Andrew Katsis

Although I’ve always had an interest in biology and writing, it never really occurred to me to combine these two loves. Studying science communication at the University of Melbourne made me realise the importance of sharing research as widely as possible ‒ to both scientific colleagues and the general public ‒ and tailoring my writing to its intended audience.

In early 2014, I produced A Science Story, a weekly half-hour radio program for SYN 90.7 FM. An eclectic mix of interviews and storytelling, A Science Story won the 2015 SYN Award for Best Seasonal Program. I also served a three-month internship at the academic news site The Conversation, writing and commissioning articles for the Science & Technology desk. One of my commissioned articles, about the mechanisms of domestication syndrome, went viral online and was viewed over 650,000 times.

In August 2015, I became a founding editor for Lateral, an online science magazine written and edited by early-career scientists and writers. As Life Science editor, I commission and edit biology and medicine articles, working closely with writers to polish their work.

I am currently completing my PhD at Deakin University, studying the ecological role of parental incubation calling in an Australian songbird, the zebra finch. Amongst all this research, I still like to keep one foot in science communication, and perform social media and public outreach for two academic societies: the Australian Society for Fish Biology (ASFB) and the Australasian Society for the Study of Animal Behaviour (ASSAB).

In May 2017, I was runner-up in the national final of the prestigious British Council Australia’s FameLab science communication competition.

Andrew on LinkedIn