Associate Professor Jen Martin (@scidocmartin) 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 the Let’s Talk SciComm podcast and MCs events. Jen was named the 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.

Her first popular science book “Why am I like this? The science behind your weirdest thoughts and habits” was published in 2024.