State Conference 2023

Congratulations to all of the students and teachers who attended the Wonder of Science State Conference! We were so excited to welcome teams from across the State with over 290 people attending the 2023 Wonder of Science State Conference at The University of Queensland including 240 in-person and an additional 57 zooming in virtually.

Students who have won Regional Conferences across Queensland presented the results of the term-long Challenge Task research projects competing to be State Champions!

Students also participated in workshops on Owl ecology, fungi and food throughout the day and participated in a speed meet session with our Flying Scientists and Young Science Ambassadors.

A special congratulations to the winning teams

Year 4:

First Place - Kimberley Park State School

Second Place - Taroom State School

Third Place - Brightwater State School

Year 5:

First Place - Taroom State School

Second Place - Stretton State College

Third Place - Hambledon State School and St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Chinchilla

Year 6:

First Place - Kimberley Park State School and Brightwater State School

Second Place - Meandarra State School

Third Place - Mourilyan State School

Year 7:

First Place - Spinifex State College - Mount Isa

Second Place - St Mary's Catholic College

Third Place - Redlands College

Year 8:

First Place - Foxwell State Secondary College

Second Place - Rockhampton State High School

Third Place - Spinifex State College

Year 9:

First Place – Bundaberg State High School

Second Place - Stretton State College

Third Place - Foxwell State College

Congratulations to Chase from Hambledon State School and Kevin from Kimberley Park State School for receiving the STEM Excellence Award (an award for a Year 4 – 9 student who shows a great commitment to STEM).

A big thank you to Queensland Chief Scientist Professor Kerrie Wilson for providing an insightful keynote presentation for students. We loved one of your takeaways: "Most things fail in science, but that's part of the scientific process"

We were also featured on 7NEWs Toowoombah!

We are also very excited to announce that 80% of State Champions in 2023 were female! Incredible!

Thank you to our partners including Arrow Energy, Rio Tinto, Orica, GroundProbe, QUT (Queensland University of Technology), Griffith University, University of the Sunshine Coast, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Queensland Trust for Nature, Queensland Government and Australian Academy of Technological Sciences & Engineering for making WoS possible.

QUT Metro Regional Conference

Thank you to all of the students who attended the special "Halloween" edition of our Metro Regional Conference on 31 October 2023 at QUT (Queensland University of Technology)!

Students presented the results of their Challenge Tasks and participated in workshops and speed-meet at scientist events.

Congratulations to the winning teams:

Year 7 - Redlands College
Year 8 - A tie! St Mary's College, Ipswich and Stretton State College
Year 9 - Stretton State College

Thank you to the QUT, Griffith University and The University of Queensland students who judged and ran workshops on the day! Our Young Science Ambassadors donned their best spooky hats for the event!

Thank you also to Perry Collier who represented one of our funding partners Rio Tinto on the day.

Wonder of Science in Cairns 2023 - Our biggest Cairns Regional Conference yet!

Last week Wonder of Science held the biggest Cairns Regional Conference ever. With over 200 people attending including 165 students from 13 schools from Cairns, Innisfail, Mourilyan, Mossman, Port Douglas and surrounding areas! Congratulations to all of the students who presented the results of their Challenge Task Projects.

Congratulations to the winning teams:

Year 4 - Mossman State School and Port Douglas State School
Year 5 - Hambledon State School
Year 6 - Mourilyan State School
Year 7 - A tie! St Mary's Catholic College and Innisfail State College
Year 8 - Peace Lutheran College
Year 9 - Redlynch State College

A special congratulations to our Cairns Distance Education Year 6 student who participated virtually in the conference, zooming in all the way from India!

Our Cairns region is supported by Rio Tinto. Thank you to Rio Tinto for their ongoing support of the program!

We are excited to confirm that we will be back in Cairns and Far North Queensland next year!

Thank you to the 16 Young Science Ambassadors from QUT (Queensland University of Technology), Griffith University, The University of Queensland who attended the conference as judges and workshop leaders. Students had the opportunity to meet these scientists and learn about their research in our speed-meet event on the day.

Thank you to James Cook University for hosting us for this event!

Students also participated in ecology and aerodynamics workshops on the day.

Emerald Regional Confernece

Last week we held three Regional Conferences across two days! A big congratulations to all of the teams who presented at our Emerald Regional Conference on 12 October.

Congratulations to the winning teams:

Year 4 - A tie! Blackwater North State School and Emerald North State School
Year 5 - Emerald North State School
Year 6 - Blackwater North State School
Year 7 - Dysart State High School
Year 8 - Dysart State High School
Year 9 - Dysart State High School

A big congratulations also to Blackwater State School who took out third place in the year 4 competition at their first WoS conference!

