WOMEN IN STEAM

I began loving science at a regional primary school with nine students, starting off as one of those gangly, unkempt kids who went missing too often. Only to be found hours later, stunned like a rabbit in headlights, doing something problematic or dangerous, or both. I couldn’t wait to get back and tell everyone about my endeavours. Although my scientific pursuits have become more sophisticated since then, I still take great pleasure in what I learn and sharing it with others. After studying biology in a slightly more formal setting at university, this evolved into a passion for communicating science. Growing up on a working farm in regional Australia and sharing primary care responsibilities with my parents made me tangibly aware of the effect science has on our personal lives and made me question why it seemed somewhat intimidating. I really love the challenge of understanding something complex, such as scientific literature, and turning it into something that is accessible for people who do not have the privilege of a tertiary education. Science has a language of its own. I’d like to think of what I do as translating it. I’m an enthusiastic generalist, as it is the processes, philosophy and story behind science that fascinates me the most. I believe science should tell a story everyone can connect with, and I hope to share what I have learnt during my time here at UNSW.

I came from Malaysia, did my undergraduate studies in Australia, worked in New Zealand as a research assistant and then returned to Australia to pursue a PhD. I then went to the
United States for postdoctoral training. Now I am back in Australia as an ARC DECRA fellow in the School of Psychology trying to understand why people overeat, the mechanisms in the brain that control our appetite, and how we can utilize this knowledge to develop more effective treatment strategies to help prevent overeating and obesity. Throughout my scientific career, I have been fortunate enough to be influenced by many incredible women. First, my mum, who did not have the opportunity to study science, had always encouraged me to pursue science since a young age. Second, my supervisor when I was a research assistant, re-ignited my passion for science when I was about to quit my science career. Her love for science, creativity, and problem-solving showed me how rewarding a life in science could be. Third, my PhD supervisor who guided and mentored me, and generously provided me with opportunities to showcase my work, not only to fellow scientists but also to the wider community. Without these women, I would not be where I am now. I would like to acknowledge these wonderful women in this Women in STEAM exhibit as I follow in their footsteps in inspiring the next generation of scientists.

My research involves evolutionary computation, industrial engineering, logistics and supply chain management, and medical data analytics. I have worked on business process simulation and optimisation for container terminals since my undergraduate study in logistics engineering. I apply the Internet of Things (IoT) techniques to industry and manufacturing in my postgraduate research. I have devoted my time to developing Evolutionary Algorithms (EAs) and exploring their applications to logistics engineering problems for many years. Now, I am motivated to explore and model real-life engineering problems in aviation and utilise swarm intelligent algorithms to solve those problems. Several advanced methodologies like machine learning, data mining, and social network analyses are utilised in my research. Theory studies of these technologies are also carried out to promote their development. As a scientist with background in engineering and science, I am interested in investigating real engineering problems and modelling them from a mathematical perspective. Discovering more efficient methods to solve those problems is very fulfilling for me.

Growing up with the ocean on my doorstep and an infatuation with all its mysterious ways, it was no surprise to anyone that I studied Marine Science. I followed my desire to both learn more and help protect this amazing Blue Planet which has led to numerous adventures and once-in-a-lifetime experiences. I am a part of an incredible team of scientists whose vision is to put science into action to assist our vulnerable coral reef ecosystems. My project focuses on dysbiosis in corals and the bacterial community shifts between healthy coral colonies and those experiencing stress, in particular, coral disease and bleaching. There is still much to learn about coral reefs and this project will assist in understanding the stages of dysbiosis in corals before visual stress cues are present. I am part of a project which is using the data from the corals’ microbiome in conjunction with satellite information and modeling to predict coral disease outbreaks in the Pacific Ocean. Another project of mine is helping identify coral diseases in NSW, Lord Howe Island lagoon. Such knowledge is important for reef managers to apply adaptive management techniques in advance of predicted stressful events for corals.  Actively assisting the conservation and preservation of our coral reefs is my passion in life. I am forever thankful that I get to explore this incredible ocean and hope to inspire and encourage others to respect and protect this vulnerable ecosystem.

I grew up in a coastal town a couple of hours south of Sydney. We lived in a small house, so I spent a lot of time as a child exploring the outside world. My father taught me how to SCUBA dive when I was a teenager and I was instantly hooked as I was mesmerised by the world that unfolded once my head went under the water. I guess this connection to nature is why I was drawn to biology at school and why I went on to study science at university. I distinctly remember the lessons where I first learnt about microbiology and the importance of these tiny living creatures to our health and the environment. I would never have dreamt back then that I would land a job (let alone become an Associate Professor) where I get to combine my passion for the ocean with my fascination of the “unseen” microbial world. My current research focuses on understanding how microbes can both benefit and harm marine plants and animals and how these biological interactions are impacted by environmental change. I am also interested in learning more about the diversity of marine microorganisms and how we can use this information for the discovery of new medicines. While my day to day activities keep me mostly at the desk, I do really enjoy those days where I get to walk through the lab and talk to students or when I have the opportunity go on a field trip or a conference and discover something new.

