About silviapiviali

Medical Scientist - turned Scientific Sales Rep that has always dabbled in writing / editing. My passions are; my children, health & fitness, travel, our buffy Golden Retriever dog and property.

Member Profile: Dr Maia Sauren

Dr Maia Sauren

Victorian National Representative

As a stubborn six-year-old, Maia Sauren heard about the scariness of bees (‘your whole hand gets huge! and then they DIE!’), so she decided to find out for herself. She resolutely stalked a poor, helpless creature and poked it until it duly gave its life for science. As an adult, Maia is a little more gentle with her experimental subjects.

A few years ago, Maia heard about this amazing job description called ‘know cool things about science and find ways to tell people how incredible they are’, so she joined the ASC list and is the current Victorian National Representative.

Just last week, Maia became the rather awesome-sounding Dr. Sauren, Electrical Engineer. She’s not quite sure what to do with all her freedom now the Ph.D. is behind her, but she’s considering reverting to using the first person when referring to herself. Her thesis was on the radiation safety of mobile phones, and she thinks they’re quite safe to use now!

15th Annual Kenneth Myer Lecture by Prof. David Attwell

The Florey Neuroscience Institutes presents the 15 Kenneth Myer Lecture Brain Power” by Prof David Attwell

Have you ever wondered how our brains have evolved over the years? Or why it is still not possible to do a brain transplant?

This year’s lecture will feature leading British neuroscientist Professor David Attwell, an inspiring speaker and world expert in brain signals, who will  be talking about how electrical signals are used to think, how these signals are used to represent information in the brain, and how they can fail in brain disease.

This free public lecture is in memory of Kenneth B Myer, one of the founding benefactors of the Howard Florey Institute.

Since 1992, the Florey has invited many internationally distinguished scientists to speak to the Melbourne community

 Date: Tuesday 4th October 2011

Time: 6pm

Venue: The Plenary

                Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre

                1 Convention Centre Place, South Wharf

                Melbourne 3006

 Places are limited. Please call Jade on 03 9035 8629 or email jade.sarna@florey.edu.au to reserve your seat/s.

Alternatively you can register to attend online at www.florey.edu.au

For more information on transport and parking please visit www.mcec.com.au

Where Worlds Collide

Thanks to Kiran Shettigara from The Science Exchange, RiAus for providing this information:


Where Worlds Collide- Saturday 20 August 2011

Event review by Freya Dougan-Whaite

RiAus teamed up with Adelaide’s Friendly Street Poets to share a selection of poetry informed by scientific concepts and inspired by the wonders of science in everyday life. The event, aptly named Where Worlds Collide, is part of the Great Big Science Read which occurs annually during National Science Week. The aim was to reach a new audience by exploring the juncture where arts and science meet. Winners of the RiAus Sci-Ku competition (science Haiku) were also announced, and entrants from New South Wales and the Northern Territory were excited to be flown into Adelaide for the ceremony.

The speakers varied in age and gender, and the event was entertaining and fast-paced. Chemistry and Physics, became metaphor for human emotion and lifelong relationships with the beauty of nature were shared.

The public were invited to be involved through an open-mic session in the week before the event, where anyone could share three minutes of their poetry. Several talented speakers from the open-mic were booked to reappear for Where Worlds Collide.

The combination of professional poets/writers, competition winners and open-mic talent, contributed to an event that truly engaged an audience that may not otherwise attend a science event.

Member Profile: Silvia Piviali

Silvia Piviali

It didn’t take Silvia very long to settle into the way of life in Perth, Western Australia after she immigrated from Italy, at age 6.  Its hard to believe that this is her 25th year of living in Perth, where she is happily settled with her 2 young children and husband of 6 years. From a young age, Silvia always asked lots of questions, and it was this inquisitive and curious nature, that led to an interest then career in Science, specializing in the Medical Sciences.  For many years after qualifying, she worked on the laboratory bench, but then her outgoing personality craved contact with people (not specimens!) and she embarked  on many interesting career roles such as Sales, Marketing, Recruitment, Writing, Consulting and now as Co-Editor of SCOPE, using the field of Science as her basis.  Silvia enjoys keeping fit & healthy through the Swimming & Tennis clubs she is a member of, looking after her rental property, playing with her Golden Retriever dog and taking holidays with her family.  Interestingly, Silvia was offered this role whilst still in hospital, after her second child, Chiara, now aged 5 weeks old, came along!!