Thank you to representatives from Orica and GroundProbe who joined us for this conference! Our valued partners make Wonder of Science possible by supporting schools to be involved in the program across the Emerland and Bowen Basin region. Here from Lisa Cronqvist, GroundProbe Marketing Communications Coordinator, about her experience at the Regional Conference here: https://www.groundprobe.com/groundprobe-is-helping-to.../

Thank you to Emerald North State School for hosting us for the second year running!

Students also met 12 STEM researchers (Young Science Ambassadors) from QUT (Queensland University of Technology), Griffith University, University of the Sunshine Coast and The University of Queensland. Thank you to those YSAs who travelled to the Emerald and Gladstone conferences last week.

Wonder of Science will be back in Central Queensland again next year!

Gladstone Regional Confernece

A big congratulations to the WONDER-full teams who participated in our Gladstone Regional Conference. Schools from Gladstone, Rockhampton, Bundaberg and Biloela ventured to CQUniversity Gladstone to present the results of their Challenge Task research project and participate in workshops throughout the day.

Students also met 12 STEM researchers (Young Science Ambassadors) from Griffith University, QUT, University of the Sunshine Coast and The University of Queensland.

An extra congratulations to our winning teams:

Year 5 - Gladstone West State School
Year 6 - Kin Kora State School
Year 7 - Bundaberg State High School
Year 8 - Rockhampton State High School
Year 9 - Bundaberg State High School

Many schools attending this conference are supported by Orica and GroundProbe! Thank you to the Orica representatives who attended this event.

Thank you to CQU Gladstone for hosting us again this year.

We are excited to see a few previous Regional Conference winners amongst this year's winners! We look forward to seeing all of the winning teams at State Conference in Brisbane!

Mount Isa Regional Confernece 2023

Congratulations to the teams from Mount Isa and Cloncurry who participated in our 6th Annual Mount Isa Regional Conference on 10 October 2023.

Thank you to all of the Year 4 - 8 students who participated from across the region. Students presented the results of their Term 3 Challenge Task projects and participated in Cabbage Chemistry and Marine Ecology workshops! Students also participated in a speed-meet session where they got to know all 11 of the scientists from three universities (UQ, QUT and Griffith University) visiting Mount Isa for the conference.

Congratulations to everyone involved!

A special congratulations to the winning teams:

Year 4 - St Keiran's Catholic School, Mount Isa
Year 5 - A tie! Happy Valley State School and St Keiran's Catholic School, Mount Isa
Year 6 - Happy Valley State School
Year 7 - Spinifex State College
Year 8 - Spinifex State College

Thank you to Orica and GroundProbe for sponsoring schools in the Mount Isa region to participate in Wonder of Science.

Thank you also to Spinifex State College who has hosted this event for the past six years!

Something of a WoS Mount Isa tradition, the Wonder of Science team gathered for a photo at Outback Isa at the end of the day to celebrate:

Wonder of Science Wins WiT Award for Raising the Regions

The Wonder of Science Team (AleX, Kaylene and LEnore) - Women in Technology 2023 raising the regions Award Winners.

We are incredibly honoured and proud to announce that the Wonder of Science team (Alexandra McKelvey (nee Hall), Lenore Irvine and Kaylene Cooper) has won the Women in Technology 2023 Raising the Regions Award.

Thank you to Women in Technology for your encouragement and for recognising us today. This is an incredible achievement for our team and we are so excited.

Our team was honoured to be finalists in three categories having also been finalists in the Lifitng Communities and Excellence in STEM Education and Research categories as well.

Thank you to our supporters, university partners, industry partners, inspiring Young Science Ambassadors, Flying Scientists, staff, teachers, parents and students who make all of it possible!

Congratulations to all of the finalists, winners and highly commended. It was WONDER-full to see the incredible work that women are achieving in STEM fields all over the state.

Wonder of Science is actively raising the regions and supporting STEM, and women and girls in STEM, across Queensland:

• We are a future-focused initiative fostering a STEM culture that empowers students via access to high-quality, evidence-based STEM education. We are inspiring excellence by coordinating over 140 Young Science Ambassadors, who are PhD students in STEM fields, to visit Year 4 – 9 students across Queensland as part of our Challenge Task program. Students then participate in a term-long research task. Representative teams are invited to attend a Regional Conference with winners attending State Conference in Brisbane. We also provide teachers with curriculum resources as well as professional learning options

• We have reached over 100,000 people since 2012.

