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1. What prompted you decide to participate in the “JSPS Science Dialogue” program?
Several reasons: I think it is important for a scientist to be involved in community education, especially with younger people. It gives the scientist an opportunity to communicate their work in a different way, and gives the school children exposure to something they may not have experienced, which might be influencial in their future career decisions or in general.
Also, I have been given many opportunities in Japan that I would have not otherwise had, and this is one of the few ways I feel I can reciprocate.
2. To what did you give greatest attention in preparing and giving the lecture?
Mainly to the messages that I wanted the school children to understand, which were that natural ecosystems are something to be valued, and that one way we can protect them is by finding out more about them with scientific research. I also tried to make it as interesting as possible, without too much detail, and with pictures that told the story with the minimum explanation required.
3. Did you find it difficult to give a lecture in English to Japanese students? Could you give some advice to future lecturers on how to facilitate communication with Japanese students?
This was the first time I had had the chance to speak to school children in a formal situation. I was a little worried that my English would be too difficult or too fast, especially when I needed to explain some concepts. Also I was also not sure how much biology they knew - it is about 14 years since I was at high school, and courses have changed!
I think it was an advantage to have a translator, as there were some times where the concepts were a little 'specialised'. I think the list of technical words that I sent to the school a few days earlier would have been useful, and reduced the workload on the translator.
4. Could you give your impression with regard to participating in this program?
It was privilage to participate. It is not often that I am given the chance to talk about my research and biological conservation to a younger, non-specialist audience. I was impressed by the enthusiasm of the teachers, the Super Science program and the excellent facilities of the school. I was thinking that it would have been nice to have those in Australia! I was also very impressed with the questions that the students asked - they were all intelligent, informed and relevant.
5. Was it meaningful in terms of your fellowship activities?
I think it is important for a scientist to participate in more than just their research interest, especially education. Furthermore, I came to Japan for experience in life as much as research. This program gave me both such opportunities.
6. In what ways do you think the students benefited from the program?
I would guess that most students could not really imagine what some kinds of scientists do, especially biologists. One of my messages was that some biologists do a range of interesting things that includes travelling to interesting parts of the world, doing some fairly complicated techniques in the laboratory, and spending time doing statistical analyses and writing papers in the office.
I understand that it would have also been a little challenging for them to ask questions to a foreigner in front of their classmates, especially in English as one brave girl did. From reading some of their answers to their questionnaires, it seemed that most students thought the experience was interesting and positive.
In addition to the experience of listening to a scientific talk in English, I imagine that it would have been beneficial to hear it spoken in an accent they may not have been familiar with. I know that it can be both challenging and enjoyable to listen to different accents.
7. Could you give some overall advice or comments to future participants in the program?
I think a simple story is always better (perhaps mine was a little too diverse), not too long (given that translation can potentially take as long as the talk itself), let the pictures tell the story, have only one or two things to say per slide. Try to speak in the minimum of clear sentences.
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