Our staff are experienced science communicators and can discuss ANSTO's research with primary or secondary classes at an appropriate level of detail.
This program is designed to address:
- Science as a Human Endeavour and Science Inquiry Skills content descriptors for Stages 3-5 (Years 5-10).
- Skill outcomes for Stage 6 science subjects.
Please note that we have booked our scientists for a 3-hour time slot. When you book one of these sessions, we will contact you by email and ask you to select a 30-minute period within this time slot for your students to talk with our expert.
Upcoming Sessions
 Meet Michael Druce1.30-4pm, Monday 20 May. Book now 1.30-4pm, Tuesday 18 June. Book now 1.30-4pm, Monday 1 July. Book now 1.30-4pm, Tuesday 10 September. Book now Michael has played a pivotal role in Australia's development and advanced manufacturing of Molybdenum-99, the precursor to the Technetium-99m, which is used to diagnose cancers and heart disease world wide in SPECT scans. |
 Meet Ben Fraser1.30-4pm, Wednesday 22 May. Book now. 1.30-4pm, Wednesday 4 September. Book now Ben is a research chemist at ANSTO and specialises in developing new and improved radiopharmaceuticals. He also lectures at several universities to teach the next generation of scientists and medical professionals about nuclear medicines. Ben works together with scientists across the world in large collaborative projects, and supervises his own research students. |
 Meet Patricia Gadd1.30-4pm, Thursday 23 May. Book now Patricia is an environmental chemist at ANSTO and she operates the ITRAX core scanner. This instrument identifies elements in sediment cores, wood, coral, speleothems, feathers, clams, and whale baleen samples to answer important environmental questions. Patricia is also an active science communicator and regularly explains her research to school students and the general public. |
 Meet Lidia Matesic1.30-4pm, Thursday May 30. Book now 1.30-4pm, Monday 9 September. Book now Lidia is a radiochemist at ANSTO’s Camperdown campus and researches new radiopharmaceuticals for diagnosing and treating diseases. Lidia works with a cyclotron to produce nuclear medicines, particularly those using Fluorine-18. Lidia also talks regularly with school teachers and students about her research. |
 Meet Brett Rowling1.30-4pm, Monday 3 June. Book now Brett is an analytical chemist at ANSTO, where he prepares and analyses samples for internal and external clients. His job involves working in the field to collect samples, and then analysing them in the laboratory using techniques such as ion chromatography, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS), and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICPAES). His work includes monitoring groundwater quality, and pollution and radiation levels in contaminated sites. |
 Meet Kirrily Rule1.30-4pm, Thursday 13 June. Book now Kirrily is an instrument scientist in the Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering at ANSTO. Kirrily uses neutron diffraction to study magnetism at very small scales (quantum magnetism) on the thermal triple-axis spectrometer, TAIPAN. Kirrily also investigates the properties of superconducting materials, which in the future may be used for the next generation of electronics, data storage and transport. |
 Meet Tom Cresswell1.30-4pm, Thursday June 20. Book now Tom is an environmental scientist and uses radioactive isotopes as tracers of pollution in the aquatic environment. He works on a range of different projects, including studying the impact of mining on aquatic ecosystems, finding out where metals bioaccumulate within aquatic invertebrates, and researching microplastics as vectors of contaminant bioaccumulation by marine organisms. Tom is also an active science communicator and talks often about his research to school students and the general public at events. |
 Meet Michael Corry1.30-4pm, Wednesday 26 June. Book now Michael and the Environmental Monitoring team use nuclear science to monitor human impacts on the environment, in the soil, water systems, the atmosphere and in living systems. Michael takes samples from the environment and analyses them back in the laboratory. |
 Meet Scott Chambers1.30-4pm, Thursday 4 July. Book now Scott is an atmospheric scientist at ANSTO. He measures a naturally occurring radioactive gas, called Radon-222, to find out more about our atmosphere and environment. Because Radon-222 comes from land, not water, and does not react with other things in the atmosphere, it makes a very good “tracer” of what air has been doing and where air has been. Scott uses Radon-222 to help find out where air pollution might have come from and how atmospheric processes can dilute pollution. Scott’s research has taken him to some very interesting places, including Antarctica, Italy, Poland, Romania, Germany, Japan, Korea and volcanoes in Hawaii. |
 Meet Jitendra Mata1.30-4pm, Wednesday 11 September. Book now Jitendra helps manage two of ANSTO’s state-of-the-art neutron scattering instruments (QUOKKA and Kookaburra). He works together with international scientists who come to use the instrument on many research projects, including the structure of starch and food proteins for the food industry, and science related problems with mineral extraction for the mining industry. |
 Meet Katy Wood1.30-4pm, Tuesday 17 September. Book now Katy Wood is a scientist working at ANSTO. She is responsible for an instrument that looks at the structure of materials on the nanoscale. The materials she investigates range from nanoparticles for medical diagnostics to aluminium for aircraft industry. Her favourite thing about the job is working with the many different scientists who come to use the instrument. |
Suggested Learning Sequence
| Lesson 1 (in-class) or pre-work at home | Lesson 2 (videoconference) | Post-work or homework |
|---|---|---|
As a class, students:
| As a class, students:
| Students:
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