Episodes

We can’t imagine a better way to launch the season than a chat with the brilliant Kirsty Costa, host and creator of the Weekend Birder Podcast.

Have you ever met an astrometallurgist? Neither had we, until we had the great pleasure of chatting with Dr Matt Shaw on this week's episode!

This week we were thrilled to chat with the wonderfully interdisciplinary Dr Paul Mason: anthropologist, neuroscientist, medical researcher, and inventor of a dung beetle board game.

This week we were thrilled to be joined by the wonderful Molly Patton - founder, sci-comm lead and producer at Miscible, a Melbourne-based science communication studio.

In this season’s first Listen To This Episode, Jen and Michael talk honestly about the imposter experience at work.

"I'm happy to talk to different audiences, but I don't want to dumb down my research." It's a phrase Jen and Michael both quietly dread. In this short episode, they dig into why it rubs them the wrong way.

In this short episode, Jen and Michael explain why radio is unlike almost any other communication opportunity you'll get.

Staring down a big deadline and suddenly overcome by the urge to tidy your desk, reorganise your bookshelf, or look up random facts? You're in good company. In this short episode, Jen and Michael (both fresh from some very big deadlines of their own) share how they get unstuck.

What better way to get the season started than a conversation with the multi-talented Dr James O’Hanlon? James is a scientist, author, artist and communicator with a background in behavioural ecology.

This week we have a wonderful conversation with Tina Katsaros, a cell biologist investigating abnormalities in mitochondrial function, metabolism and signalling in cells from people with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS).

This week we are beyond delighted to sit down for a wonderful conversation with Dr Chloe Lim, who is not only a trained molecular biologist but also a professional balloon artist and science communicator with over 20 years of experience in medical research and regulatory science.

This week we were absolutely thrilled to spend some time with one of our amazing former students, Clancy Lester, AKA ‘Bee Man’. Clancy is a nature lover and founder of Bees and Blossoms.

A 100-word lay summary sounds simple, but getting every word to count is harder than it looks. In this episode, Jen and Michael share practical tips for writing summaries that actually make people care.

In this short episode, Jen and Michael talk honestly about the emotional rollercoaster of academic rejection, why it’s not a reflection of your worth (or your work), and how to keep going when the disappointment hits hard.

Everyone keeps telling you to “tell a story” about your research… but what if you genuinely can’t see one? In this short episode, Jen and Michael tackle one of the most common (and quietly stressful) challenges in science communication: finding the story in your own work.

Everyone tells you networking is essential for your career. But what if the idea of walking into a room full of strangers and “working the room” makes you want to hide? In this short episode, Jen and Michael unpack why networking can feel uncomfortable and how reframing what networking actually is can make it much easier.

We’re VERY excited to chat with the incredible Melissa Cristina Márquez. Melissa, (AKA Mother of Sharks) is a bilingual Latina marine scientist, science communicator, and award-winning author currently pursuing her PhD.

This week we loved chatting with Dr Kira Hughes, an aerobiologist and award-winning science communicator who is passionate about helping other researchers learn how to effectively communicate their science.

This week we had a fascinating chat with Troy Beer whose diverse experiences have led him from digital content creation to communication lead roles.

This week we have the great pleasure of speaking with Dr Ariel Zeleznikow-Johnston, a neuroscientist based in Melbourne, Australia.

Take five minutes to tune into Jen and Michael’s top tips on how to craft a winning Three Minute Thesis Talk!

Still thinking about a talk you gave that didn’t go as well as you’d hoped? In this episode we tackle the all-too-familiar challenge of bouncing back after giving a talk that didn’t go to plan.

Settle in for 5 minutes and listen to Jen and Michael’s top advice about how to rediscover your curiosity and feel motivated and excited about science again.

Take a break for 5 minutes and listen to Jen and Michael’s thoughts about what you need to take into account when deciding what you’re going to do your PhD on.

Sarah Firth (she/ her) is an artist, writer, cartoonist, graphic recorder and animator, originally trained as a classical sculptor.

This week it is a huge honour for us to speak with our long-time scicomm colleague Nancy Longnecker who is Emerita Professor of Science Communication at the University of Otago.

Rachael Vorwerk studied science communication with us many years ago and has gone on to forge an incredible career in the field.

This week we are lucky enough to chat with Linh Do, an incredible sustainability leader, educator, and climate justice advocate based in Melbourne, Australia.

This week we had the most wonderful conversation with wildlife scientist, woman in STEMM/STEAM, science communicator, author and vessel operator, Dr Vanessa Pirotta.

This week we had a fascinating conversation with speech pathologist and science communicator Dr Georgie Johnson.

It’s hard to believe this is the 99th episode of Let’s Talk SciComm! To celebrate, we invited the rest of our fabulous teaching team back to the podcast.

Three years later and we couldn’t be more excited to be sharing Episode 100 of Let’s Talk SciComm with you.

Sara Phillips is an award-winning science writer and editor based in Melbourne, Australia. She edited the 2020, 10th-anniversary edition of the Best Australian Science Writing.

Dr Rachel Nowak is a consultant, an advisor, a scientist and a journalist. She has been working in science, technology and innovation on three continents.

Dr Jackson Ryan is a former molecular biologist and current freelance science journalist with a focus on long-form and narrative non-fiction science writing.

Tilly Boleyn (she/her) is the Head of Curatorial, Science Gallery Melbourne, University of Melbourne. Basically, she’s a massive nerd, curious about the world and everything in it.

Sara Garfield – a true expert in communicating about science in English as a non-native language.

