Leonardos

The Leonardo group acts as a 'brain trust' of Science Gallery Melbourne, drawing together a group of exceptional people from a range of backgrounds – science, technology, the arts, media, education and business. This is where themes for the new exhibitions are inspired and where collaborations are sparked. 

ALAN DUFFY

Professor Alan Duffy is the Pro-Vice Chancellor of Flagship Initiatives at Swinburne University of Technology, bringing together multidisciplinary research team in partnerships with industry and government to address critical challenges in the energy transition and MedTech and health innovation. His research as an astrophysicist was to create baby universes on powerful supercomputers to understand how galaxies like our Milky Way form and grow within vast halos of invisible dark matter that hold it together. He’s attempting to find this dark matter as part of SABRE, the world’s first dark matter detector in the Southern Hemisphere. When not exploring a simulated universe, he’s explaining ours in schools across the country or in the media as a regular on ABC Breakfast TV, Ten’s The Project and TripleJ Hack.

ALICIA SOMETIMES

Alicia Sometimes is a poet, multi-media artist and broadcaster, passionate about art and science. She has performed her poetry at many venues, festivals and events around the world. Her poems have been in Best Australian Science Writing, Best Australian Poems and many more. Alicia is director/co-writer of the art/science planetarium shows, Elemental and Particle/Wave. Alicia has been awarded residencies at Katharine Susannah Prichard Writers' Centre, Varuna, Melbourne Aquarium, Boyd Garret and a virtual residency for the Manchester Literature Festival and Manchester Literature Festival. She is a previous Creative Fellow at the State Library of Victoria. In 2023 she received ANAT’s Synapse Artist Residency and co-created an art installation for Science Gallery Melbourne’s exhibition, Dark Matters. Her latest book is Stellar Atmospheres.

BROOK ANDREW

Brook Andrew is an interdisciplinary artist who examines dominant narratives, often relating to colonialism and modernist histories. Through museum and archival interventions and curatorial projects, he aims to make forgotten stories visible and offer alternative choices for interpreting history in the world today. Apart from drawing inspiration from vernacular objects and the archive he travels internationally to work with communities and various private and public collections.

DREW BERRY

Drew Berry is a biomedical animator who creates beautiful, accurate visualisations of the dramatic cellular and molecular action that is going on inside our bodies. He transforms abstract and complicated scientific concepts into vivid and meaningful visual journeys. He has been a biomedical animator at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research since 1995. His animations have been exhibited at venues such as the Guggenheim Museum, MoMA, the Royal Institute of Great Britain and the University of Geneva. In 2010, he received a MacArthur Fellowship “Genius Grant”. 

EDUARD HOVY

Professor Eduard Hovy is the Executive Director of Melbourne Connect at the University of Melbourne and a professor at both the University of Melbourne’s School of Computing and Information Systems and Carnegie Mellon University's Language Technologies Institute. He previously managed programs in Natural Language Technology and Data Analytics at DARPA’s Information Innovation Office. Hovy earned his Ph.D. in Computer Science (AI) from Yale University and received honorary doctorates from UNED (2013) and the University of Antwerp (2015). He is a Fellow of both the Association for Computational Linguistics and the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence. His research covers computational semantics, machine reading, text summarization and machine translation. As of early 2024, his Google h-index is 106, with over 60,000 citations.

FRANK VETERE

Professor Frank Vetere is Deputy Dean (Engagement) at the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology and Professor of Human–Computer Interaction (HCI) in the School of Computing and Information Systems. Frank’s expertise is in Human–Computer Interaction, with research interests in human-centered approaches to AI, interactivity in mixed reality and technologies for well-being. He was a founding member and leader of the HCI group at the University of Melbourne and director of the Microsoft Research Centre for Social Natural User Interfaces (SocialNUI). He was awarded the CHISIG Medal for outstanding service to and promotion of Human–Computer Interaction in Australia, and the HFESA Ron Cummins award for highly esteemed human factors and ergonomics-related research.

JEN MARTIN

Associate Professor Jen Martin spent many years working as a field ecologist until she decided the most useful thing she could contribute as a scientist was to teach other scientists how to be effective and engaging communicators. Jen founded and leads the University of Melbourne's acclaimed Science Communication Teaching Program and is deeply committed to helping scientists develop the skills they need to be visible, make connections and have impact. She also practises what she preaches: for nearly 20 years she’s been talking about science each week on 3RRR radio, she writes for a variety of publications, hosts podcasts and MCs events. Jen was 2019 Unsung Hero of Australian Science Communication, is Ambassador for The Wilderness Society’s Nature Book Week and is a member of the Homeward Bound Faculty, a global leadership program for women and non-binary people in STEMM. Jen’s first popular science book, ‘Why am I like this? The science behind your weirdest thoughts and habits’ was published in 2024.

