The Centre’s Outreach portfolio has undertaken some excellent work over the last few years and we also have some exciting projects underway! We would like to say a massive thank you to all our Outreach contributors who are doing a fantastic job connecting with the community and beyond. Below you can read a bit more about some of the highlights.
National Science Week
The National Science Quiz (NSQ) is a live quiz show hosted by Charlie Pickering and held in Melbourne each August. Two teams go head to head to answer over 40 STEM questions with the losing team getting slimed live on stage! For NSQ 2022 we assisted with the refresh of the format to build in more entertainment and accessibility. Chief Investigator Barbara Holland was a guest panellist and gallantly accepted a sliming after her team lost in an exciting tie-breaker! Additionally, Associate PhD Student Caitlin Dudley was a vibrant natural talent as one of the quizzes on-stage Lab Assistants. In 2023, Plant Success became the NSQ convenor and secured a National Science Week grant, as well as sponsorship from 13 science organisations around Australia. It was the biggest Quiz to date with over 300 people attending the live show, and nearly 1400 people registering to play along with the quiz via the livestream. The Quiz has since had over 2.7K views on YouTube.
We also attended the Festival of Bright Ideas on the Hobart waterfront in 2022 and 2023. Eloise and a team of volunteers ran a popular stall about plant water transport systems called ‘UnbeLEAFable!’ This stall also travelled to the Northern Tasmanian regional event Big Day of Science in 2022.
Filming Project
We have undertaken a large filming project with the help of Sam Hagen from The Human Story to help visualise some of the research being undertaken across the Centre. The footage provides a library of useful images for upcoming educational resources and shorter video projects. Thanks to everyone who contributed and didn’t mind being in front of the lens!
On-Campus Workshops
Our members have delivered many interesting and engaging plant science workshops to visiting school students as part of initiatives such as the National Youth Science Forum and The Science Experience at our different Nodes. These programs are rewarding and provide opportunities to connect our research to the community and the younger generation.
STEM Professionals in Schools
Another great program we are contributing to is the CSIRO’s STEM Professionals in Schools which pairs a STEM expert with a teacher in a local school (or online) to provide ongoing support to bring engaging and specialised STEM content into the classroom.
Science Ambassador programs
Wonder of Science (QLD), Young Tassie Scientists (TAS) and Arludo SciComm Ambassadors are excellent ways for our members to head out into the community and contribute to a passion and curiosity in science.
Outreach initiatives coming up:
School Resources
We are creating Australian curriculum aligned resources for our partner organisation The Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation that we also hope to provide to Scootle Educational Resources. These aim to cover the most ground-breaking and new info on plants as it relates to our research.
Plant Game
We are continuing our development of a Plant Game which aims to teach school-aged children about plant traits, genes and adaption to environmental threats. The game will feature Australian native plants along with information on their indigenous uses and history. Postdoctoral Researcher Ben Halliwell and Associate Investigator Michael Charleston are leading game development and exploring the possibility of adapting it to a digital format.
Video Resources
Off the back of our video project, we are developing a series of ‘Meet a Plant Scientist’ short videos for our Centre YouTube channel and social media accounts.
There are many more achievements in Outreach than we could mention here by name, from talks to articles to Wikipedia updates. Another big thank you to all the members contributing to Outreach and sharing their knowledge in their own way. For Centre members who are interested in getting involved in our Outreach Working Group please send an email to outreach@plantsuccess.org. We’d love to have some fresh new faces!
Eloise Foo and Emma Horswill
Chief Investigator and Outreach Lead; Outreach Officer