I currently study microbiology and ecology and I have recently founded and now lead an undergraduate research group called SAAS Missions (Space & Agricultural Applications in Space). We have recently had a successful rocket launch, HUMMUS1, testing soil bacteria for the purpose of agriculture for future colonies. Our next mission, HUMMUS2, is going to the International Space Station with partnerships with international organisations, institutes and universities and it has been a battle since the beginning but worth every minute. I did not always want to pursue a career in space science; I have interned with many labs, marine ecology, cancer research, cardiovascular disease and even mathematical ecology to try to figure out what it is I wanted to pursue. In fact, it was never always science! I actually excelled more in art and English because of the way these subjects opened my mind to multiple schools of thought. My love of the outdoors and academia came from my grandfathers, whose stories taught me the wonders of the outdoors and educated me in ways my school could not. I spent a lot of my childhood looking at insects, learning about trees and made plates of bacteria in awe. I did my first self-driven research project on lichen growth in different levels of pollution when I was 14, and before I knew it I found myself applying for a science degree, which I have loved ever since day one.

I am currently working as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of New South Wales, Australia. My research is focused on bone and vascular tissue engineering, a field in the regenerative medicine world, where interdisciplinary subjects, including biology, materials science and engineering, are combined in order to develop treatments for vascular and bone related diseases. I have previously worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Trinity Centre for Bioengineering in Ireland, where I investigated different tissue engineering methods (e.g. fabrication of natural and synthetic materials, 3D bioprinting, and characterisation of different stem cell sources) to repair different tissues in the knee, as cartilage, meniscus and ligament. Previous to my post-doc position, I completed a PhD in Nanoscience and Nanoengineering at Waseda University (Tokyo, Japan), where I was studying the role of different biochemical and physical factors in the fate of a variety of stem cells types for cardiac tissue regeneration purposes, such as cardiac progenitor stem cells, skeletal muscle cells, and induced pluripotent stem cells. I obtained both a Master’s Degree and a Bachelor of Science in Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Rome Tor Vergata (Rome, Italy), during which I worked on projects regarding cardiac tissue engineering. My passion in this eld comes from the enjoyment of science and the potential to increase the quality of human life.

I have always loved the ocean despite being born and raised in landlocked Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. I was introduced to the sea by my dad, who always kept coral reef aquariums in the basement and took me to the Sea of Cortez every holiday. My parents were both very understanding of my obsession with the ocean and animals, and helped me take care of a huge menagerie of aquatic and terrestrial pets. I completed an undergraduate degree in biology from the University of New Mexico, then moved to Townsville, QLD to study the migration of larval anemonefish between remote islands. I loved this work, but decided to move to more temperate climate for my PhD and am now living in Sydney. Here, I am examining the ecology of, threats to, and restoration potential of soft corals. I was lucky enough to visit Lord Howe Island in March and May of 2019 to study the effects of marine heatwaves. So far I have found that soft corals are more resilient than hard corals in the short term, but perhaps not the long term. I don’t just study heat effects, I am also working to understand the basic biology and ecology of the cauliflower soft coral, Dendronephthya australis, to improve restoration of this vulnerable Sydney species. Overall, I am an avid traveller, hiker, snorkeller, rock pool hunter, aquarist, dog lover, coffee enthusiast, and keeper of weird pets. I love science communication and can be found on twitter @RosieRiots.

Life as we know it and how it works on the molecular level has always fascinated me and continues to drive my desire to pursue the many avenues of life sciences since I was young. I have found myself immersed in studying microscopic life-forms that cause infectious diseases. What motivates me about my research is that infectious diseases in general aect and threaten human life as a global phenomenon, although the impact of a specific disease may vary in different parts of the world. For example, my journey has brought me across continents, from Bangladesh, where I researched Cholera to Australia, where I study the Whooping Cough, an acute respiratory disease causing recurrent outbreaks in Australia. Living beings, however small or big, co-exist to interact with and influence each other, thereby growing and evolving over time as a general law of nature. The Whooping Cough bacteria, similarly, have adapted to escape the effects of a functional vaccine in a recent turn of events. It’s a ‘survival of the fittest' molecular arms race against time, and my project looks to solve this big puzzle by capturing and typing the vaccine-escaping strain of bacteria through DNA sequencing. This is a problem that must be solved as soon as possible. A threat to our life is not just a man’s problem or a woman’s problem, it is everyone’s problem. Therefore, the scientific community must work hard, collaborating equally and building each other up for the sake of humanity.

