Fiona Holstrom shares why she started STEM Punks to inspire the next generation of STEM students and professionals.
Category: People
PEOPLE: 2020 has reminded us of scientists’ strong role in society – Patricia Vera-Wolf
Patricia Vera-World outlines her career in bioinformatics and her role at Microba.
PEOPLE: “Often by designing activities for people with disabilities we create better activities for everyone” – Dr Kirsten Ellis
Dr Kirsten Ellis shares why she built TapeBlocks, where the idea came from, and why building products for people with disabilities benefits the whole of society.
PEOPLE: How formal mathematics training was merely the start of brooke jamieson’s career in STEM
Brooke Jamieson outlines her career to date, including her current role as Experience Lead at PlaceOS and how she applies a broad range of skills to her day-to-day work.
PEOPLE: Women in research – Dr Nicola Angel
For this year’s National Science Week, Echo Chamber Escape will be profiling a range of science and technology professionals over several articles to highlight what careers in these sectors look like and the opportunities for upcoming graduates to look forward to. This interview is with Dr Nicola Angel, Head of Laboratory Operations at Microba.
PEOPLE: Pivoting during the pandemic – Carley Johnson
After over a decade for working for large fashion brands, Carley Johnson took the leap into the starting her own business, Unzipped in February, 2020. While the early days of any business has challenges, noone could have predicted the added complications of COVID-19 on the business world. Carley shares why she started Unzipped, and how she’s pivoted the business during the pandemic.
PEOPLE: Why Joanna founded Trace to remove 105,000 tonnes of CO2
Companies like Apple and CouriersPlease are making bold statements about their goals and accomplishments on reaching for carbon neutrality and off-setting their carbon emissions. But how can everyday consumers, like you and I, ensure that we’re also off-setting our carbon footprint at an individual level?
PEOPLE: Connecting consumers with sustainable product to transform local food systems – Emma-Kate Rose
Intensive farming has detrimental impacts on Australia’s land and ecological communities. With farming now covering 58% of Australia and accounting for 59% of water extracted, researchers are encouraging more sustainable and regenerative forms of farming and produce development, which is proven to not only be better for the environment but also for profitability.
PEOPLE: How Yemi Penn bent her own reality
As well as being an engineer, gym owner and author, Yemi Penn is a business coach and is passionate about helping others become their authentic self. In this interview, she shares why she is passionate about empowering and supporting others who are focusing on what they ‘should’ do, and how she is setting out to change the stat that one in three people are unhappy with where they are in life. She also shares her views on diversity and inclusion, and how her experiences as a woman of colour have impacted her approach to business today.
PEOPLE: From loathing chemistry to completing a PhD in environmental geochemistry – Silvana Santomartino
Women account for less than 30% of global researcher roles and, despite an increased need in scientists’ expertise during the pandemic, female scientists have been quoted significantly less often than male scientists. In this interview, Founding Director or PSK Environmental, Silvana Santomartino, shares how she became interested in environmental science and established her own business.
PEOPLE: Learning from and celebrating landscapes with regenerative farming
Regenerative agriculture addresses the urgent need to regenerate the health and resilience of soils and landscapes to reverse the decline of bio-systems throughout Australia and better survive the impact of climatic extremes, including helping Australian farmers bounce back from bushfires and drought. In this interview, Juanita Breen outlines how she turned a crazy dream of running a regenerative farm into a reality with Echo Valley Farms. Together with her husband and kids, Juanita operates Echo Valley Farms under what they call the “4 Goods” – good for the animals, good for the environment, good for the farmer, good for you.
Understanding racism
For article #101 of Echo Chamber Escape, experts and community leaders were asked: What can people who have never experienced racism do to better understand what it is, its impact, and how they can contribute to removing racism from society?
Eradicating racism
For article #100 of Echo Chamber Escape, experts and community leaders were asked: What can we as a society be doing to eradicate racism in our communities?
PEOPLE: “I wanted everyone to see that people with disabilities were beautiful too.” – Madeline Stuart
Madeline Stuart is a game changer. After deciding she wanted a career on the catwalk, her first photo shoot went viral, and she has never looked back. With the support of her mother, Rosanne Stuart, Madeline has embarked on an incredible career in the spotlight, and has used her very public platform to advocate for diversity and empower the disability community. In this interview, Madeline shares her career journey so far, and how she sees the representation of people with disabilities evolving.
PEOPLE: Life as an artist who can see over 100 Million colours – Concetta Antico
Concetta Antico is a renowned tetrachromat artist who has recently relocated to Australia after decades based primarily in San Diego. 2020 and COVID have meant changes, but no slowing down – she’s offering online painting classes, and preparing to open a new gallery on her farm retreat in Byron Bay in August.
Echo Chamber Escape 