CONFERENCE UPDATES
New Registration Deadline
Program Update
Keynote Speakers Announced
Demo Extravaganzaaah
NEW REGISTRATION DEADLINE
Good news! We are extending the conference registration deadline. Those who have registered and requested an invoice by 12:00pm AEST on Friday 31 May 2024 will be guaranteed conference attendance, catering and inclusion at all the social events. (Deadline for payment of invoices is Monday 3 June 12:00p AEST)
“Cooked Bird” Tickets, or those purchased after 12:00pm Friday 31 May 20024 AEST can still attend the conference but we can not guarantee catering or inclusion in the social events.
Register via the conference website before you miss out!
PROGRAM UPDATE
To those who have submitted abstracts for consideration in the program, thank you! We know you are waiting on final confirmation and your allocated session length and time. Thank you for your patience with this, we have received more abstracts than expected, many after the submission deadline that we are working hard to incorporate.
We anticipate that the program will be shareable very soon, and encourage you to book your flights, accommodation and to PLEASE complete the registration form if you haven’t already!
If your attendance is dependent on a confirmation of being accepted in the program, please email us directly at events@asc.asn.au for clarification.
KEYNOTE SPEAKER ANNOUNCEMENT
We are SO excited to share with you three more super exciting keynote speakers.
Kaelin DeLong, MSc
Athena Institute, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Kaelin DeLong is a Junior Lecturer & Researcher at the Vrije Universiteit (VU) Amsterdam working on master’s courses about science communication, science journalism, and inter/transdisciplinarity. Kaelin is a Researcher on the COALESCE project, which is building the future European Competence Centre for Science Communication, and a Science Communication Trainer for an Aurora project that provides dialogue trainings at various European universities.
Kaelin also recently received a grant for an education innovation project about how generative AI is impacting the field of science communication.
With a background in biology and anthropology, Kaelin is broadly interested in the intersections between science, culture, language, identity, and social justice. She has researched everything from human-baboon interactions in South Africa to in/exclusion issues in Dutch science museums, and is currently fascinated by the intersection between climate change and mental health and the role of emotions in science communication. She enjoys incorporating storytelling, art, and humor into “traditional” scientific work, and is passionate about creating more diverse, robust, and just scientific communities.
Renae Sayers
Director, Strategic Initiatives | School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Curtin University
When your career includes running away to join the Science Circus, getting the Prime Minister into the lab and helping launch things into space, you know scicomm is at the heart of the journey.
Renae has carved out a leadership position by solving strategic problems with science communication. She loves building new things, translating, connecting, and helping people see the world in a different light.
Today, passionately applying herself to amplifying and activating strategic projects and partnerships with Earth and Planetary Sciences, Renae is tackling new organisational frameworks and elevating opportunities for students, staff, and our wider community to experience the impact and importance of research to our everyday lives.
She remembers what it was like, not knowing a “scientist”, but consistently ogled the night sky in the foothills of the Dandenong Ranges, until 16-year-old Renae sent an email to NASA that kick-started her journey through a degree in Astrophysics and onward to a career in STEM engagement across the globe.
Now, some 22 years later working with NASA and space leaders globally, Renae’s leadership acumen has supported the development of the West Australian Space ecosystem through the establishment of the Space Science and Technology Centre and its Binar Space Program (Noongar for “fireball” or shooting star), and as part of the founding team for the Australian Remote Operations for Space and Earth (AROSE) consortium. In 2021, Renae helped spearhead the biggest university media event in the country, with the launch of Western Australia’s first spacecraft, Binar-1, and was recognised as a Finalist for the inaugural AMCHAM Alliance Award for Emerging Leadership in Space.
She is particularly proud about BinarX – the outreach program putting space exploration in the hands of high schoolers with student-designed and built payloads on-orbit the Binar spacecraft – going to the heart of “making space in service of others”.
Aedan Pope
Aedan Pope is a Principal Engineer at Google DeepMind. He is currently working on generative AI efforts (Gemini) in modelling, evaluations, and applications.
Aedan has worked at Google for over a decade, including engineering roles on various products (Blogger, Android / Google Play), leading the DeepMind Research Platform Team, and now as a senior individual contributor role in the large models space.
Aedan graduated from the University of Western Australia with degrees in Computer Science and Pure Mathematics.
DEMO EXTRAVAGANZAAAAH
Reminder: submit your entertaining demo to the Extravaganza welcome event that will be co-hosted by Scitech
Want to present a new or exciting way to demonstrate a scientific concept or message? Get involved and share your ideas as part of the Extravaganza!
Your presentation could be something you’ve used for years, something you’ve whipped together last minute or something you want to try out for a bit of fun. It can be any style of engagement, poetry, interpretive dance, explosion. It is up to you!
While we are flexible, we’re looking for demos that can be shown in around 5 minutes. Let us know if you need longer.
After filling in the detail in this form, you will be contacted by the team at Scitech who will work with you to make sure you have access to everything you need.
A demo isn’t a good demo if it doesn’t have adequate risk management. The Scitech team will also liaise with you to ensure everything is safe and that you have risk mitigation in place.
