February 18, 2025
Last week, Science Meets Parliament (SMP), organised by Science and Technology Australia (STA) took
place in Canberra. This annual two-day event aims to forge deeper connections between those working in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and the nation’s key decision and policy makers.
397 delegates, 65 speakers and more than 70 parliamentarians participated in the event, including ACCESS-NRI’s Data Management Lead, Clare Richards and Ice Sheet Modelling Team lead, Mike Tetley, who met with Parliamentarians to share and promote the work of the ACCESS National Research Infrastructure.
Here are some of the Highlights and thoughts from Clare and Mike:
“Science Meets Parliament (2025) was a fantastic event. It was two (full) days of interesting presentations and learning how we can better use our expertise to engage with politicians and policymakers.
This was my first SmP event and I really enjoyed meeting STEM professionals with diverse interests and experience.
A highlight for me was an opportunity to meet with Senator Peter Whish-Wilson who is a big supporter of the climate and weather science community. I am also grateful to all the politicians who gave their time during such a busy parliamentary week”.
Clare Richards, Data Management Lead
“This was my first time attending Science Meets Parliament and I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I’m very glad I went as it was a really enjoyable and interesting experience.
The primary thing that struck me was the level of interest that was shown by the many speakers (including current and ex-politicians, advisors and consultants) in not only the development of STEM broadly in both education and workplaces, but in strongly advocating for the need to get more STEM professionals involved in policy making – both within the community and within parliament itself.
I was lucky enough to meet Zali Steggall, the independent federal member for Warringah. Zali has a particular interest in both the local environment and the climate more broadly, so in the short time we had at the meeting we were able to cover many topics related to climate and STEM education, something that I’m quite passionate about. The gala dinner was also a great experience with the highlight being a talk given by the current Governor General Sam Mostyn”
Mike Tetley, Leader of the Ice Sheet Modelling team