JESS VOVERS

Dr Jess Vovers researches emerging and disruptive technologies and is a maker, secret poet and doctor of biochemical engineering. They seek to explore the plurality of queer, neurodiverse, regenerative futures and how we can enmesh art and science to cultivate them. They are propelled by curiosity, awe and connection, and can often be found settling in with clay in soft coloured lighting or wandering along the Birrarung.

LUCY MCRAE

Lucy McRae is a multidisciplinary artist and futurist, leading an art-research studio that investigates the impact of emerging technologies on human evolution. With an aesthetic that evokes nostalgia for what's to come, her work diversifies the traditional voices of science and technology and creates speculative worlds that shed light on the ethical implications of genetic engineering and the future of intimacy, biology and health. Through collaborations with institutions such as MIT and NASA, Lucy aims to shape a more informed, ethically-conscious future for humanity. Based in Los Angeles, McRae is a visiting professor at SCI-Arc, a TED Fellow and a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader. Her work has been exhibited at the Venice Biennale, Centre Pompidou, and Science Gallery Melbourne and Dublin. 

LUKE BRISCOE

Yalanji man Luke Briscoe (Junjirrba Wawu Kaitbal) has worked professionally in the arts, cultural, education and policy sectors including at NITV/SBS, National Congress of Australia's First Peoples, The Australia Council, Metro Screen and Youth Arts Queensland. Mr Briscoe has developed and delivered a range of groundbreaking arts and media programs including an arts business training program and setup the Indigenous Media RING employment program, and in 2015, Mr Briscoe founded INDIGI LAB – an award winning change management agency that provides consultancy in the areas of Digital Inclusion, Indigenous STEM Education and Indigenous-led Sustainable Development.

MISTY JENKINS

Professor Misty Jenkins is an NHMRC fellow and laboratory head in the Immunology Division at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute for Medical Research. She leads the immunotherapy program and co-directs research strategy at the Brain Cancer Centre. Her research focuses on novel immunotherapy targets for brain cancer, particularly developing chimeric antigen receptor T cells. Her team also uses cutting-edge microscopy and mouse models to study brain tumour biology. Misty earned her PhD in Immunology from the University of Melbourne, followed by postdoctoral work at Oxford, Cambridge, and Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. She has received multiple accolades, including the L’Oreal Women in Science Fellowship and being inducted into the Victorian Honour Roll of Women. In 2023, she was awarded an Officer of the Order of Australia for her contributions to medical science, advocacy for gender equity and support for Indigenous health.

MOIRA O’BRYAN

Moira O’Bryan is a professor and Dean of the Faculty of Science. The focus of Dr O’Bryan’s research encompasses sperm development and function, genetic and environmental causes of human infertility, contraception and the implications for ‘reproductive’ proteins on health broadly. She directs a multidisciplinary and highly collaborative research program covering fundamental research and clinical medicine. In her role as Dean, she directs a large faculty spanning physics, chemistry, life and ecological sciences, veterinary sciences, agriculture, mathematics, geosciences and human geography. In addition, she is the custodial Dean for the Bio21 Institute, the Melbourne Energy Institute, the Indigenous Knowledge Institute, the Oceania Institute and The Melbourne Biodiversity Institute.

NATASHA MITCHELL

Natasha Mitchell is a multi-award-winning journalist, radio presenter, podcaster, and documentary maker. She currently hosts ABC Radio National’s flagship program Big Ideas. Natasha was the founding host and producer of All in the Mind, one of the ABC’s first podcasts, and also hosted Life Matters and Science Friction, which won Best Science and Medicine Podcast at the Australian Podcast Awards. She has served as vice president of the World Federation of Science Journalists and was awarded a prestigious Knight Science Fellowship at MIT/Harvard. Natasha’s work has garnered multiple honours, including the overall Grand Prize and four Gold World Medals at the New York Radio Festivals. With a background in engineering, she holds first-class honours from Monash University and a postgraduate qualification in science communication from ANU. She began her career hosting a punk music show at her university’s radio station, later pivoting to journalism.