When I was growing up, I loved learning about science. I was fascinated by genetics and decided to follow my passion and do a science degree. I wasn’t really sure what I could actually do with a science degree or what being a scientist would be like, but I decided to give it a go. As I went through my degree, I began to experience what scientists actually do, and I really enjoyed it. I am now doing my PhD in genetics, and researching genetic regulation, which is the turning on and off of genes within a cell. I really enjoy constantly learning and discovering new things about something I am passionate about, especially when my research uncovers something new and interesting. My research tends to look a bit stereotypical. I wear a white lab coat, and add one liquid to another in a tube, or I look at cells under a microscope. This stereotype confused me as to what science was really like, because I didn’t really understand what they were actually doing. I now understand that this captures only part of the story, and the thinking and planning behind these experiments are just as important and interesting. I have to design the experiments, plan predicted results, understand exactly what is happening when I add one liquid to another, and analyse the results I get. This involves a lot of problem solving and lateral thinking, which makes every day engaging, fun and stimulating.

I was born in Barcelona, Spain. Since I was a little child, I could stare at astronomy books for hours just looking at the images. So it seemed natural when I decided to pursue a career in astronomy. For my PhD, I went to the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (Astrophysics Institute of the Canary Islands), one of the most renown research institutes in Spain. After that, I did a three-year postdoctoral contract at Yale University before coming to my current position at the University of New South Wales in Sydney. My main research interest is understanding how galaxies form and become as we see them today. For this, I focus on the largest structures in the Universe that are bound by gravity: clusters of galaxies. I use very deep imaging to see the structures and colours of the very faint outer parts of galaxies which store information about how these objects grow. I hope to be an example of a female scientist and more specifically, astronomist, for the next generation of women in STEM fields. I hope that if young girls dream of studying the Universe, they have the opportunity to do so.

I have wanted to be a marine biologist for as long as I could remember, which was an ambitious goal as I come from the land-locked state of Arizona. Now, I am a PhD student in Australia, a place I have been wanting to live in since learning how to SCUBA dive. Now, I am part of the team of scientists trying to solve the problems of climate change and coral bleaching. Now, what I devote my time to has a bigger purpose. It is fulfilling but also daunting. As a scientist and more specifically, a PhD student, I frequently feel like an imposter, believing that I don’t have a single clue on how to save our reefs let alone do my job. But I am here, and I am trying, and so far, my efforts have gotten me this far. I am passionate about finding thermally tolerant types of symbiotic algae within the coral host that may help it adapt to our warming oceans. It is now that we must find a solution so that in the future I may share the underwater world I love with my children and grandchildren. It is now that we must encourage both our sons and daughters to be protectors of the environment. It is also now that we must choose equality and collaborate rather than compete in the scientific community. Throughout my PhD, I aim to communicate the importance of this ecosystem to increase scientific literacy and promote interdisciplinary problem solving while finding balance in all of the ways that life excites me.

My research uses invasive species as models to investigate mechanisms underlying rapid evolution. Specifically, I am interested in the importance and relative contributions of genetic and epigenetic diversity and change across invasive ranges. Not only does this work inform our understanding of evolution, but it also creates targets for future control of invasive species, which are a major threat to biodiversity worldwide. Most work conducted by my research group focuses on starlings and cane toads, the former is an agricultural pest causing significant economic damage and the latter has greatly impacted populations of native predators in the locations where it has been introduced. I am a key contributor to international genome sequencing projects for both species and my work on starlings has been used to improve management strategies of starlings in Australia. I strongly support scientific outreach and regularly speak to the public in person and on radio about topics in my discipline. I am passionate about supporting early-career researchers and have consistently developed and led programs to enhance skill sets and resources for these individuals.

I am a Californian transplanted to Australia, currently pursuing my PhD in Biology at UNSW and studying how corals respond to high and low temperatures outside of their “comfort zones” throughout the Pacific. My career in marine biology began in Los Angeles as an undergraduate at UCLA and a master’s student at CSU Northridge, where there were no coral reefs to be found. Not to be deterred, I literally dove headfirst into research in both Mo’orea, French Polynesia, and Okinawa, Japan, and now study the effects of climate change on reefs stretching from cooler, temperate systems in New South Wales to the much warmer southern Great Barrier Reef. My research background focuses on coral physiology and community response to climate change, specifically relating to larval transport mechanisms, morphological plasticity, and community metabolism. For my PhD, I have shifted this focus to how the functioning of the coral microbiome may influence the response of corals to warming oceans. Outside of academia, I am a proud bookworm, constantly seeking my next travel destination, great food and drink, and the exciting places where these passions intersect. When not in the water for work, I can still be found in the water swimming, SCUBA diving, and surfing.

