The Buzz About STEM: Recent Episodes
Careers with STEM
Careers with STEM’s new podcast, The Buzz About STEM, is for parents who want first-hand advice on inspiring their teen and supporting them on their path to a rewarding, successful career. Through conversations with STEM professionals at different levels of their careers, plus education and STEM experts, and other parents, you’ll gain tips, insights and tools for supporting your teen in their post-school life as they forge their own path into higher education or the workforce.
The Buzz About STEM is a conversational show full of tips for parents.
In this episode we speak with Yolande Strengers, a digital sociologist who co-leads a program at the Monash Tech School teaching school girls how to build their own voice bot and in doing so, busting some myths about what STEM jobs are like.
We also get some tips on how to discuss AI and other emerging tech with children.
The Buzz About STEM returns for a season of conversational shows full of tips for parents.
In this episode, Refraction Media Co-founder Heather Catchpole and new Careers with STEM Managing Editor Charis Palmer discuss the jobs of the future in the wake of the current artificial intelligence boom and what parents can do to help their children prepare for a world of rapidly evolving career options.
Daniya Syed is an incredibly inspiring young woman. Originally from Pakistan, she was last year named Young Woman of the Year at the 2021 Western Sydney Women Awards.
She’s only recently finished high school, but already has an impressive tech CV, including representing Australia all over the world in robotics competitions, most recently at the FIRST Robotics Competition in Switzerland - kind of the Robotics Olympics, where she was the captain of the Australian team. Daniya even kicked off her Year 12 exams while competing in Switzerland, taking her English paper at the Australian consulate in Geneva.
In this episode you'll hear from Daniya about where her love of robotics came from, about the role her parents and mentors have played in helping her follow her passions, and about her plans and goals for the future.
Not every teen is going to be winning robotics competitions in Switzerland – Daniya’s achievements are truly exceptional. But every teen can find something that inspires or excites them, and every parent can play a role in finding and nurturing that passion, even if it means removing a bit of pressure from other areas of their lives to make space for that passion.
Camille Goldstone-Henry is a wildlife conservationist who cares so much about wildlife that she quit – and now she’s working as a tech entrepreneur... with the ultimate goal of putting herself out of business.
Having graduated with a Bachelor of Animal and Veterinary Bioscience from the University of Sydney, Camille was living her dream job, working in amazing places from Kakadu to Costa Rica helping endangered animals. But she became frustrated by what she saw as a big gap in how conservationists like her were accessing and using data to help inform their decision making in the field.
So, Camille stepped out of her conservation career and upskilled in tech and business - resulting in a tech startup called Xylo Systems, which she cofounded with conservationist and mathematician Jada Anderson.
Xylo Systems is a software platform that uses cutting-edge tech including artificial intelligence (AI) to help conservationists connect, track and manage their projects using cloud-based data.
In this conversation, you’ll hear about how Camille’s ‘hippie’ parents helped empower her onto this amazing career path, about the learning curve of stepping out of science and into tech entrepreneurship, about the risks and rewards of being a founding a startup, how to foster an entrepreneurial mindset in your child, and why Camille’s ultimate goal is to put herself out of business altogether.
Camille’s career path is fascinating and inspiring, and a reminder of the power of combining disciplines, and of following your passions.
In this conversation with Dr Morley Muse, you'll hear about her incredible work in driving change in STEM diversity in Australia.
The daughter of an engineer, Morley chose this career path because she was inspired to come up with more sustainable fuel sources than the oil she saw drilled in her country of origin, Nigeria. Her experiences as a woman of colour in STEM then drove her to push for change. Now in addition to continuing to consult as an engineer, she is on the board of Women in STEMM Australia and co-founded iSTEM Co, which is a diversity and inclusion consultancy and a recruitment and talent agency, pushing to improve the situation for minority women in Australia.
Whether you're a parent, teacher or employer, you'll be inspired hearing Morley's stories from the frontline of pushing for change.
Harrison Mbugi grew up and went to high school in Tanzania, in eastern Africa.
His first interest in tech came when he got his own laptop in senior high school and was in awe of the power of the internet and – as he puts it – wanted to understand how he could chat to someone on the other side of the world instantaneously whereas a letter would take days to arrive.
This led him to study a Bachelor of Computer Science at St Xavier’s College in India and a Master’s of IT at Loyola University in Chicago.
He had his first job offer from Google before he’d finished his studies, and that’s where he’s still working today, as a Security Engineer helping to detect cyber threats.
In this episode, you’ll hear about the important role Harrison’s single mother played as a ballast and guide, about Harrison’s impressive philanthropic work when he was still a teenager in Africa, plus his words of advice for teens embarking on their own STEM career journeys, and for the parents helping them on their way.
Meet more cyber security role models at CareerswithSTEM.com.
Gemma Chilton in conversation with Vanessa Zepeda, a 37-year- old astrobiologist who is currently finishing up her PhD at QUT in Brisbane, Queensland.
Vanessa is the daughter of Mexican and Cuban immigrants, who grew up in land-locked Arizona, USA. So it’s somewhat surprising to hear that from a young age she dreamed of becoming a marine biologist. Her story is a great example of how the seeds of inspiration can come from the most surprising of places! Vanessa was the first in her family to go to university, and talks about how vital her dad’s support and encouragement was to her eventual success in academia.
Hear how Vanessa’s study path took her to beautiful Hawaii where she spent her 20s gaining her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in marine biology and microbiology, and how this evolved into a fascinating career in astrobiology – literally looking for life on Mars.
Vanessa also has some amazing words of wisdom for teens setting out on their own career paths, and for the parents of teens hoping to support their children on their journey to a successful and rewarding future.