Organisers   The FAGS The WOGS The FAGS (Foundation Advisory Group) Robyn Stutchbury Paul Willis Michael Burton Wilson da Silva Daniella Goldberg Jenny Jones Alison Leigh Helen Sim Robyn Stutchbury Peripatus Productions Robyn is the co-ordinator and organiser of SciPub. Robyn Stutchbury's commitment to science communication opens many paths that weave and thread through the fields of science and education. After years as a secondary school science teacher, a mature age degree in geology led her along the path of geology and science awareness promotion. She has written and co-authored books and articles on geology and biology and spends considerable time converting teaching materials into learning materials in the areas of science and technology for post secondary school education. With her biologist husband, Noel Tait, Robyn is currently working on a project to publish a series of children's natural history books through their company Peripatus Productions Pty Limited. The books are to be based on their field trips throughout Australia and neighbouring countries. Robyn is currently enrolled in a Masters in Science Communication. Robyn can be contacted by email at rstutch@ozemail.com.au , phone on (02) 9427 6747 or fax on (02) 9418 9605. Paul Willis ABC Science Unit Paul is Presenter of Sciince in the Pub. Through no fault of his own, Paul was born in England in 1963. Realising their error, his parents deported him and the rest of the family to Australia in 1973 where he has lived in Sydney ever since (apart from an 8 month stint in Germany, but we won't go into that here). Paul's life-long interest in fossils started when he found his first specimen at the age of six and lead to a PhD studying the evolution of crocodiles in Australia. He has been associated with many important fossil sites and excavations as well as several important specimens such as Eric the pliosaur and the most complete dinosaur skeleton yet found in Australia. Parallel to Paul's interest in the natural sciences is his enjoyment for communicating science to popular audiences. He toured primary schools throughout the eastern states with a life-sized inflatable T. Rex and spent many holidays in the Australian Museum's Discovery Room, acquainting stuffed animals with visitors. Paul joined the ABC as a Trainee Science Reporter in February 1997 and has been bugging everyone ever since. When not fossilising or harassing people with a microphone, Paul spends a lot of time building model railways or riding on real ones. You can find more about Paul by checking out the ABC's Correx Files. Michael Burton School of Physics, University of New South Wales. Michael is Treasurer of SciPub and runs the SciPub website. Michael is an astronomer. When not teaching undergraduate physics he researches the formation of stars, and has contributed over 150 scientific articles to his field. In doing so his career has taken him through the Royal Observatory Edinburgh, the UK Infrared Telescope on Hawaii, NASA's Kuiper Airborne Observatory and the Anglo Australian Telescope at Coonabarabran, before ending up at UNSW. He also is trying to build an observatory at the very end of the Earth, the South Pole! As well as his teaching and research Michael devotes much energy to the popularisation of science and astronomy, including a regular spot on ABC radio. He believes in the importance of professional scientists communicating their work in an accessible manner, but also understands their reticence when finding their life efforts crudely distorted for an attention-grabbing headline. Michael has his own web page where you can learn more about what he does as an astronomer. Favourite Drinks: A tough question, as it depends what country he's in. In Australia it will be between a Coopers, a Southwarks, a Cascade and a James Boag, but if its America it might be a Samuel Adams. In Ireland its definitely a Kilkenny, in England perhaps a Black Sheep and in Scotland Greenmantle Ale is hard to turn aside. However if its Germany any Weiss Bier from Bavaria will do nicely! Wilson da Silva Quantum, ABC Wilson da Silva is a journalist at the ABC TV Science Unit. He has worked as a foreign correspondent for the international news agency Reuters, as a feature writer for The Age and the Financial Review Magazine, a journalist on The Sydney Morning Herald and was editor of the futurist magazine 21C and of the U.S.-based magazine Science Spectra. Favourite Drinks: James Boag and Wild Turkey, though not usually together. Daniella Goldberg Gene Genie Media Daniella Goldberg is a Gene Player, hence the name of her business, `Gene Genie Media'. For many years she peered down microscopes in the laboratories of the Garvan Institute of Medical Research doing her PhD in Genetics and Medicine until her test tubes ordered to leave the zany world of science and plunge into the chaos of the science media industry. Over the years she has made a niche at Beyond 2000 Productions, ABC TV's Quantum and SBS TV's medical program `Second Opinion'. Throughout her nomadic existence in the media she has travelled around sharing her science stories with others, publishing in magazines and newspapers such as the Australian, The Sydney Morning Herald, New Scientist, Business Review Weekly, Lab News, Double Helix and more. When given the chance she chats about science stuff on the radio and FoxTV. More recently she is producing Science TV News for the local and international scene. Her ambition is to have too much fun doing things for TV - I'll leave that to your imagination. Favourite Drink Daniella's favourite drink is Absolute Vodka - it's the Polish ancestry. Jenny Jones School of Education, University of Sydney Jenny Jones   Alison Leigh Formerly at the ABC Alison is a highly regarded TV and Radio Producer and Broadcaster with many years’ experience in Australia and the UK. She has played a leading role in science communication in Australia, producing the highly popular, award winning shows, Quantum for ABC TV, What’s your Poison? Tim Flannery’s Future Eaters and The Face. Alison has also been responsible for getting a number of ground breaking shows to air: Media Watch, 1989; Hot Chips, 1994-5, and Home Truths, 1996. The themed programming across ABC networks of National Science Week to promote awareness of science was also one of Alison’s initiatives. She is also past President of the Australian Science Communicators and a member of the International Steering Committee of the World Congress of Science Producers. She is regularly invited to give lectures and seminars in Australia and overseas. Helen Sim Australia Telescope National Facility of the CSIRO Helen is our photographer and analyses your responses on our feedback forms. She is Communications Manager at CSIRO's Australia Telescope National Facility in Sydney, winding up there after stints in the NSW public service and as an exhibition developer at Sydney's Powerhouse Museum. Helen veered off the beaten track of science training early in her career, when expected to work in a windowless room with only a laser for company. She now has a more sociable existence, spending much of her time talking to people about why 90% of the Universe is missing and where cosmic rays come from. She has contributed to a number of publications/outlets, including The Lab and the Ingenious CD, a recently wrote the booklet `Astronomy Today' for the Australian Academy of Science. Helen joined SciPub because she's interested in what scientists do, why they do it, how they try to persuade each other (and the rest of us) of the rightness of their ideas, and why we do or don't believe them. When not pondering these deep and meaningful questions she spends a lot of time singing. Favourite drink: Guinness (residual Irish genes?). Robyn Stutchbury, Alison Leigh and Paul Willis.
Science in the Pub™, © 2000. Stutchbury, R, Burton, M.