Science Teaching Leadership Programme (STLP): Growing leadership in science education

For schools wanting to make an impact on student engagement and achievement in science, an opportunity exists to support a teacher to become a science leader through the MBIE‐funded Science Teaching Leadership Programme (STLP) offered by Royal Society Te Āparangi. NZASE Science Communicator Heather Goodey looks into the STLP and shares some recent participants’ experiences and how students benefit from this programme.

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Environmentalist | Stephanie Dijkstra

Stephanie is a Māori environmental scientist specialising in intergenerational outcomes and the interweaving of mātauranga and Western science. She wears many hats, working as a Senior Mātauranga Taiao Advisor with Storm Environmental, a Ngā Kaihautu Tikanga Taiao Member with the Environmental Protection Authority NZ, and a member of Te Puna Māori Advisory Committee with Taumata Arowai The Water Regulator. She also chairs the Ngāi Tahu Hazardous Substances and New Organisms (HSNO) Kōmiti. In conversation with NZASE Science Communicator, Sneha Pillai, Stephanie shares her journey of weaving her love for different branches of science like cellular plant biology and ecology to do what she’s truly passionate about – leaving the planet in a better state than the one she found it in.

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Overseas trained teachers: Insights and challenges

There is a growing shortage of Science teachers in New Zealand for the positions advertised. Increasingly schools are recruiting teachers from overseas. NZASE Science Communicator Heather Goodey converses with overseas trained teachers to not only learn from their experiences what incoming teachers might need to know to teach in NZ, but also what strengths and insights our overseas‐trained colleagues bring to the teaching profession here.

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Conservation Biologist | John Perrott

A mātauranga Scientist/communicator and Associate Professor/Research Ecologist at the AUT School of Science, specialising in Conservation Biology of endangered species and Kaitiakitanga, John Perrott possesses a rich volume of knowledge on the flora and fauna of Aotearoa New Zealand. In conversation with NZASE science
communicator Sneha Pillai, Associate Professor John Perrott reflects on his journey as a kaitiaki and conservation
biologist

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Micrometeorologist | Christian Stiegler

A Greenhouse Gas Emissions Scientist with the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA), Dr
Christian Stiegler is a pākehā scientist focussed on climate change. Born in Austria, Christian is relatively new to
Aotearoa, having moved to the country in October 2023. In conversation with NZASE science communicator,
Sneha Pillai, Christian shares his journey and learnings as a micrometeorologist.

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Astrophysicist | Jan Eldridge

Jan Eldridge is a pākehā astrophysicist and the Head of Physics Department at the University of Auckland. Jan’s research focuses on the lives and deaths of stars, particularly binary stars. Unlike the stereotypical caricature of an astrophysicist, Jan’s work does not involve long hours of peering into the telescope. Instead, her work as a theorist primarily involves coding programmes on computers to model the journey and evolution of stars in our universe. As we celebrate Pride and Matariki this month, Jan, who identifies as transgender, shares insights from her work and life on stars and genders with NZASE science communicator, Sneha Pillai.

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