Tammy Lee, an embryologist representing the University of Western Australia, is the winner of the FameLab Australia 2025 science communication competition. Kenya Fernandez, a microbiologist from the University of Sydney, and Caitlin Dudley, a plant scientist representing the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, were named runners-up.
The twelve finalists - early career researchers and ambitious science communicators from universities and research institutions across Australia - were required to communicate their research in just three minutes, using simple, everyday language.
The finalists were judged on the content, clarity, and charisma of their presentation by a judging panel featuring Deborah Leavitt, Dr Jennifer McIlwain, Dr Lisa Kirkendale, and Luke Smith.
The capacity audience in WA Museum Boola Bardip’s Hackett Hall, as well as viewers watching the livestream from around the globe enjoyed a highly entertaining night learning about cutting-edge research from across Australia.
Tammy Lee won the judges over with her stand-out talk “A-typical embryo?” about her work on atypical appearances and behaviours of embryos and embryo selection; Kenya Fernandez spoke about how microbes shape bee health in her talk “Bees just wanna have fungi”; and Caitlin Dudley provided fascinating insights into the underpinnings and regulation of flowering in legumes, particularly mung beans, in her presentation “Goldilocks and the three beans”.
Tammy Lee will go on to represent Australia in the international FameLab Final, which will be held in a hybrid online/live format on 25 November 2025 at CERN Science Gateway, and wins a trip to the 2026 Cheltenham Science Festival.
Congratulations to all outstanding 2025 FameLab Finalists:
|
Finalist |
Field of Research |
University/Institution |
State |
|
Aayushi Khillan |
Paediatric Neurodisability |
Murdoch Children's Research Institute |
VIC |
|
Anna Antipov |
Physiology |
University of South Australia |
SA |
|
Caitlin Dudley |
Plant Science/Genetics |
Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation |
QLD |
|
David Stewart-Yates |
Forensic Science |
Murdoch University |
WA |
|
Drew Cylinder |
Neuroscience |
University of Queensland |
QLD |
|
Faris Ruzain |
Archaeological Science |
University of Melbourne |
VIC |
|
Kenya Fernandes |
Microbiology |
The University of Sydney |
NSW |
|
Minduli Withana |
Neuroscience |
University of Technology Sydney |
NSW |
|
Nimllash Thangam |
Crop Pathology |
Curtin University |
WA |
|
Riley Easton |
Viral Immunology |
University of Technology Sydney |
NSW |
|
Sophie Crouch |
Chemistry |
Monash University |
VIC |
|
Tammy Lee |
Embryology |
The University of Western Australia |
WA |
FameLab is the world’s leading public-facing science communication competition and training program, created by Cheltenham Festivals (UK). Since 2007, the competition has gone global in over 40 countries, with more than 40,000 scientists participating to date. FameLab is recognised as being a powerful means to identifying and nurturing new voices in science, with previous alumni embarking on high-profile careers in science communication and the media.
The Foundation for the WA Museum has been the producer and country host organisation of FameLab Australia since 2019. The focus of FameLab Australia is to promote excellence in science communication for early career STEM researchers in universities and industry. The competition is open to early career STEM researchers currently completing postgraduate studies or within five years of completing their postgraduate degrees.
The Foundation for the WA Museum gratefully acknowledges the support of all FameLab partners:
