Cristy Burne
Cristy grew up climbing trees, jumping drains, chasing runaway cows and inventing stories. Before she became a writer, she was science circus performer, garbage analyst, Santa’s pixie, and a teacher.
Currently Cristy is a children’s author, science writer and presenter who has worked as a science communicator for 20 years across Australia, the US, the UK, Japan, South Africa, Switzerland and beyond. She has a passion for STEM, loves learning through doing, and aims to inspire creativity, daring and resilience in her readers. She is a sought-after education presenter.
Q & A with Cristy:
What is your favourite STEM subject/area and why?
Right now I’m super-excited by virtual reality (VR). It’s coding, it’s art, it’s creativity, it’s games. It’s fact, it’s fantasy, it’s our history, it’s our future.
I think VR will change the way we live, starting with travel (dive the Titanic or explore the Taj Mahal), education (learn to remove someone’s tonsils or experience life in ancient Rome), and entertainment (shoot invading orcs with a bow and arrow or survive in pre-colonial Australia)(OMG…I had so much fun shooting orcs! Seriously!).
If you could invent something, what would it be?
A solution to climate change.
What is your favourite science fact?
That platypus are mammals but they lay eggs! And they can hunt prey underwater, even though their eyes, ears and nostrils are closed! And they have webbed toes, poisonous spurs and babies the size of jelly beans. And they’re cuuuuuuuute!
What books or series did you love as a child?
I loved anything by Roald Dahl, plus mysteries like the Hardy Boys, The Three Investigators, Trixie Beldon and Nancy Drew.
I don’t like horror books, and I especially hate zombies. (Don’t even talk to me about zombies.) (Don’t even mention the Z-word.)
Why do you think there has been so much interest around STEM pathways and STEM in schools in recent years?
If you want to have a creative, well-paid job that makes a difference in the world, STEM is where it’s at.
I never liked science when I was in primary school, because I didn’t understand what it was. Now I know: science is discovering new things. Technology is inventing new things. Engineering is making new things. Maths is discovering patterns and using them to do science, technology and engineering.
STEM is basically being creative, solving problems, making stuff. There’s just so much you can do.
Hey, what’s that behind you? Looks like a z—
No. Don’t even. Goodbye. This interview is over.
Claire Saxby
Claire Saxby was born in Melbourne but has lived far and wide, including Bougainville Island in Papua New Guinea, where she discovered the most beautiful reefs and beaches in the world. She worked in community health for several years while writing books for children.
Claire’s award-winning books fall into three main categories – narrative non-fiction, history and humour. She is widely curious about everything, and passionate about encouraging curiosity, wonder and understanding in young people. She works part-time in a bookshop, where she loves talking to readers and running sessions on how to read to babies.
Q & A with Claire:
What is your favourite STEM subject/area and why?
Biology. I’m totally fascinated with how things work, and for me that means living things. From tiny shrimps, to blue whales I want to understand them all! I also love the way all living things connect to one another and need each other. It’s like the most amazing jigsaw ever.
If you could invent something, what would it be?
I’d invent a means to breathe underwater without scuba gear. Then I could swim forever without having to come up for air. I might have to invent a heated wetsuit and flippers too!
What is favourite science fact?
I have so many favourites! Goannas in the north of Australia ‘aestivate’, which is like hibernating but for the hot weather, not cold. And magically, they know when to wake up. Great white sharks can turn their stomach inside out to vomit bits of dinner that they can’t digest. Kookaburras use both monocular (one eye) and binocular (two eye) vision to increase their chances of catching dinner. (hmm are you seeing food connections here?) What about this one – emu dads sit on their eggs for up to eight weeks without eating or drinking! Oh, that’s still about food, just the not-eating!
What books or series did you love as a child?
Everything! I loved fiction, nonfiction, traditional stories from different places and poetry. We had a four-book encyclopedia set and my favourite section was about optical illusions and brain tricks.
Why do you think there has been so much interest around STEM pathways and STEM in schools in recent years?
More than ever before we need to understand what we are doing (have done) to this earth and how we can start doing it much better. It’s not time for bandaids, it’s time for STEM. Integrated STEM studies foster and extend curiosity and scientific investigation, and show the pathways to creative problem-solving.
Dianne Wolfer
Dianne grew up in outer Melbourne, where she made tree-houses and imagined she was Silky from The Magic Faraway Tree. Other days she was the Muddle-headed Wombat. When she was ten, Dianne moved to Bangkok and went on to study back in Melbourne before backpacking through Asia and teaching children in remote western Nepal.
Dianne’s award-winning books have been published in China, Japan, Poland, USA and made into stage plays. She is a bookworm who reads every day. She especially loves animal stories and spent five years researching her favourite word, anthropomorphism (for her PhD). Inspiring kindness and imaginative thinking is Dianne’s life work.
Q & A with Dianne:
What is your favourite STEM subject/area and why?
My favourite STEMs are Marine Biology and Sustainability and the ways they connect. Our oceans are home to amazing creatures. Some of my favourites are nudibranchs, vampire squid, dugongs and leafy sea dragons. Within the nudibranch family alone there are over 2000 species, with more being identified each week. And sustainability is key to protecting this diversity.
For all this wonder, the ocean is also home to massive human-made problems like ghost nets, micro plastics, overfishing and increased acidity. Two of my novels (The Shark Caller & Dolphin Song) explore my concern for our oceans.
If you could invent something, what would it be?
A human-animal translation app. I’d love to understand animals, even though I might not like what they’re saying about humans. Imagine communicating with an orca. Or greeting a bandicoot as it crosses a bush track. Or discussing wind thermals with a pelican. Their ways of experiencing the world would be so interesting, more sensory and organic.
What is favourite science fact?
Octopus have blue blood and three hearts and the ability to solve puzzles and squeeze themselves through tiny spaces. What fabulous creatures!
What books or series did you love as a child?
The Narnia series; which links to questions one and two… It’s sad to imagine The Dawn Treader sailing through a sea of micro plastic instead of a sea of white flowers. I also loved The Magic Faraway Tree and the achingly beautiful Storm Boy. Maybe my tears for Mr Percival sparked my passion for wildlife protection and conservation.
Why do you think there has been so much interest around STEM pathways and STEM in schools in recent years?
The pace of change in STEM applications is whizzing ahead so quickly. It’s hard to keep up, but we need to be smarter and leave lighter footprints. Our planet needs innovative marine biologists and environmental engineers.