The ARC Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology engages with broad sections of the community in a number of creative ways.

• School visits
• Science expos and festivals
• Music and comedy festivals
• Regional community forums
• Conferences
• Science Meets Parliament
• National Science Quiz

We rock the Science Festival

Synthetic biology researchers and associates joined a line-up of more than 2000 artists, musicians and presenters at the 2023/4 Woodford Folk Festival in Queensland.

Two panel discussions on synthetic biology and a hugely popular citizen science activity exposed the Centre’s work to an estimated 132,000 people.

‘The sessions couldn’t have gone better!’ says Associate Professor Amy Cain of Macquarie University, who curated the panel discussions. ‘They were packed to the brim with people curious to learn more about synbio.’

Budding comedian excels on science stage

The Centre occupied spots both on and off stage for the National Science Quiz at Melbourne’s Capitol Theatre in August 2023.

Dr Paige Erpf, from Macquarie University, shone as a panellist for the prestigious live event where science and comedy collided. Meanwhile, Chief Operating Officer J-L Heylen and sidekick Mary O’Malley worked hard behind the scenes, running props as part of their event cosponsor duties. Hosted by the award- winning comedian Charlie Pickering, host of ABC TV’s The Weekly, the National Science Quiz featured special guest hosts Nate Byrne (ABC TV News Breakfast) and Simon Pampena (Discovery Channel Outrageous Acts of Sciences).

Two teams compete against each other on a range of multiple choice questions for the winning trophy, with the losing team suffering the indignity of being slimed on stage. Luckily, Paige and teammates Nate Byrne and Dr Marcy Robertson emerged victorious. For Paige, it was an excellent opportunity to hone her comedic and science communication skills.

Synbio goes on a national tour

The Centre hosted 15 events nationwide for 2023’s Science Week, all based around our bespoke card game Remediate. In addition to 12 events staged as part of a $20,000 Science Week grant, we managed to pick up three more opportunities to spruik the powers of modified microbes. Events include an expo at the Australian Musuem, industry and community forums on the bioeconomy in regional towns, a visit to the Mackay Pilot Plant in Queensland and pub nights in Sydney and Canberra.