My interest and curiosity on the human past brought me into the world of archaeology, and the path to become an archaeologist has always been rewarding for me. At the age of 20, I bought my first trowel and excavated a few caves in the tropical rainforest of West Malaysia, attempting to unveil the mystery of the human past digging through the dirt. Over the years, we have uncovered a wonderful collection of ancient human remains and cultural materials that address the fundamental questions related to the human origins. However, my biggest achievement is the exploration of who I am and where I came from through my research on a daily basis. I feel lucky to be in a field where I am driven by my passion and feel grateful to be surrounded by many passionate and inspiring colleagues along my journey. Archaeology often lends itself to the stereotypical "Indiana Jones" character as imagined by the wider public. At present, the number of female archaeologists has actually surpassed the number of male archaeologists in the field, and I think the story of female archaeologists should be told to inspire more young females to pursue archaeological sciences.

I grew up on the northern beaches of Sydney, but you could also say that I grew up in the ocean, swimming “out the back”, strapping on a snorkel and getting lost in my vast underwater backyard. My upbringing instilled in me a passion for the marine environment that has seen me continue to explore the sea all of my life. Like many scientists, I am a left - and right - brainer – and I am an avid fan of not just marine life but also the imaginative worlds that underwater places inspire. After gaining my Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science from the University of Sydney and spending a bit of time exploring our coasts whilst working on boats out of Sydney, I decided the best way to keep in the water and be a part of the solution to our increasing impacts was to start my PhD in marine ecology. My current research is focused on the reforestation of Sydney’s lost crayweed forests and I spend a large amount of my time investigating how seaweed population genetics, microbial interactions and large-scale community ecology influence underwater restoration success. I am also a passionate science communicator. If I’m not in the water you can often find me giving talks about my work to the general public. I am driven by the belief that as our understanding of these systems improves, we will be better equipped to bring back what has been lost and even future-proof our precious marine ecosystems.

I didn’t always know that I wanted to be a molecular biologist. In high school I was interested in all sciences and maths, but it was biology that piqued my curiosity the most. It always had me wondering “How does that work and why?” My interest in health, metabolism and learning have led me to a PhD in molecular genetics and cell biology. I’m currently studying how genes can affect our metabolism through the immune system. More specifically, I’m trying to understand how one type of immune cell – the eosinophil – interacts with fat cells. We’ve found that eosinophils help promote the energy- burning function of ‘beige’ fat cells, and my PhD project is

trying to pinpoint how they do this. What genes are controlling the eosinophil functions? What molecules do the eosinophils produce? This research is exciting because beige and brown fat burns energy and could potentially help treat obesity and metabolic disorders in humans. The more I do research, the more I realise how collaborative and creative it is. It’s fulfilling to be working to and answers to complex biological problems, but it often seems like the more we know, the more questions we uncover. There’s still so much to learn about genes and cells in our immunometabolism! It’s slightly daunting, yet at the same time thrilling to be at the forefront of knowledge.

I am a coral biologist originally from the UK. My research takes place on the Great Barrier Reef, where I am broadly interested in understanding mechanisms that affect the maintenance of the coral-algal symbiosis in increasingly warm oceans. My research looks to understand how environmental conditions, like water flow, may be causing variability in severity of coral bleaching seen over the past decades, with the idea that coral reef areas that show these suites of factors may be more resistant to the effects of climate change into the future. I am very interested in portraying this story within the wider concept of people, climate change and the importance of the 1.5°C target set out by the UNFCC. I enjoy tackling questions using a holistic approach across multiple scales, meaning you can often find me anywhere between the lab, out on the reef, or playing with data on a laptop. I am passionate about increasing social awareness of Anthropogenic impacts in marine systems. It is a goal of mine to harness communication to transform science into understandable information for other scientists, policy makers and the public.

When I was younger, I would always ask questions about what I see in nature. What do the underground ant tunnels look like? How does a grasshopper make its chirping sound? And of course, collecting ladybugs and observing their natural history was a favourite pastime of mine. In addition to my fascination with actual bugs, I had been bitten by the travel bug and moved all over the world from my home country of Russia, to countries including Canada, France, and Mexico, to observe nature and study biology. I have now settled down in Sydney, Australia for my PhD. Topics like natural selection, sexual dimorphism, behavioural and physiological mating patterns, and mate choice fuel my interest specifically because these topics determine future generations of species. While the desire to research these topics pushes me scientifically, I also like to push myself in communicating my research to the public. Helping people understand the world around them is another one of my goals. I think it’s important to keep science communication open to everyone as this gives opportunities for new research, an increase in scientific literacy, and an addition to our own understanding of our environment allowing us to help our planet thrive.