Dr Catherine Richards Golini is a Healthcare Publications Editor at Karger Publishers, specialising in creating, developing, and editing resources for patients and HCPs,

David Crisante has had a career in journalism, political speechwriting – including for Australia’s Foreign Minister – and science communications.

We’re ending Season 11 with a fabulous conversation with climate change communicator Dr Simon Torok. Simon is CEO and Director of Scientell, a science communication company that seeks to maximise the impact of scientific information.

Dr Shane Huntington on episode 9 of Let’s Talk SciComm! Shane is the Chief Executive Officer of Little Big Steps; a charity helping kids with cancer.

Olly Dove is a marine ecology PhD candidate researching the foraging behaviour of little penguins and short-tailed shearwaters in lutruwita/Tasmania.

This week we had a fantastic chat with Dr Donovan Garcia-Ceron about how he got started in science communication and the things he’s doing to build his scicomm profile.

This week we had the great pleasure of speaking with Alfred Deakin Professor, Jo Salmon about the importance of effective science communication in research, especially when it comes to co-designed research.

With a PhD in Neuroscience, ~25 peer-reviewed publications, and a 5-year H-index of 16, Dr Sarah Treit combines a strong research track record with a passion for communicating science through visuals.

Jessie Panazzolo is the founder of Lonely Conservationists, a global online community working to help conservationists thrive by providing a platform to be heard, a strong community foundation and educational resources about caring for conservationists.

Professor John Besley studies public opinion about science and scientists’ opinions about the public.

This week, our conversation with Dr Samantha Grover, who leads the Soil-Atmosphere-Anthroposphere Lab at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia.

Welcome to Season 7: for something a bit different, we’re excited to be revisiting our 6 most listened-to episodes.

Listen for our thoughts and advice on how to plan, design and deliver a fantastic talk plus tips from two of our UniMelb SciComm alumni, Randy Mann and Stephanie Wong.

Jen and Michael chat about the Imposter Experience, better known as the Imposter Syndrome. Listen for our thoughts and advice on how to tackle feeling like an imposter plus tips from two of our UniMelb SciComm students, Stephanie Wong and Charlie Pattinson.

Listen for our thoughts and advice on how to be more engaging when communicating about science plus tips from two of our UniMelb SciComm students, Randy Mann and George Mechaalani.

We’re continuing our countdown of our most listened-to episodes and this week we’ve made it to number two. It came as no surprise to us that science writing is a topic so many of our listeners want to learn more about – being able to write clearly is such an essential skill!

Writing a thesis is hard! It’s probably the longest document you’ve ever had to write, and the experience is often accompanied by a tendency to procrastinate and feelings of overwhelm and imposterism.

Sue is a marine scientist, artist, children’s author/illustrator and graphic recorder who specialises in creative and visual communications.

Deakin University researchers Dr Helen Macpherson and Sara Dingle talk to us about the intersection of mental health and nutrition.

Researchers from Deakin University’s Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition (IPAN): Associate Professor Megan Teychenne and Dr Niamh Mundell.

Dr Kylie Quinn is a Vice-Chancellor’s Research Fellow and leads the Ageing and Immunotherapies Group at RMIT University.

We chat to Dr Malini Devadas about all things writing.

Natalie is an ARC Future Fellow, the Associate Dean, Diversity and Inclusion in the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences and leads the Therapeutics Discovery and Vascular Function in Pregnancy Group, in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, at the University of Melbourne.

This week we absolutely loved talking with Isolde Gottwald (AKA Issie), an exchange student from the University of Vienna who spent semester 2 this year studying with us at the University of Melbourne.

Christine Burns (BA Psych, PG Dip Sport Bus Mngt, MIPPA) is the CEO and Co-Founder of WALT Institute.

Crossover episode with Amelia from Avid Research.

Dr Jessamyn A. Fairfield, a lecturer in the School of Physics at the National University of Ireland Galway, joins us.

This week Michael and Jen are joined by our wonderful colleague Catriona Nguyen-Robertson, who has had great success in a number of speaking competitions.

We chat with James McCaw, Professor of Mathematical Biology in the School of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Melbourne.

Writing a thesis is hard! This episode will help!

Kate Cranney is a science communicator, scientist and visual artist. She combines these skills in her role as a Communications Advisor with CSIRO.

We pick Jonathan O’Donnell's brain about how to write a successful grant application.

This week, Jen and Michael were delighted to speak with Dr Michael Winlo.

We have a 5-way chat about the tips and tricks we’ve learned along the way about how to make time for the things that really matter to us.

Welcome you to our new podcast called Let’s Talk SciComm.

We’re delighted to chat with Euan Ritchie, Professor in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation in Deakin University’s Centre for Integrative Ecology and the School of Life and Environmental Sciences in Melbourne, Australia.

This week Jen and Michael chat about the important topic of ‘How to NOT be boring’ when communicating about science.

Dr Linden Ashcroft joins us, a lecturer in climate science and science communication at the University of Melbourne and a proud member of the UniMelbSciComm teaching team.

All scientists need to give talks but being able to give a brilliant talk takes skill. Are you wondering how to best keep your audience’s attention?

In this episode, we’re delighted to speak with Dr Graham Phillips, a very familiar – and much loved – Australian science communicator and journalist.

Michael and Jen chat about why science writing can be so hard to read and different approaches to improve clarity and readability.

We introduce you to Catriona Nguyen-Robertson who is a singing scientist: she sings in the laboratory and dreams up immunology experiments in the shower.

Listen for our thoughts and advice on how to tackle feeling like an imposter.