Aussie STEM Stars Books
A plastic surgeon, Fiona revolutionised treatment for burns victims , improving hundreds of lives with her spray-on skin invention. She came to world-wide fame treating the Bali bombing burns victims. Her story shows us the value of dreams, hard work, and the courage to do what's right.
As a surgeon, Munjed fled Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq after refusing to cut off the ears of army deserters. Fleeing to Australia by boat, he was locked up in the notorious Curtain Detention Centre. He is now the world leader in osseointegration surgery and 'clever' prosthetics.
Age range 9 to 14 Aussie STEM Stars is an inspiring children's series that celebrates Australia's experts in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Gisela Kaplan’s story begins in post-World War II Germany. Despite incredible challenges as a child, she retained a profound curiosity, care and compassion for all living things. Her captivating, ground-breaking scientific research on Australian magpies, tawny frogmouths and other iconic bird species, as well as primates, make Prof. Kaplan a world-leading expert in animal behaviour, especially of Australian birds. Professor Kaplan is on a mission to spread the word about how intelligent and surprising birds are, before time runs out for many of them.
When John Long clamped his hands around a fossil at the age of seven, it sparked a lifelong love affair with collecting artefacts from another time. His many ground-breaking discoveries have changed our thinking about the early evolution of back-boned animals. He was Australia's only President of the world's largest palaeontology society, and worked with the Australian Federal Police to bust the illegal fossil trade, yet Professor Long mysteriously still finds time for other pursuits, such as writing 26 adult and children's books relating to science.
Emma Johnston AO FTSE FRSN is the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) at the University of Sydney and President of Science & Technology Australia. She is an authority in marine ecology and a former Pro-Vice Chancellor at UNSW. Johnston's research group at UNSW investigates the ecology of human impacts in marine systems, combining the diverse disciplines of ecology, microbiology and ecotoxicology to expand fundamental understanding and provide recommendations for management. Her research is conducted in such diverse field environments as Sydney Harbour, Antarctica, the Great Barrier Reef and temperate Australian estuaries. She is a regular media commentator and, as co-presenter of the Foxtel/BBC television series Coast Australia, which has helped take Australian marine science to an international audience. She also launched a Sydney Harbour cruise called Underwater Secrets' – Sydney Harbour Revealed, which focuses on scientific research into the waterway.
Skye Blackburn-Lang is an entomologist and food scientist who has combined her two specialities and high energy entrepreneurial spirit to become a world leader in developing nutritious superfoods for a sustainable future from insects and their larvae – without the Yuck! factor. From the time Skye was very young, she was passionate about all things creepy crawly and dreamed of becoming an entomologist when she was just four years old! After finishing her university studies, she first worked in a pet food company developing nutritious food for cats but very soon created her own businesses introducing children and adults to the world of insects. She developed insect life cycle kits and butterfly sessions, becoming a regular and extremely popular speaker at schools, invited to show and talk about her insects at public and private events. She has appeared on television, on the children’s reality show Camp Orange, and has also worked with production companies that require her services and live insects in TV shows, films and advertisements. Her creepy-crawlies have become rock stars! After visiting Thailand and seeing insects cooked up as yummy treats, she is now famous for producing amazing food – from ice cream, to muesli to choc chip cookies, made from protein and nutrient-rich insects that she farms herself. Food for the future!
Scientia Professor Sahajwalla, 2022 NSW Australian of the Year, is founder and Director of the UNSW Sustainable Materials Research and Technology (SMaRT) Centre and Director of the ARC Microrecycling Research Hub and Leader of the NESP Sustainable Communities and Waste Hub. One person’s trash is another person’s treasure! Veena is literally revolutionalising the processes to transform waste into amazing products which she calls ‘re-forming’, and that goes way beyond recycling! She and her team have invented technologies that can do it on a micro level so you could have one in every town in Australia, and the world! Plus, her Green Steel TM Polymer Injection Technology uses millions of old car tyres and other plastics instead of coal in steel-making, reducing carbon emissions. No wonder she’s getting awards all over the place!
Aussie STEM Stars is an inspiring children's series that celebrates Australia's experts in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics As Australia's Chief Scientist, our country has turned to Alan Finkel for advice on everything from the climate, to AI, to the pandemic. But at a time when scientists have never been so important, Alan nearly didn't become one at all. Growing up in Melbourne as the son of immigrants who fled the Holocaust, Alan had to find the courage to make his own choices - even when they weren't quite what his family had in mind. Alan's story is one of being brave, loving your family and always aiming for excellence. Dr Finkel commenced as Australia's Chief Scientist on 25 January 2016. This followed an extensive science background as an entrepreneur, engineer, neuroscientist and educator, and an industrial career producing breakthrough scientific instruments for academic neurosciences and pharmaceutical drug discovery. He served as President of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE), and for eight years as Chancellor of Monash University. He has been Chair of multiple companies dedicated to scientific research and was named the 2016 Victorian of the Year. Alan is committed to science education and has founded numerous magazines and education programs for schools and organisations. His career is defined by creative leadership, initiatives, philanthropy and innovative scientific publishing. He has been a strong and effective advocate for governmental and industrial support of innovation and research in science and engineering.
Age range 9+ Growing up in London, Michelle’s interests frequently bumped up against expectations of girls which she pushed through, including her love of playing soccer and chess, and later, her passion for science and technology. Professor Simmons is well-known for creating the field of atomic electronics. Since 2000 she established the Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology dedicated to the making of tiny atomic-scale devices in silicon and germanium. Her research group at the University of New South Wales is the only group worldwide that can create atomically precise devices in silicon. It was also the first team in the world to develop a working ‘perfect’ single-atom transistor and the narrowest conducting doped wires in silicon. In 2018 Michelle became Australian of the Year and is an Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow. She is passionate about encouraging girls to pursue a career in science and technology: ‘Seeing women in leadership roles and competing internationally … gives them the sense that anything is possible’.
