Women in Science

Women in Science

By Women in ScienceScience
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Women in Science episodes

  • Donuts and the hidden shapes of life

    How can topology and how fundamental maths can contribute to discoveries in health, disease and beyond? Donuts. Donuts will help explain. 

    Dr Agnese Barbensi is an applied and computational topologist whose research explores how the shape of biological molecules influences their behaviour. From proteins that tie themselves into knots to DNA that becomes tangled and untangled, Agnese uses mathematics to uncover patterns that help explain some of biology’s most complex questions.

    In this episode, Agnese reflects on growing up in a small village in Tuscany, choosing mathematics over literature, overcoming imposter syndrome during her PhD at Oxford, and building a career that spans mathematics, biology and physics. 

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    Women in Science celebrates the stories of remarkable women in science, across disciplines, cultures, career stages, and borders.

    21 min
  • Lessons from the veterinary operating room

    Associate Professor Wendy Goodwin is a veterinary anaesthesia and critical care specialist whose work is helping improve animal welfare, patient safety, and outcomes for animals big and small.

    Wendy grew up on a remote sheep station in outback Queensland ("our phone number was the morse code for K - long-short-long"). She attended school via radio through distance education, helped her dad at his vet practice through her childhood and teenage years, and went on to become a leading researcher and clinician at The University of Queensland.

    She talks about life in a family of veterinarians, the devastating impact of the wool market crash on her family, caring for racehorses, and the challenges of specialising in veterinary anaesthesia.

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    Women in Science celebrates the stories of remarkable women in science, across disciplines, cultures, career stages, and borders.

    34 min
  • Where does your food come from? A farm-to-plate adventure

    Did you know the average Australian eats 52kg of chicken a year?

    Meet Dr Ellie Assadi Soumeh, an expert in animal science and production who studies how to keep farm animals happy and healthy while helping grow the food we eat every day!

    Ellie talks about her early education in the midst of war, how a broken freezer changed the direction of her career, and the science of perfecting animal nutrition. 

    Now Ellie works at the University of Queensland, where she researchers how to feed chickens the right way so farming is fair for animals, farmers, and the planet.

    Tune in to hear Ellie's amazing story and discover the surprising science behind your dinner.

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    Women in Science celebrates the stories of remarkable women in science, across disciplines, cultures, career stages, and borders. This episode, published during National Science Week 2026, kicks off our fifth season.

    Learn more about Ellie's work: https://about.uq.edu.au/experts/17116

    31 min
  • Chaos and extremes
    Dr Meagan Carney works with chaos and extremes. As a mathematician, Meagan specialises in using machine learning to predict rare events — from hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico to temperature extremes in Germany and Texas, all the way to bacterial infections in patients with COVID-19.At the heart of Meagan’s work is using mathematics and machine learning to make informed decisions, and navigate our increasingly complex, chaotic, dynamic world.Read more about Meagan's work: https://smp.uq.edu.au/profile/11136/meagan-carney
    24 min
  • STEMsational journey in science education
    Hemanshi Galaiya is a PhD student by day and a trailblazing entrepreneur by night. In this episode, Kirsty chats with Hemanshi about her inspiring journey from her childhood in Kenya to founding a transformative STEM education initiative, Young Stripes, to address educational inequities. Hemanshi shares stories from her early life, where a lack of resources fueled her creativity and love for science. Despite limited practical exposure, her curiosity drove her to pursue a degree in chemical engineering in the UK. Now balancing a PhD in Australia and managing her organisation remotely, Hemanshi discusses the future of Young Stripes and her dream of establishing Kenya’s first science museum. ---Donate now to support future episodes of Women in Science: justgiving.com/campaign/women-in-science-podcastRead more about Hemanshi’s work: https://aibn.uq.edu.au/article/2023/09/hemanshi-galaiya-stem-kids-synthetic-bio-and-building-future-kenya
    26 min
  • Getting schooled on education research
    Associate Professor Marnee Shay is a researcher in Education, specializing in Indigenous education, policy studies, flexi schooling and youth studies. Today, she reflects on her own experience in the Australian education system and the pivotal moments that led her from youth work to academia.Marnee and Kirsty also talk about non-conventional approaches to data collection, preserving Indigenous languages in Wakka Wakka country, and the importance of effecting policy change through research.And you’ll hear about the critical importance of research collaboration across STEM fields and the social sciences.This episode was recorded on Jaggera and Turrbal Country.Donate now to support future episodes of Women in Science: https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/women-in-science-podcastRead more about Marnee’s research: https://education.uq.edu.au/profile/2069/marnee-shay
    29 min
  • Moo-vers and shakers in agriculture
    Professor Alison Van Eenennaam works in co-operative extension, translating agricultural research into education and practical action.Alison grew up in Melbourne, Australia, but was working in California when the Flavr Saver tomato became the first commercially grown GMO food to be approved for human consumption. She quickly found herself immersed in the world of biotechnology and agricultural science.In this conversation, Alison and Kirsty talk about GMO foods, bringing the science of universities into farming operations, the value of science outreach to communicate facts, not fear, for controversial research, and the future of genomics in cattle production to optimise genetic gain in breeding programs.Read more about Alison’s work: https://animalscience.ucdavis.edu/people/faculty/alison-van-eenennaamHelp us tell more fascinating stories about incredible women working in science: https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/women-in-science-podcast
    32 min
  • The Global Women's Breakfast
    In this bite-sized episode of Women in Science, Professor Mary Garson tells us about starting the Global Women’s Breakfast. Mary talks about the event’s humble beginning in 2009, bringing together women in chemistry from all around the world. In 2024, the breakfast will be held across more than 350 events in 70 countries.Mary was one of Women in Science’s first guests in season one – you can hear her full journey through a science career here: https://shorturl.at/vwBKTYou can find out more about the IUPAC Global Women’s Breakfast at https://iupac.org/You can also donate to our Women in Science podcast to help us continue to the stories of extraordinary women working across many different sciences at https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/women-in-science-podcast
    10 min
  • A truly global career
    Associate Professor Jessica Mar is a computational biologist, using statistics and computers to solve questions about big data in biology. Jessica started out with a science degree at UQ, before moving on to the UK as a research assistant with the Human Genome Project. She then moved from the United Kingdom to the United States, completing her PhD at Harvard University. Next came the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York for a post-doc position. Jessica’s incredible career shows no signs of slowing down – she is now a group leader at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology at The University of Queensland.In this episode, Jessica talks about travelling the world in pursuit of her career, being a role model for emerging researchers, and what big data means for us in the world of health and biology.Read more about Jessica's work: https://aibn.uq.edu.au/profile/3649/jessica-marThis series is made possible by the contribution from Professor Aideen McInerney-Leo
    23 min
  • We k-need to talk about exercise
    Dr Natalie Collins has always loved sport and exercise. It was in high school that science and physical education came together to form her passion for the human side of biology, evolving into a career in physiotherapy. These days, Natalie specialises in sports physiotherapy and research into knee pain across the lifespan. Her research examines the relationship between knee pain in early life and kneecap osteoarthritis and arthritis later in life. Her hope is to change this trajectory through early interventions, overhauling the continuum of pain as we age.In this conversation, Natalie talks about her study pathway into physiotherapy, fitting into a research group as a new researcher, the close relationship between research and research translation in with her patients, and the importance of multidisciplinary collaboration. Read more about Dr Natalie Collins’ research: https://researchers.uq.edu.au/researcher/12040 This series is made possible by the contribution from Professor Aideen McInerney-Leo
    21 min

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Podcast by The University of Queensland