overwhelm and get stuff done! 

You can find more great advice here:

• https://www.calm.com/blog/what-to-do-when-you-feel-overwhelmed

• https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/12/well/mind/task-paralysis.html

• https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-manage-any-overwhelming-large-project-ellen-delap-cpo-3xuwc/

• https://hbr.org/2019/10/how-to-deal-with-constantly-feeling-overwhelmed

Transcript: https://go.unimelb.edu.au/qj8p

Got a talk coming up? Worried your powerpoint slides are boring? Think your audience might get distracted or even doze off while you’re talking? 

Stop for 5 minutes and tune into Jen and Michael’s top tips on how to improve your Powerpoint slides. 

You can find more great advice here:

• https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/how-to-avoid-death-by-powerpoint

• https://www.student.unsw.edu.au/design-tips

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iwpi1Lm6dFo

• https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/this-working-life/how-to-avoid-death-by-powerpoint/104210448

Transcript: https://go.unimelb.edu.au/3jsp

Keen to start a new habit? Maybe you want to exercise regularly, read more papers or get more writing done? Well, if you’ve got 5 minutes, Jen and Michael are back with a new season of Listen To This If….

This week they’re giving you a quick Friday pep talk with their top tips on how to get started with a new habit. Listen now! 

You can find more great advice here:

• https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-long-does-it-really-take-to-form-a-habit/ 

• https://jamesclear.com/three-steps-habit-change

• https://www.sciencefocus.com/science/easy-science-backed-hack-habits

• https://theconversation.com/heres-what-happens-in-your-brain-when-youre-trying-to-make-or-break-a-habit-201189

Transcript: https://go.unimelb.edu.au/6jsp

Three years later and we couldn’t be more excited to be sharing Episode 100 of Let’s Talk SciComm with you. We are so proud to still be creating this podcast and couldn’t be more grateful to YOU, our fabulous listeners, for continuing to support us. 

To celebrate reaching episode 100 and the end of Season 13, Jen and Michael decided to turn the spotlight inwards and ask each other some of our favourite quick-fire questions, with a few new questions thrown in for good measure. We hope the result is a fun conversation in which you can get to know us a bit better and learn something about effective science communication along the way. 

We’ll be back with more episodes of ‘Let’s Talk SciComm’ and ‘Listen To This If…’ in February 2025 and in the meantime, we wish you all the best for a lovely Festive Season and hopefully holidays filled with fun and rest. 

We’d love to connect with you here:

Jen
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jen-martin-scicomm/
https://bsky.app/profile/scidocmartin.bsky.social
https://www.instagram.com/scidocmartin/

Michael
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-wheeler-3872b869/
https://bsky.app/profile/michael-wheeler.bsky.social 

Transcript: https://go.unimelb.edu.au/9jsp

It’s hard to believe this is the 99th episode of Let’s Talk SciComm! 

As you can imagine, we are very excited to still be producing our podcast three years and 99 episodes later. To celebrate, we invited the rest of our fabulous teaching team - Dr Catriona Nguyen-Robertson, Dr Linden Ashcroft and Dr Graham Phillips back to the podcast. The five of us spend half an hour reflecting on the highs and lows of our science communication experiences and what we’ve learned along the way about how to be more effective communicators. We hope you’ll find our reflections helpful!

You can connect with us here:

Jen
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jen-martin-scicomm/
https://bsky.app/profile/scidocmartin.bsky.social
https://www.instagram.com/scidocmartin/

Michael
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-wheeler-3872b869/
https://bsky.app/profile/michael-wheeler.bsky.social

Catriona
https://www.linkedin.com/in/catrionanguyen-robertson/
https://bsky.app/profile/nyuroscientist.bsky.social
https://www.instagram.com/nyuroscientist/

Linden
https://www.linkedin.com/in/linden-ashcroft-08640b59/
https://bsky.app/profile/lindenashcroft.bsky.social
https://www.instagram.com/lindenashcroft/

Graham
https://www.linkedin.com/in/graham-phillips-80b3b920/
https://www.instagram.com/grahamphillipsscience/

Transcript: https://go.unimelb.edu.au/7jsp

This week we had a fascinating conversation with speech pathologist and science communicator Dr Georgie Johnson. Georgie is a clinical researcher with an interest in childhood stuttering treatment and addressing the psychological impact of stuttering for children. Georgie completed her PhD in 2024 investigating management of stuttering during the school years. Part of this program of research was a treatment trial of an intervention to support 6-12 year old children who stutter from across Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Hong Kong. From this trial, Georgie and colleagues have published a range of freely accessible practical recommendations and clinical resources for community clinicians to use to optimise treatment outcomes for their school age clients. Georgie is also one of the Directors of the Stuttering Association for the Young Australia (SAY AU) and continues to work in the field to explore psychosocial support for young people who stutter. 