• In 2022, 74% of schools participating in Wonder of Science were in rural and remote communities and 62% of schools were below the average socio-education advantage (ICSEA) ranking.

• Our core program is a term-long. Many schools participate for multiple years and it often becomes an integral part of the schools’ STEM teaching and learning.

• We have worked in regional areas across the state including Cairns, Innisfail, Mossman, Weipa, Mackay, Charleville, Chinchilla, Bowen Basin, Emerald, Darling Downs, Gladstone, Gladstone, Bundaberg, Rockhampton, North Burnette, Goodwindi and Cooktown.

• We are raising the regions through our Flying Scientists program which is actively promoting women in STEM at community events across Rural and Regional Queensland. The Flying Scientists program, run in partnership with the Queensland Government, Office of the Queensland Chief Scientist, sees STEM researchers travel into regional Queensland centres to engage in STEM community events and to visit schools in the region to share their inspiring STEM stories.

• In 2023 over 77% of our Young Science Ambassadors are women. In 2023, 8 of our 9 major Flying Scientists events showcased women in STEM.

• We provide an effective, high-quality STEM education program across rural and regional Queensland.

• Between 60% and 80% of Regional and State Conference winners each year are female.

• Since 2020 we have also facilitated a girls in STEM mentoring program in partnership with Foxwell State College, where up to 20 Year 7 students each year receive one-on-one mentoring from a female Young Science Ambassador and complete a STEM inquiry project of their choosing over the course of a term.

• 99% of students and 100% of teachers who attended the 2022 State Conference agree that they would recommend Wonder of Science to others.

Thank you also to the representatives of our partners who joined us on the night and to all of our patterns (who are listed on the website)!

We hope to continue #rasingtheregions for years to come!

Sharing our YSAs’ stories

In celebration of reaching over 100,000 people since 2012, we are sharing some of our Young Science Ambassadors’ favourite moments in the program. Here are three stories written by Young Science Ambassadors about their Wonder of Science adventures! We hope you enjoy them!

David Sutton – Queensland University of Technology

A YSA since 2018, David has travelled across the state for Wonder of Science and is among our most active ambassadors. David is an experimental laser physicist researching micro-scale 3D printing of metals through light-driven chemical reactions:

David SUTTON was also the RECIPIENT OF THE GORDON DUNLOP MEDAL (CLICK HERE FOR THAT STORY)

“In 2021 I had the opportunity to visit Year 11 and 12 students in Cairns considering their path following school and into university. I was asked a question about Aerospace Engineering which is outside my field, but through working with fellow YSAs from the UQ Hypersonics group in the past, I was able to direct this student to look at UQ if she was interested in pursuing it further and she said she had no idea she could do it in Queensland. It was wonderful knowing that she had a new idea about what she could be after school just by being able to ask a fairly simple question.

When visiting students in different regions it’s always amazing to see the skills that some of these students possess that are well outside what you might expect for school students. Many Year 6 students have welded their own seismographs together in the Darling Downs for example, and students in and around Brisbane have created entire 3D modelled projects that show how a sustainable village might operate in the future to help deal with the realities of climate change.”

Tatiana Briody – The University of Queensland

A YSA since 2022, Tatiana is a PhD candidate with the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI) at the University of Queensland and investigates the benefits of gene editing in improving resilience to infection in cattle. Here she speaks about her favourite WoS moments, including conferences and developing a lab tour for our Gen-STEM mentoring program:

TATIANA FACILITATING THE GEN-STEM LAB TOUR AT UQ - Find out more about Mentoring Programs HERE

“Gladstone Young Science Ambassador Trip – I got the opportunity to fly to Gladstone with the Wonder of Science program as part of one of the first visits to the region since the pandemic. Many teachers were away sick, and those that were left had twice as many students to teach; and yet, they made us feel welcome and prioritised the YSA visit, ensuring all the students were able to engage with the lesson and meet us. It left me with a feeling of gratitude for our teachers and pride in the WoS program to be able to bring these experiences to regional and remote students.

Miles Regional Conference – my first trip as a YSA was to the Miles Regional Conference and it was full of excitement and colour and kids in cow onesies and I loved every part of it. I was impressed by the passion and innovation students brought to their projects, and the curiosity they had for each other’s work. In particular, the students’ questions for my own project led to me to think about the implications of my research in a different way and I left the experience reinvigorated in my work.

Gen-STEM lab tour at the University of Queensland – I had the privilege of working together with Alex and others from the 2023 Gen-STEM program to organise a tour of my own lab for our Year 7 mentees. The tour involved showing the girls where I work, the kinds of tools we use and hearing from a senior female researcher at our institute. The students got to dress up in lab coats and goggles and practice using pipettes - just like we do - giving them the chance to actually see what a career in STEM could look like for them.”