PATRICIA PICCININI

Patricia Piccinini is a contemporary artist who is interested in what it means to be alive in the present day. She creates a world somewhere between the one we know and one that is almost upon us. She focuses on the emotional lives of the new creatures that might emerge, along with our relationships with them and with nature. Her world is one of questions rather than answers. Instead of telling the viewer what to think she asks them how they feel when confronted by possibilities. Patricia has exhibited all over the world, including the Venice Biennale, and in 2013, created the Skywhale for the Centenary of Canberra.

PETER DOHERTY

A graduate of the University of Queensland School of Veterinary Science, Professor Peter Doherty shared the 1996 Nobel Medicine Prize for his immunology research and was the 1997 Australian of the Year. Since then, he has gone in to bat for evidence-based reality, relating to areas as diverse as childhood vaccination, global hunger and anthropogenic climate change. So far he has published five ‘lay’ books on science with the latest, The Knowledge Wars, suggesting how those who don’t know much (or anything) about science can ‘interrogate’ both the scientific evidence and those who claim to be scientists for themselves.

PETER SCALES

Peter is a chemical engineer and scientist with a career in academic teaching and research at the University of Melbourne.  He has also spent significant time in industrial research and consultancy in the mining, water, paper and pharmaceuticals industries. His expertise is in solving problems through innovation, a process that involves bringing different industry sectors together to help society achieve safer and more productive ways of living. He has a passion to impact worldwide problems associated with societal wastes. These include the significant humanitarian impacts of contamination of water supplies, a problem that results in more than a million deaths worldwide annually, and the environmental and human cost of the unsafe containment of mining tailings.

RAE JOHNSTON

Rae Johnston was born and raised on Darug and Gundungurra Country in the Blue Mountains of NSW with her Wiradjuri mother and Greek father. A multi-award-winning journalist and broadcaster, she has a passion for the geekier side of life. Rae was the first Science & Technology Editor for NITV at SBS, and currently travels the country as a host on NITV’s Going Places with Ernie Dingo and ABC’s Back Roads. An accomplished podcast producer and host, Rae has worked on a slew of programs such as Harmful (SBS), 100 Climate Conversations (Powerhouse Museum) and Download This Show (ABC). She also hosts the Next Gen podcast with Unicef Australia, for whom she is an Ambassador. Rae is currently serving on the boards of both the Telstra Foundation and Swinburne University of Technology, where she also sits on the Technology, Innovation and Value Creation Committee. Previously, Rae was the first female editor of Gizmodo Australia, and the first Indigenous editor of Junkee.

RITA ARRIGO

Rita Arrigo is the Strategic Engagement Manager at National AI Centre, focused on leading the AI ecosystem strategy to foster engagement and collaboration across AI to lift Australia’s AI adoption and grow a responsible AI Industry in Australia. Previously Chief Digital Advisor at Microsoft, she advocates for ways that AI and XR can reinvent experiences in work and daily life. She is an AI Ambassador and a passionate speaker on AI, innovation and digital.

ROBERT BURROWS

A University of Queensland graduate, Robert Burrows is a Leading Teacher and the Head of Curriculum (Mathematics and Science) at Victorian College for the Deaf. In addition to his focus on developing evidence-based Mathematics curriculum programs, Robert is also part of the leadership team that transformed the College into a High Performing School within four years. He has led the secondary school team through significant changes at the College. Robert is passionate in raising expectations and accountability in the education of the deaf including ensuring all Deaf students graduate Year 12 literate and numerate. 

STELARC

Stelarc is a performance artist who explores alternative anatomical architectures, interrogating issues of agency, identity and the post-human. His projects incorporate prosthetics, robotics, biotechnology, medical imaging and the internet. Projects include a Third Hand, a six-legged Exoskeleton and an Extra Ear. In 1996, he was made an Honorary Professor of Art and Robotics, Carnegie Mellon University and in 2002, was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws by Monash University. In 2010, he was awarded the Ars Electronica Golden Nica Hybrid Arts Prize. In 2015, he received the Australia Council’s Emerging and Experimental Arts Award. In 2016, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the Ionian University, Corfu and in 2023, an Honorary Doctorate from the Art Academy, Krakow.

TODD LANE

Todd Lane is an atmospheric scientist, who studies extreme weather, how to predict it, and how it might change in a future climate. Most of the time he’s behind a desk using supercomputers to simulate storms in the most realistic way possible, but can also be found staring out the window at the ever-changing clouds while trying to understand the stories they tell. Todd is the Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of Melbourne, and a Chief Investigator in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Weather of the 21st Century. His research spans many topics in weather and climate, including aircraft turbulence. His training, from Monash University, is in mathematics, physics and meteorology, and he is motivated by the positive impact fundamental science can have on society.