SAASTA has welcomed two new colleagues from Australia, who will be on assignment with the team over the next eighteen months to support science communication and engagement in South Africa.

Rachel Rayner and Dr Tony Frugier are part of the Australian Volunteers for International Development (AVID) programme, which places highly skilled volunteers in roles across the Asia Pacific and African regions.

Rachel - who arrived in February - has run workshops and science shows in Petrus Steyn, Tembisa and Hammanskraal to nearly 2000 learners, whilst Tony - who arrived in April - has been travelling the country supporting science festivals and outreach events. Both will be part of project team for National Science Week: the science event of the year and flagship programme of the Department of Science and Technology.

“It is fantastic to see that science and science communication is seen as a vital part of society,” says Rachel, “the work happening in South Africa is wonderful – there is a great energy here – a great commitment to improving education and scientific literacy on a national level.”

Rachel has noticed that the role of science centres and science communicators is slightly different in Australia than it is in South Africa. In Australia, the goal is to excite and inspire learners in STEM, whilst in South Africa, there is a larger commitment to support STEM curriculum and education objectives as well as inspire learners.

“The Australian Government is committed to supporting learners, and particularly female learners into STEM career paths,” says Rachel, “which is an aspect of my assignment at SAASTA that I feel passionate about.”

Both volunteers are supported by the Australian Government and the not-for-profit organisation, Australian Volunteers International (AVID), that aims to respond to the social and economic aspirations of communities by realising development opportunities through mutual learning and knowledge exchange. The programme also endeavours to enhance cross-cultural understanding and engage Australians in new experiences that will have an ongoing positive impact both abroad and at home. Currently, there are 16 Australians on AVID assignments throughout South Africa.

Tony has participated on the AVID programme previously. In Malawi, he was a Lecturer and Scientific Advisor for the University of Malawi, where he assisted the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital Laboratory in HIV diagnostic efforts and lectured undergraduate and postgraduate courses in physiology and molecular diagnostics at the College of Medicine. In Papua New Guinea, Tony co-managed the Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies research programme and was a Research and Operations Mentor at the Burnet Research Institute.

Tony received his PhD in molecular neurogenetics in France and soon after took up an international postdoctoral position in New Zealand investigating neural disorders. In 2008, he was recruited to Melbourne to head up brain tissue collection and investigation for the Neurotrauma tissue bank at the Alfred Hospital, then at the University of Melbourne. His challenging studies using post-mortem human brain are pioneering investigations of inflammatory mediators with first author papers in highly respected journals including the Journal of Neurotrauma, Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology; and the Journal of Neuropathology and Experimental Neurology. He has published a total of 32 peer reviewed journal articles and 52 conference proceedings. Tony currently holds a Research Fellow adjunct position with the University of Melbourne, Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics.

“I’m looking forward to learning as much as I can from my colleagues about science in South Africa and science communication more broadly,” Tony said. “By the end of my assignment, I hope that I will have contributed to improve the running and organisation of the science festivals across the country. I also hope to mentor staff members in managing such large projects. Finally I would like to develop exhibits that target biology, as it is a subject missing in SAASTA and science centres across the country.”

Rachel, meanwhile, comes with a background in science museums and informal education. She moved to South Africa from her responsibility in science communication and marketing at the Discovery Science and Technology Centre, Bendigo. There, she designed and facilitated educational resources, activities, workshops, shows and events for students, teachers and visitors. Earlier, she was at Questacon – the National Science and Technology Centre based in Canberra, Australia - in a variety of roles, from exhibition design to producing virtual excursions via video conferencing technology. She also travelled Australia and Vietnam presenting exhibitions, shows and workshops, and producing educational resources. For two years running, she was selected from an international pool of candidates as a Science Communication Fellow with the Ocean Exploration Trust, operating educational communications on the ship, E/V Nautilus, and sharing the forefront of oceanic exploration with the world.

Rachel has a keen interest in combining science and art, influenced by her Bachelor of Liberal Studies from the University of Sydney, where she majored in Physics and Art History. She was also part of the Shell Questacon Science Circus, a Graduate Diploma in Science Communication from the Australian National University.

And what do they think of South Africa so far? Both Tony and Rachel have found it easy to settle into life in South Africa. Tony enjoys the cultural diversity, the South African hospitality and that Johannesburg is the biggest urban forest in the world. Rachel particularly enjoys the wide-open spaces, Baker’s Lemon Creams, and having ten new languages to absorb.