74. How to create a scicomm outreach program with Dr Jen Payne

Let's Talk SciComm

This week we had a wonderful time speaking with Dr Jen Payne about her amazing initiative STEMpals. Jen grew up in a small country town, where the closest thing to scientists she saw was her teachers. She had no idea really what a scientist was or could be. Fast forward to now, where Jen is a research scientist, minimising deadly infections due to antimicrobial resistance.

She is an award-winning science communicator who is passionate about real-world STEM in the classroom. This led to becoming the founder and CEO of a STEM charity the Curiosity Factory, which runs STEMpals. STEMpals is a pen pal program for upper primary school students where each student in the classroom is paired with their very own STEM professional to exchange handwritten letters across the year. This cross-curricular program inspires our next STEM generation one letter at a time. Jen also fosters greyhounds and has represented Australia around the world playing ultimate frisbee.

You can follow Jen and learn more about her work here:

https://stempals.org.au/

https://au.linkedin.com/company/curiosityfactory

https://au.linkedin.com/in/jenniferaepayne

https://twitter.com/DrPayne_AMR

https://www.australiansepsisnetwork.net.au/community-awareness/signs-symptoms-sepsis

And here is some important information about sepsis, a fatal condition we discuss on the podcast:

Sepsis comes down to TIME, as every hour treatment is delayed, the likelihood of death increases by 4-9%.

• TIME can save your life.
• T = temperature - is it higher or lower than normal?
• I = infection - may have signs and symptoms of an infection
• M = mental decline - confused, sleepy, difficult to rouse
• E = extremely ill - severe pain, discomfort, shortness of breath

Transcript: https://go.unimelb.edu.au/c9d8