Date/Time
Date(s) - Wed 14 October
12:00 - 13:00
As we head into the start of Spring, SCANZ is launching an online Month of Learning.
Hosted over four weeks, this is a series of online talks designed to expand and build upon the conversations from their 2026 SCANZ conference.
They want to continue exploring ideas and practices that are shaping the field and bring together people who are curious to learn, question, and connect.
Bring your lunch and settle in.
Click here to register and be sent the Zoom details
Speakers
(in order of appearance)
Mary Duff, Author / Project Coordinator, Mavesther Books
Lais Camargo Novaes, PhD Candidate, University of Canterbury
Mike Dickison, Wikipedia consultant, Rove
Alannah Robinson, Science Communicator, Shared Science
Week 3
12:00 – 12:05 pm – Welcome
12:05 – 12:55 pm – Speakers (10 mins each)
12:55 – 1:00 pm – Wrap up
Topics
A whale of a story
Mary Duff, Author / Project Coordinator, Mavesther Books
In this presentation, Mary Duff explores how storytelling can bridge the gap between scientific knowledge and community understanding. Drawing on her recent experience of researching and completing her debut children’s nonfiction narrative book, A Discovery in the Rocks, Mary will discuss how the power of narrative is used to translate complex scientific ideas into accessible, place-based stories. She will reflect on the influence of Professor Ewan Fordyce, whose warm, generous manner helped local communities appreciate the scientific significance of the fossils beneath their feet. Mary believes that effective science communication is not only about accuracy, but about connection and lived experience — emotional, cultural, and intergenerational — ensuring science is something communities feel part of, not separate from. It can also lead to commercial entities such as the significant tourist attraction of the Waitaki Whitestone UNESCO Global Geopark.
Exploring science identity through extra-curricular educational activities in favelas in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Lais Camargo Novaes, PhD Candidate, University of Canterbury
Within the community of Cidade de Deus, or the City of God, in the West Zone of Rio de Janeiro, the Presbyterian Institute Alvaro Reis (INPAR) plays a vital role by offering marginalised students opportunities for socio-educational and recreational activities beyond regular school hours. Acknowledging that access to meaningful science experiences beyond the classroom is often limited for these students, they partnered with INPAR to offer new iterations of the social project Ad Astra Academy, which involved the delivery of multiple geoscience-focused activities. In 2024 and 2026, the project catered to two small groups of 11- to 17-year-old students, and its curriculum was restructured to include place-conscious and cross-cultural activities. This presentation aims to discuss the impacts of short-term science experiences on science identity and perceptions of what a scientist is.
Developing a Wikimedia strategy for a research organisation
Mike Dickison, Wikipedia consultant, Rove
Wikipedia is an increasingly important public information resource, a source for Google searches and AI summaries. Citations in Wikipedia send a significant number of readers to journal articles online. So research organisations need to take Wikipedia seriously, and have a plan for engaging with it. There are a number of practical steps an organisation can take to improve Wikipedia content around its research programme, spotlight its researchers, and make journal articles more discoverable. Using examples from recent work with the National Science Challenges and several Centres of Research Excellence, Mike Dickison will walk attendees through building a Wikimedia strategy that covers not just Wikipedia but the image repository Wikimedia Commons, the open database Wikidata, and community events with volunteer editors.
Title TBC
Alannah Robinson, Science Communicator, Shared Science