Zheng Jie Chia - The University of Queensland

New to Wonder of Science this year! Zheng is a student favourite with his Cabbage DNA workshop at Miles Regional Conference being the talk of the town. Here, he tells a story about his recent trip to Mount Isa:

“On the Mt Isa visit, I was asked how to be a chef by a secondary student. Without much thinking, I told the student that there were culinary art degrees in the universities. However, he was worried he would not have a suitable enough ATAR for university.

ZHENG AT Miles Regional Conference - full conference story here

I told him that he could start with TAFE or study another program at the university first to gain more credit to study culinary arts. Before leaving, I added, “You might change your ambition three years later. You can drive straight to Brisbane or zig-zag through your journey to somewhere you never thought before!”. I am often asked to advise students about pursuing a particular career at the tertiary level. However, it is also an opportunity to reflect on my journey to PhD study. I started with a non-science degree, working in a pharmacy for two years before going back to university again to study a biology-focused PhD; something I never planned seven years ago!

Drawing of Zheng by a Year 7 student.

After the conclusion of a Year 7 visit, I was told to wait after class by another ambassador because someone drew a portrait for me. Being a Young Science Ambassador, I visit schools to give science lessons to students. However, I also learn from students on every WoS visit. On the Mt Isa visit, I saw more than 100 Year 7 students in a week and gave multiple Year 7 lessons, but the portrait reminded me that I am new to every student and keeping an enthusiastic disposition is essential as you never know how deep the impression you give to students will be during these exciting WoS visits. See attached photo—credit to Lexi from Spinifex State College, Mt Isa.

Thank you for allowing me to visit so many great schools!”

David Sutton and ZHENG Jie Chia on a recent trip to Mount Isa.

Brightwater Regional Conference

Congratulations to all of the teams who attended our Brightwater Regional Conference on Tuesday!

Thank you to Mount Mee State School, Brightwater State School and Banksia Beach State School for joining us at the conference.

Our winning teams were:

Year 4 - Brightwater State School

Year 5 - Mount Mee State School

Year 6 - A tie! Mount Mee State School and Brightwater State School!

Students also participated in DNA and food web ecology workshops.

Special mention to the wonderful pink seismograph (final photo) from the Year 6 winning Brightwater team!

Thank you to the 14 Young Science Ambassadors from The University of Queensland, QUT (Queensland University of Technology) and Griffith University for joining us on the day.

Young Science Ambassadors travel to Mount Isa in 2023

Our amazing Young Science Ambassadors (including YSAs from Griffith University, QUT (Queensland University of Technology) and The University of Queensland) have done it again! This time inspiring and supporting Mount Isa students as they investigate their Wonder of Science Challenge Tasks.

Wonder of Science has been travelling to Mount Isa since 2018 to work with students across Queensland.

Thank you to our partners Orica and GroundProbe for supporting Wonder of Science to travel to Mount Isa in 2022 and 2023.

Over 100,000 people reached since 2012!

Wonder of Science is excited to announce that we have reached over 100,000 people across Queensland since we began in 2012!

Thank you to the staff, teachers, students, partners, universities, Young Science Ambassadors and Flying Scientists who have made this possible. We look forward to continuing to foster a STEM culture in Queensland schools in the years to come.

Here are just some of our favourite photos from recent years.

Gladstone World Science Festival - 2023

We were so excited to share that we were reached 100,000 people since 2012! But here was the event that put us over the line!

Thank you to Joy and Chamodi for helping us reach 100,000 people.

Young Science Ambassador Joy Seitanidou filled in as a Flying Scientist for the World Science Festival Gladstone event. She was accompanied by QUT Young Science Ambassador Chamodi Fernando.

Across the two days they spoke to a total of 3233 students and community members about their research withing the medical field. The scientists also ran STEM activities including a build your own virus activity and an acids and base activity. Joy and Chamodi both had extensive discussions with attendees about what it was that ignited their passion and interest in STEM. They also provided advice on career opportunities in STEM fields. This event also marked 100,000 people reached for Wonder of Science since 2012.

