National Tour Guests
An important part of of National Science Week is our National Tour. Through events in every state and territory, our Tour guests share amazing adventures, fascinating stories and intriguing experiments. This year, the National Tour will be joined by four international scientists:
The Naked Scientist: Dr Chris Smith
Chris Smith is a medical doctor and clinical lecturer in Virology at Cambridge University, who in 2001 founded The Naked Scientists, an award-winning radio program that aims to strip science down to its bare essentials.
Taking questions from the public on any science related topic, Chris and The Naked Scientists team respond in innovative, interactive and informative ways, often interviewing world renowned scientists and researchers.
At only 35 yearsof age, Chris’ novel approach to making scientific issues interesting to the general public has gained international recognition. Not only does The Naked Scientists show appear weekly on the BBC, broadcasting to an audience of more than six million listeners in the United Kingdom, it has also become one of the world’s most downloaded podcasts.
In addition to the radio show, the group has organised Naked Science at Borders, a public lecture series, and have put together the (Naked Scientists web site) to allow the radio show, lecturers, and much more to be accessible worldwide.
Chris participates in a number of other live science broadcasts in the United Kingdom and internationally, including weekly appearances on ABC Radio National Australia. He is also the founder and presenter of the first 100 episodes of the Nature Podcast, an audio version of the international science journal, Nature.
In 2006, Chris published his first book – Naked Science – which compiles many of the stories presented on The Naked Scientists radio show. In 2008, he co-authored Crisp Packet Fireworks, a collection of science experiments that people can try at home, and published a sequel to Naked Science, The Return of the Naked Scientist. Chris is currently working on a new book to be released in late 2010.
Over the past 15 years, Chris has been the recipient of multiple awards for his individual accomplishments as well as his work with the Naked Scientists, including the Biosciences Federation Prize for Science Communication 2006; the JOSH Award in 2007; The Society for General Microbiology’s Peter Wildy Prize 2008; The Royal Society Kohn Award in 2008; the Best Radio Show award at the Populations Institutes 29th Global Media Awards; and the European Podcast Award for UK Non-Profit podcast.
Microbiologist and cave explorer: Dr Hazel Barton
Over the past 20 years Hazel Barton has been caving in more than 1000 caves on five continents. As a cave microbiologist, Hazel combines her passion for caving with studying the microbial life that inhibits caves, researching cures for antibiotic resistant diseases, clean drinking water, global warming, astrobiology, and planetary protection.
Following an Outward Bound course as a teen, Hazel began caving on a weekly basis, exploring the wet, muddy caves of England and Wales. In 1993 Hazel received a bachelor’s degree in Applied Biology at the University of the West of England, then moved to the Colorado, USA to pursue a doctorate in microbiology.
Today Hazel is the Ashland Professor of Integrative Science and Associate Professor in The Department of Biological Science at Northern Kentucky University, and is the director of the National Speleological Society, a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to the study, conservation, exploration and knowledge of caves.
One of the top cave explorers and mappers in the United States, Hazel has uncovered unique antibiotics, discovered the role of microorganisms in filtering drinking water, contributed to global warming research by looking at how cave microbes can turn carbon dioxide into stable calcium carbonate, and is currently collaborating with NASA in examining the similarities between cave conditions and the subsurfaces on Mars.
Hazel’s research has been published in numerous publications including the Journal of Applied Microbiology, Journal of Cave and Karst Studies, and the International Journal of Speleology. She has also received numerous awards for the maps she has produced for both dry and underwater caves.
In 2001 Hazel co-starred in the IMAX film, Journey Into Amazing Caves, which followed her explorations into unusual caves such as the amazing ice caves in Greenland and the underwater caves in the jungles of Mexico. She also co-authored the award-winning children’s book Exploring Caves: Journeys into the Earth, based on the film.
Hazel’s unique expeditions have been profiled in a number of television documentaries such as Animal Planet and the History Channel, and in a range of magazines, radio and television shows.
Arctic Explorer & Environmental Scientist: Tim Jarvis
Tim Jarvis is an environmental scientist, world explorer, consultant and public speaker who has been able to combine his love for adventure with his passion for the environment.
Since graduating with Masters qualifications in both Environmental Science and Environmental Law, Tim has embarked on expeditions all over the world focusing attention on improving environmental sustainability, particularly in under-developed countries.
Tim is best known for his 1999 Expedition to Antartica with Australian explorer Peter Treseder. The 47-day trek to the South Pole took Jarvis and Treseder into the record books as Joint World Record holders for the fastest unsupported journey to the South Pole and the longest unsupported Antarctica journey in history.
After completing the expedition, Tim became intrigued by Sir Douglas Mawson’s 1912 expedition, in which he travelled the same route, in roughly the same amount of time, yet using far less equipment and losing two of his expedition partners. Motivated by his curiosity as to whether Mawson needed to cannibalise his fallen colleague to survive, Tim decided to recreate Mawson’s expedition using the same clothing, equipment and starvation rations that Mawson had available to him in 1912. In 2006, Tim set out on the 500 km journey in Antarctica, creating an award-winning documentary – Mawson: Life and Death in Antarctica – based on his expedition.
Besides his trips to the Antarctica, Tim has taken on many other challenging expeditions including his first unsupported adventure in 2001 where he travelled 1100 km across the Great Victorian Desert in 20 days; a 400 km trek across the frozen Arctic Ocean to the North Pole in 2002; and an award-winning 2004 adventure kayaking more than 200 km across South Australia’s Warburton River and trekking across Lake Eyre.
Tim’s adventures have been the foundation for his two bestselling books, The Unforgiving Minute, which tells the story of his first three polar expeditions, and Mawson: Life and Death in Antarctica, based on the documentary of the same name.
Today Tim speaks regularly to a variety of audiences as an advocate for environmental change, using his expeditions to emphasise the importance of environmental sustainability. As an environmental consultant, Tim also provides natural resource management, environmental auditing, EIA and EMS design and implementation advice to underdeveloped countries.
Tim is currently is planning the 2011 Shackleton Epic Expedition, which will recreate the 1916 boat journey and South Georgia Climb of Ernest Shackleton, using replicas of equipment from the original trek.
National Measurement Institute nanotechnologist: Jan Herrmann
Jan Herrmann is a scientist who is fascinated by the world of atoms and molecules. He leads the Nanometrology team at the National Measurement Institute (NMI), the body responsible for biological, chemical, legal and physical measurement in Australia.
Nanometrology is the science of measurement at the nanoscale where objects are as small as a billionth of a metre and often exhibit unusual and surprising properties.
Jan and his team work to measure the size of nanoparticles and nano-structures accurately so that we can understand their properties better and benefit from their potential whilst mitigating associated risks.
The measurement infrastructure that Jan builds is vital in supporting researchers, industry and regulators in the responsible development of nanotechnologies. Products of nanotechnology are diverse and range from cosmetics such as sunscreens to tools for medical diagnostics as well as micro-electronic chips commonly found in mobile phones and computers.
Jan and the NMI Nanometrology team are currently designing and building an ultra precision atomic force microscope which will be able to image objects at the nanoscale and measure their dimensions accurately.
Since being awarded a Doctorate in Physics from the University of Leipzig, Germany, Jan has worked in R&D at the University of California, San Diego, as well as at CSIRO and NMI in Australia.
Jan’s interest in the nano world and his enthusiasm for uncovering its secrets has seen him publish more than 65 peer-reviewed journal papers. He has spoken about nanoscience and nanotechnology to various audiences around the world.