Team:Sydney Australia/Media
[http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/scienceshow/syd-uni-designer-genomes-in-world-competition/6525626 ABC Science Show Radio Interview]: 6th of June
Two of our members, Gaia and Harry, decided to enlist in the frightening journey of radio interview which was broadcast nation-wide on Australia's national radio station. They spoke to Robyn Williams, renowned scientist and radio presenter of the famous nationwide popular science radio show, [http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/scienceshow/ ABC Science Show with Robyn Williams], run by the national broadcaster [http://www.abc.net.au/ Australian Broadcasting Corporation]. They talked about designing genes, cloning, and the use of synthetic biology in manufacturing vital compounds that are difficult to make using traditional chemical synthesis methods, as done in our project. To listen to this enlightening interview, visit the [http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/scienceshow/syd-uni-designer-genomes-in-world-competition/6525626 ABC Radio National website], or download the file below.
Listen to our interview by downloading it here.
St George and Sutherland Shire Leader: 29th of July
One of our members, Mark, was interviewed by the prestigious paper St George and Sutherland Shire Leader. The article was featured news and circulated to a readership of over 287 000 people. You can read the article [http://www.theleader.com.au/story/3238189/synthetic-biology-offers-medical-hope-and-a-sutherland-aspiring-scientist-is-looking-for-answers/ here].
Science Teacher's Association of NSW
Our article on the Strange Nature writing competition and the iGEM competition was published in the Science Education News magazine. This magazine is distributed to thousands of Science Teachers across NSW. We elected to target teachers as a particularly efficient method for spreading awareness: Each teacher with an understanding of Synthetic Biology and genetic engineering technologies can share their knowledge with hundreds of students.
Wentworth Courier
Our team was featued in the Wentworth Courier newspaper. We wrote an article on the competition, our research, Strange Nature, and the importance of community education and involvement in scientific research. The newspaper has a readership of over 50 000 people! You can read the article [http://www.pressreader.com/australia/wentworth-courier here].
North Shore Times
A member of our team was interviewed by the North Shore Times and an article was published on our team and the competition. The editor came into the lab and took photographs of the team. The North Shore Times has a readership of over 66 000 people!
University of Sydney - Science promotions
The Faculty of Science at the University of Sydney interviewed three members of the team in which we discussed the iGEM competition. These profiles will appear in University of Sydney promotional material and will hopefully encourage and inspire younger students to pursue a career in scientific research and maybe join future Sydney iGEM teams.
A*STAR Magazine
One of our members wrote a piece about the importance of genetic engineering for an online magazine targeted at high school students. The article can be accessed [http://astar.tv/post/explainer-genetically-modified-organisms-and-you/ here].
University of Sydney - School of Molecular Biosciences and Microbiology
The SMB School at the University of Sydney published an article on our project and appearance on the ABC Radio Science Show. This was well received by faculty and students in the school. The full article can be read [http://sydney.edu.au/news/molecular_bioscience/1893.html?newscategoryid=180&newsstoryid=15111 here].
SciMed - Women's College, University of Sydney
The Women's College Medical and Science club published an article on our team. This was a fantastic opportunity to highlight the iGEM competition and importance of synthetic biology to an educated university audience. You can read the full article [http://scimedw.com/2015/08/20/hidden-gem-a-unique-undergraduate-research-opportunity/ here].
We had a very active facebook page which was the perfect platform for discussing our project, human practices, and progress with our friends, family and those who followed us. On the 17th of September, we had 185 likes, 60% of which were females and 40% were males. Our largest audience was those between 18 and 24 year olds, this was expected given majority of them were our friends. We found facebook to be an incredibly useful and easy platform for promotion, communication, and discussion. It was also the perfect place to thank our sponsors.
Some of our most successful posts were:
