A record number of federal MPs and senators are seeking expert advice from leaders in the STEM community, with 26 new STEM ambassadors named in a program that matches politicians with experts.
The program from Science and Technology Australia was created in 2019 to expand politicians’ access to experts in STEM fields. The ambassadors regularly meet with the MP or Senator they have been matched with over a two-year period.
The 2023 intake of STEM ambassadors was announced on Thursday and comes after a record-breaking number of MPs and senators requested a STEM ambassador.
“We’re at a remarkable point in history where an explosion of complex science and technology advances are about to dramatically reshape our economy, our lives and our jobs,” said Science & Technology Australia Chief Executive Officer, Misha Schubert. “And what we’re seeing in response is a strong surge in the need for expert advice as lawmakers seek to keep pace with those developments and learn more about new technologies and their implications.”
“Through this unique program, we match MPs and Senators with their own STA STEM Ambassador to give them regular access to a powerful network of Australian STEM experts to inform policy development.”
“We’re delighted to welcome our 2023 STA STEM Ambassadors and thank them in advance for sharing their expertise and developing a strong working relationship with their MPs and Senators.”
A full list of the the new STEM ambassadors and politicians in the 2023 program is below.
- Dr Margo Adler, Founder & Executive Director of Beaker Street (Senator Wendy Askew, TAS)
- Dr Maja Arsic, Winanga-y CERC Postdoctoral Fellow CSIRO (Angie Bell, MP for Moncrieff, Qld)
- Dr Jodie Avery, Senior Research Fellow and Imagendo Program Manager at The University of
Adelaide (Senator Marielle Smith, SA) - Dr Sze How Bong, Senior Operations Manager, Australian National Phenome Centre at Murdoch
University (Sam Lim, MP for Tangney, WA) - Professor Rachel Burton, a molecular biologist and Head, Department of Food Science, The University
of Adelaide (Louise Miller-Frost, MP for Boothby, SA) - Dr Lars Esser, CSIRO biomaterials research scientist (Dr Michelle Ananda-Rajah, MP for Higgins, VIC)
- Dr Julia Gilmartin-Thomas, an expert in medicine safety, and NHMRC-ARC Dementia Research
Development Fellow at Victoria University (Dr Carina Garland, MP for Chisholm, VIC) - Brianna Gordon, PhD Candidate in Environmental Chemistry (Senator David Pocock, ACT)
- Jonathan How Bureau of Meteorology a meteorologist (Peter Khalil, Member for Wills, VIC)
- Dr Jacob Martin, a materials scientist and nanotechnologist working on green technologies at Curtin
University (Senator Matt O’Sullivan, WA) - Dr Nina Wootton, marine researcher at The University of Adelaide (Senator Karen Grogan, SA)
- Alan Robertson, Founder of ClearSKY Genomics (Terry Young, Member for Longman, QLD)
- Professor Alessandra Sutti, Deakin University Team Leader & Snr Scientific Advisor NAVIGATE
Program, Defence Science & Technology Group (Andrew Wallace, MP for Fisher, QLD) - Dr Simon Speirs, Head of Research & Development at New Edge Microbials (Sussan Ley, Deputy
Opposition Leader and MP for Farrer, NSW) - Professor Virginia Kilborn, Chief Scientist at Swinburne University of Technology (Maria Vamvakinou,
MP for Calwell, VIC) - Dr Sandra Garrido, a Senior Research Fellow in mental health at Western Sydney University (Dai Le,
Member for Fowler, NSW) - Dr Susan Wilson, an environmental pollution expert and Associate Professor at the University of New
England (Meryl Swanson, MP for Paterson, NSW) - Dr Jennifer Wood, an expert on microbial communities in ecosystems and Lecturer at La Trobe
University (Dr Anne Webster, Member for Mallee, VIC) - Dr Linda Stalker, National Geosequestration Laboratory Science Director & Senior Principal Research
Scientist at CSIRO (Nola Marino, Member for Forrest, WA) - Allison Hortle, a petroleum hydrogeologist and Acting Science and Deputy Director for the Energy
Business Unit at CSIRO (Tania Lawrence, MP for Hasluck, WA) - Daniel Rodwell, Associate Director – Storage at National Computational Infrastructure (Paul Fletcher,
Member for Bradfield, New South Wales) - Dr Angela Noack, Institute Manager, Robinson Research Institute at The University of Adelaide
(Rebekha Sharkie, Member for Mayo, South Australia) - Professor Anna Peeters, Director of the Institute for Health Transformation and a Professor of
Epidemiology and Equity in Public Health at Deakin University (Senator Sarah Henderson, VIC) - Professor Melanie Johnston-Hollitt, a radio astronomer and Director of the Curtin Institute for
Computation at Curtin University (Melissa Price, Member for Durack, WA) - Professor Geoffrey Brooks, a metallurgical processing expert and Professor of Engineering at
Swinburne University of Technology (Aaron Violi, Member for Casey, VIC) - Dr Amanda White, General Manager and co-ordinator of the RoboTradies program at Freelance
Robotics (Henry Pike, Member for Bowman, QLD)