You can follow Georgie and find out more about her work here:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgie-johnson-5a87971b5/

https://bsky.app/profile/georgiejspeechpath.bsky.social 

https://www.rrr.org.au/on-demand/segments/speech-pathologist-dr-georgie-johnson-on-supporting-stuttering-children

https://healthsciences.unimelb.edu.au/departments/audiology-and-speech-pathology/news-and-events/meet-speech-pathology-phd-student-georgina-johnson

You can find out more information about SAY AU and their programs for young people who stutter at www.sayaustralia.com.au

Transcript: https://go.unimelb.edu.au/5jsp

This week we had the most wonderful conversation with wildlife scientist, woman in STEMM/STEAM, science communicator, author and vessel operator, Dr Vanessa Pirotta. You’re going to love hearing Vanessa’s infectious enthusiasm for all things science and science communication. 

Vanessa’s research uses innovative technologies for wildlife conservation. Vanessa works collaboratively across both marine and terrestrial environments merging cutting edge technology to access animals in unique ways. Most notable works include drones to collect whale snot and the use of computer algorithms and AI for the detection of illegal wildlife trafficking.

Vanessa is a passionate and experienced science communicator who plays an important role in society by making science accessible across generations. Vanessa’s spoken on the TEDx platform and has been recognized by the Australian Financial Review as one of the top 100 Women of Influence and recently, a 2024 finalist in the Australian’s Museums Eureka awards for promoting understanding of science and winner of the 2024 Women’s Agenda Leadership Awards Emerging leader in Science.

Vanessa is working collaboratively with indigenous knowledge holders such as the Gamay Rangers, to learn more about the marine mammals in our blue backyard but also identifying appropriate ways scientists can respectfully incorporate First Nations perspectives into marine research. Vanessa is also the lead scientist of the citizen science program Wild Sydney Harbour, connecting community with its blue backyard.

Vanessa is also a proud children’s book author, with her book The Voyage of Whale and Calf, serving as an annual reminder of humpback whale biology and ecology in Australian waters. In 2024, Vanessa also released two additional books; The Humpback Highway: Diving into the mysterious world of whales and a second children’s book, Oceans At Night.

Vanessa is a highly experienced presenter and was the invited MC for the prestigious Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science at Parliament House, Canberra in 2023/24.

You can follow Vanessa and learn more about her work here:

https://www.vanessapirotta.com/

https://www.wildsydneyharbour.com/

https://www.instagram.com/drvanessapirotta/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/drvanessapirotta/

https://www.facebook.com/DrVanessaPirotta/

https://scienceandtechnologyaustralia.org.au/profile/dr-vanessa-pirotta/

https://x.com/vanessapirotta

https://www.tiktok.com/@drvanessapirotta

Transcript: https://go.unimelb.edu.au/4jsp

This week we are lucky enough to chat with Linh Do, an incredible sustainability leader, educator, and climate justice advocate based in Melbourne, Australia. As Director of the Wattle Fellowship at the University of Melbourne, she cultivates the next generation of sustainability leaders through an innovative year-long program. With over a decade of experience across advocacy, media, and social enterprise sectors, Linh has worked globally to drive climate action and community engagement.

Linh holds multiple leadership positions in the community, including chair of Climate Action Network Australia and a board member at the Lord Mayor's Charitable Foundation, and a research committee member at the Centre for Policy Development. She is a co-founder of the technology start-up OurSay and has previously led community organising at the Australian Conservation Foundation.

Linh's work bridges diverse disciplines and sectors to create holistic approaches to complex environmental challenges. Prior to her current role, she served as the Australia and Pacific lead for The Climate Reality Project, Al Gore's climate leadership program; and as publisher and editor-in-chief of The Verb during the Paris climate negotiations. She has collaborated with diverse organisations, from high school students to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Reuters Foundation.

 Externally, she has been recognised with for her sustainability leadership from Green Gown Awards Australasia Sustainability Leadership, as a Woman of Influence from the Australian Financial Review (AFR) and as the Australian Geographic Young Conservationist of the Year.

You can follow Linh and learn more about her work here:

https://www.instagram.com/linhloop/

https://www.instagram.com/wattlefellowship/

https://x.com/lmdo

https://www.linkedin.com/in/linhmdo/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/wattle-fellowship/

Transcript: https://go.unimelb.edu.au/2jsp

This week we had the wonderful pleasure of catching up with one of our very own alumni! Rachael Vorwerk studied science communication with us many years ago and has gone on to forge an incredible career in the field. Rachael is a science communicator and freelance consultant who has been published in The Conversation, Cosmos Magazine and Eingana. She has helped scientists to share their research in BBC World News, The Independent, ABC and The Age, among others. 

Currently Rachael works at RMIT University as the Science Communication, Education and Outreach Manager at a 7-year Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence, the biggest research funding scheme available in Australia. She works with a group of around 50 researchers spanning PhD students through to Distinguished Professors – and helps the team to make their research more accessible to broader audiences.

You can follow Rachael and learn more about her work here:

https://au.linkedin.com/in/rachael-vorwerk

https://twitter.com/rachael_vorwerk

Here’s how a TV series inspired the KeepCup revolution. What’s next in the war on waste?

What role does Entertainment-Education play in the adoption and maintenance of sustainable behaviours: a case study of reusable coffee cups in millennials

https://www.combs.org.au/ (The Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Optical Microcombs for Breakthrough Science (COMBS); AKA the 7-year Research Centre where Rachael is currently working)

https://climatethrive.com.au/  (Climate Thrive, the company Rachael co-founded)

Transcript: https://go.unimelb.edu.au/8jsp