Graduate Speaker - Macquarie University

📍 Macquarie University

📅 October 2023

I was nominated by several of my professors to be the graduate speaker for Faculty of Science and Engineering graduation ceremony. I myself was graduting from my Master of Research in palaeontology, archaeology, and science communication, and was able to share my pride in completing this journey and sharing it with so many other incredible science students, all of whom will go on to be amazing role models for future people in science.

You can listen to the speech here (start from 1:22:00)

Speech Transcript:

Chancellor, members of the university, fellow graduates and guests. It's a privilege to stand here before all of you, in what will be my final presentation as a university student. While doing talks is one of my jobs as a presenter at the Australian Museum, and was a huge part of my actual MRes in palaeontology, archaeology, and science communication, this is one talk that will be memorable for a long time – and don't worry, I'll still talk about dinosaurs.

When I was a kid growing up on a farm in rural NSW, at a high school in a town that was often defined by the Police Academy, the SuperMax prison, and the big Merino – shout out to Goulburn – I never thought that a career in science was where I would end up. I didn't even know that being a palaeontologist or archaeologist was even a real job – and let's be honest even after spending my winter digging up dinosaur skeletons, I'm still not sure this isn't some dream.

It is with huge thanks to my supervisors that supported me to create this unique pathway in science. For many of us it was our incredible supervisors and support systems that allowed us to pursue our passions, from digging up dinosaurs, to putting QR codes on ants to learn about robotics, to looking at bushfire responses in frogs, to solving problems in climate change, engineering new technologies for the future, or examining how stars collide. The enormous support of our families also played a role in the success of many of us. To my mum who ignited my love of palaeontology with a bag full of plastic dinosaurs given to me when I was four, to my sister who has continually shown me to be independent, and to follow my own pathway and no one else’s.

And thank you especially to each and every one of you graduating today. While many of us have only met via zoom through that one unit where they chucked all the STEM kids together to teach us about how to talk about our research to someone who has no idea, a skill I'm sure many of our family and friends appreciate, this was an amazing chance to see the weird and wonderful research that you guys are putting out.

For someone who had zero role models in science growing up, it is an honour to see so many new role models in STEM today. I hope that you will all continue to be visible and inspiring to others going forward so maybe when there's another little girl or boy or child who doesn't know what they want to do, they can look to you and say, ‘well if they're doing it maybe I can too’.

Congratulations on completing the next step in your journeys I hope for all of us it will continue to be bright and hopefully full of dinosaurs.

Thank you and congratulations!