Joy had the following to say about the event: '' Participating in the WSF at Gladstone was a truly unique experience compared to my previous involvement in similar science outreach programs. The festival provided an invaluable opportunity to communicate my research to a diverse audience (spanning ages from 5 to 60+), enabling engaging discussions about the ways scientific advancements can enhance the health and safety of our community. However, my most rewarding moments came from interacting with younger students during the workshop activities, where a seemingly simple task like building a model of a protein ignited curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking among the participants. I am thankful that the Wonder of Science participated in the WSF and I was allowed to be part of it. Now all I am thinking of is when the WSF takes place next year! ''

Young Science Ambassador Chamodi Fernando said: “I am thrilled that all the experience I gained from the WoS program was amazing. I participated in the World Science Festival Gladstone, in which I helped to reach over 100, 000 people as a YSA. I found good opportunities to inspire not only students but also their parents on STEM.”

The Flying Scientists program is provided in partnership with the Office of the Queensland Chief Scientist (OQCS). The Flying Scientists are early-mid career researchers who accompany Young Science Ambassadors into regional Queensland centres for community Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) awareness events. The program has been developed to address the shortage of science-related events convened outside South East Queensland — see the survey reports commissioned by OQCS which highlight this here: Queenslanders’ perceptions of science | Office of Queensland Chief Scientist.

Wonder of Science in Miles 2023 supported by Arrow Energy

A big congratulations to the Years 4 - 7 teams who participated in the Miles Regional Conference at Miles State High School this year. Thank you also to the 10 Young Science Ambassadors (PhD students) who travelled to Miles to participate in conference! Students also participated in two workshops looking at DNA extraction and using vegetables (cabbage) to determine pH.

We were also excited to be interviewed by 4WK Radio on the day!

Congratulations to the winning teams:

Year 4 – A tie between two teams from Taroom State School

Year 5 – St Josephs Catholic College and Taroom State School

Year 6 – Meandarra State School

Year 7 – Miles State High School

Wonder of Science is the Darling Downs is supported by our partners at. Arrow Energy. Thank you Arrow Energy for your ongoing support!

Gen-STEM students visit UQ

Last month we hosted 15 Year 7 students who are part of our one-on-one Gen-STEM mentoring program in partnership with Foxwell State Secondary College.

Students participated in a STEM workshop, took a tour of UQ IMB and QAAFI and met their Young Science Ambassador Mentors for the first time.

In the coming weeks these Year 7 students will meet with their mentors via Teams once a week as they work on individual STEM research projects over Term 3.

Wonder of Science at World Mining Congress

This week, Wonder of Science had a space on the exhibition floor at the 26th World Mining Congress in Brisbane. Our Young Science Ambassadors were on hand to talk all things Wonder of Science. They spoke about the WONDER-ful work we are doing in the STEM education space.

We also had examples of the inquiry activities we run with students and an Australian geology quiz for congress attendees. Thank you to the organisers for inviting us to participate.

2023 school visits are underway!

Our 2023 visits are well underway. In Term 2 we are visiting Darling Downs, Ipswich and Brisbane schools. Here are some photo highlights:

• Thank you to YSAs Courtney from University of the Sunshine Coast, Mica (Maria Micaela) Fiorito from QUT (Queensland University of Technology), Sam Gayathri from Griffith University and Razib Mosaruf from The University of Queensland for visiting Years 4 – 6 students at Kimberley Park State School last Friday. Students actively explored STEM concepts ranging from material properties to sustainable electrical energy to life on Earth.

• YSAs Amy Young from QUT (Queensland University of Technology) and Gemma Laird from The University of Queensland, for also visited Stretton State College Year 8 students last week where they explored energy transfers and transformations.

• Our stellar team also made their way out to 10 schools in the Darling Downs. Pictured below, YSAs Pankaj Ram Kaushik and Nikita Rosendahl visited Miles State High School.

Kimberley Park State School

Miles State High School

Stretton State College

2022 Impact

Our 2022 annual report is now live!

Wonder of Science is continuing to foster a STEM culture in Queensland Schools. In 2022 we were excited to reach 16135 people across Queensland.

In 2023, we welcomed 141 Young Science Ambassadors (PhD students in STEM fields) to the program from our four partner universities: QUT (Queensland University of Technology), Griffith University, University of the Sunshine Coast, and The University of Queensland. This year 77% of our YSAs identify as female.

Our ambassadors are already hard at work. This term alone we have already reached over 1400 students through our Challenge Task program.

To download the 2022 Annual Report click here

STEM Girl Power!

Yesterday, showcasing the power of women in STEM, The University of Queensland YSAs Caitlin, Claire, Kathryn Dawson, Tatiana Briody and Yusra Rabbani answered engaging and thought-provoking questions from Year 10 students at a panel for the STEM Girl Power Initiative. Students learnt about the YSAs research, university pathways, finding and following your passion, and challenges faced by women in STEM fields.

Young Science Ambassadors Caitlin, Kathryn, Tatiana, Claire and Yusra