Research t-shirts

Posted by Lindy Orthia in Gratuitous pleasure and tagged with , ,

I’ve started an addictive new hobby – making designs for t-shirts (or coffee mugs, notebooks, throw cushions, and more) to celebrate my academic publications.

The fantastic platform Redbubble allows anyone to upload designs for free and then shows what they would look like on a t-shirt, coffee mug etc. Members of the public can then buy a t-shirt or coffee mug with your design on it, and you have the option to make some money out of it, but adding a percentage onto the sale price (you determine the percentage).

I have a 0% markup on all my items as I’m not interested in money. But I’ve become completely addicted to making and buying my own designs.

I’ve made one design to celebrate a forthcoming paper in Historical Records of Australian Science about science communication in colonial Sydney, here in coffee mug form:

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Viewers learn about the Nature of Science from The Big Bang Theory

Posted by Lindy Orthia in Publications and tagged with , ,

In a new paper I co-authored with my PhD student Rashel Li, we show that viewers of The Big Bang Theory learn about aspects of the nature of science from the sitcom. The paper was published in the International Journal of Science Education Part B, and was based on data from Rashel’s PhD research. Continue reading →

Honours student’s study on science theatre now published

Posted by Lindy Orthia in Publications and tagged with , ,

In 2011 I co-supervised Martina Donkers in an innovative honours project in which she put on a production of the play A Number by renowned English playwright Caryl Churchill, then undertook survey and focus group-based research to find out whether and how audience members engaged with the play’s theme human cloning.

We have now published that research in the International Journal of Science Education, Part B – available here.

If you can’t get past the journal paywall, you can try here instead.

Congratulations Marti!

I have a post-nominal…

Posted by Lindy Orthia in Achievements and tagged with ,

As of today I am recognised as a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, UK.

This allows me to add the post-nominal SFHEA to my name.

The recognition comes for my teaching work, including curriculum development, research supervision and program management.

I am very proud to have achieved this level of recognition for the teaching work I am so passionate about and that I believe is so important.

I thank Dr Beth Beckmann and Prof Michael Martin, Co-Chairs, ANU Educational Fellowship Committee, for their encouragement and support.

Another undergraduate-driven study accepted for journal publication

Posted by Lindy Orthia in Achievements, Publications and tagged with , ,

In 2012 I co-supervised then-undergradute student Amy Dobos in a research project examining the effectiveness of digitally-produced pictures for communicating about Alzheimer’s disease research (see here and here). Amy created the pictures using her skills as a photographer and science communicator, and then surveyed people interested in Alzheimer’s disease about their interpretations of them.

A paper writing up that research has now been accepted for publication in one of the best science communication journals, Public Understanding of Science.

Amy is the lead author of the paper, followed by me and project advisor, Rod Lamberts.

This is the third student-authored journal paper to have emerged from a student-run research project conducted through one of my undergraduate courses.

My heartfelt congratulations to Amy.

Update May 27 – now prepublished online here.

Queer scientists in television science fiction

Posted by Lindy Orthia in Publications and tagged with , , ,

Republished blog post, first posted at Diffusion in January 2010.
Edited only to update some key dates and references, so the content reflects the time.
Posted for archival purposes.

The UK’s public broadcaster the BBC has this month [January 2010, the original date I posted this essay] commissioned a study into representations of lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) people in its fiction and non-fiction programs (BBC News, 2010).

Of particular interest to science communicators is representations of scientists in fiction, and this study seems a timely prompt to ask: are there any queer scientist characters on telly?

Continue reading →

Doctor Who and Race now published

Posted by Lindy Orthia in Achievements, Publications and tagged with

My first edited book, Doctor Who and Race, was published last week by Intellect books.

The book includes 22 essays by 23 contributors including myself. There are two kinds of essays – short ones in the style of a blog post or short observation, and long ones written in an academic style.

The essays address numerous aspects of race including the diversity and representation of Doctor Who characters, representations of colonialism, imperialism, slavery, nationalism and xenophobia, and intersections between race and science including eugenics and scientific race concepts.

The book is accompanied by a blog at doctorwhoandrace.com.

Doctor Who and Race – Don’t judge till it’s published

Posted by Lindy Orthia in Media, Publications and tagged with

The forthcoming book I have edited, Doctor Who and Race, which will be published in July, has received a lot of attention in the media and on blogs this week.

Almost all that attention can be sourced back to one newspaper article about the book.

Since the book has not been published yet, almost no one has actually read it. This has meant that almost everything written about it has been a distorted, false view, based on third- or fourth- hand information.

I don’t particularly want to talk about the book in depth until it is published. I prefer discussion and debate to be based on facts not hearsay, so I would like to talk about it once people have had a chance to read it.

But I do want to clear up some misconceptions about it now.

Continue reading →

Interview about Doctor Who rebroadcast on The Science Show

Posted by Lindy Orthia in Media, Publications and tagged with ,

Last year Ginger Gorman of local Canberra ABC radio 666 interviewed me about science in Doctor Who and my Doctor Who research on her program ‘Emporium’.

An edited version of that interview was today rebroadcast on Radio National on The Science Show, and can be heard at the program’s website.

New journal paper co-authored with undergrad student

Posted by Lindy Orthia in Achievements, Publications and tagged with , ,

Today a journal paper I co-authored with former undergraduate student Naomi Shadbolt about a SCOM3003 Special Topics in Science Communication research project she conducted in 2011 was accepted for publication.

The paper will be published in the Health Promotion Journal of Australia. It reports on a survey into the needs and preferences of young Australian women for communicating about endometriosis.

Naomi, who is currently enrolled in a Master of Science Communication degree at the ANU, is lead author of the paper, followed by her Canberra Endometriosis Centre supervisor Melissa Parker, with me bringing up the rear.

This is the second student-authored journal paper to have emerged from a student-run research project conducted through one of my undergraduate courses.

Congratulations to Naomi – I am very proud!