SCI-COMM & MEDIA
ROLA[STONE]
Rola is the Anaiwan word for “stone”. This film explores the inseparable connection between geology, landscapes and culture on Anaiwan Country (Northern Tablelands area of New South Wales, Australia). All places have parallel narratives—the scientific and spiritual, that govern our relationship with them. Woven together, these perspectives invite us to rethink the ways we understand the deep and recent past, present and future of the world around us.
Winning film in the Geoscience Professionals category in the Earth Futures Festival in 2022. Credits: Director and Producer - Marissa Betts, Director of Photography - Mike Terry
SCI-FLICKS
My collaboration between UNE Life, TuneFM and the Belgrave Cinema, Sci-Flicks is a film night with a difference. We show films with scientific themes once a month, with talks from researchers before the film and a Q+A afterwards. A fun way to do sci-comm and showcase the awesome research happening at UNE. I interview each of the speakers on UNE’s student radio TuneFM to chat about science, their research and the upcoming film. Click on the links below to listen.
20th May, 2021: JURASSIC PARK + interview with vertebrate palaeontologists Dr. Nic Campione and Dr. Phil Bell
15th Aug, 2021: GATTACA + interview with geneticist Dr. Mary McMillan
7th Oct, 2021: SAN ANDREAS + interview with geologists Dr. Luke Milan and Dr. Tim Chapman
4th Nov, 2021: THE MEG + interview with vertebrate palaeontologist Dr. Nic Campione and marine biologist Dr. Chris Goatley
24th Feb, 2022: THE MARTIAN + interview with soil scientists Associate Professor Chris Guppy and Dr. Richard Flavel. Also check out the talks and Q+A recorded on the night!
26th Mar, 2022: FINDING NEMO + interview with marine biologist Dr. Chris Goatley
28th Apr, 2022: CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND + interview with physicist Dr. Stephen Bosi
25th May, 2022: ROBOCOP + interview with computer scientist Dr. Edmund Sadgrove
16th Jun, 2022: RIVER + interview with river scientist Associate Professor Mel Parsons
28th Jul, 2022: JURASSIC WORLD DOMINION + interview with palaeontologists Kai Allison and Tim Frauenfelder
25th Aug, 2022: NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM + panel discussion featuring curators from NERAM and UNE’s Antiquity and Natural History museums. Listen to the interview with NERAM Director Rachael Parsons.
22nd Sep, 2022: ALIEN + interview with parasitologist Dr Tommy Leung
22nd Oct, 2022: RATATOUILLE + interview with microbiologist and food scientist Dr Gal Winter
9th Feb, 2023: FIRE OF LOVE + interview with geologist Dr Nick Tailby
27th Apr, 2023: CONTAGION + interview with Professor of Nursing Kim Usher
25th May, 2023: EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE + interview with Kate Armstrong-Smith, creator of narrative engine Othelia. This Sci-Flicks film event is part of the Experimenta collaboration between NERAM and the UNE Smart Region Incubator.
26th Oct, 2013: EIGHT LEGGED FREAKS + interview with James O’Hanlon, author of the new book Silk and Venom: the incredible lives of spiders.
UNE Sci-Flicks is growing! In late 2023, coordination of the Sci-Flicks events has been taken over by the wonderful Bridgette Glover!
23rd Nov, 2023: ARRIVAL + interview with linguists Dr Sally Dixon and Dr Piers Kelly.
7th Mar, 2024: VOLCANO + interview with geologist and science communicator Dr Kieran Meaney
PODCASTS, RADIO, PANELS, SEMINARS AND
PRESENTATIONS
Dec 2022: Interviewed about Sci-Flicks on Evenings with David Astler, ABC Radio Melbourne
Oct 2022: Invited panelist for the Earth Futures film festival Sydney screening event, held at the Australian Museum
Oct 2022: Geoscience expanding at UNE, interviewed by Robyn Williams for the Science Show on ABC’s Radio National
Aug 2022: Invited panelist for Women in STEM: Leading in the field, part of the Sydney Science Trail events for Science Week 2022
Jun 2021: Biostratigraphy with Marissa Betts from LLUNE (part of the Gneiss Chats special series featuring UNE’s geoscience group LLUNE)
Apr 2021: Intersection of Earth Science and Art on What the Art?! with Rachel Parsons from Armidale’s New England Regional Art Museum
Feb 2021: The Handsome Beast - and other enigmatica on Occam’s Razor (recorded live, aired on The Science Show with Robin Williams on ABC National)
Aug 2020: Assembling the small shelly jigsaw - invited seminar for the Geological Society of Australia, NSW Division
May 2020: Tackling big Cambrian questions with Small Shelly Fossils - invited seminar for the University of Adelaide Earth Sciences
Oct 2019: Public seminar for Dinos After Dark (Science in the Club, Armidale)
Aug 2019: Small shelly fossils with Marissa Betts on Palaeocast (a two-part interview)
May 2019: Public seminar for A Pint of Science, Armidale
Mar 2019: Cambrian shelly fossils on Creepy but Curious with Kia Handley, ABC New England Northwest
Mar 2019: Small shelly fossils and palaeo tattoos with Marissa Betts on the In Situ Science podcast
Mar 2017: Sieving the small stuff: Big stories from tiny fossils - invited Life, Earth and Environment (LEE) seminar, University of New England
OTHER MEDIA
Growing an ‘academic tree’
“Every scholar needs a community of people to help them answer the questions they are interested in. We all become part of this diaspora, this huge network that will go on for generations. It’s the research questions that bind you, but it’s the emotional connection to the people you are working with, and the shared investment, that keeps you motivated.”
Unearthing discrimination in science
“When you are under-represented in your field, even if you don’t intend to make intersectionality a part of your daily life, you are required to advocate for yourself at all times, as someone who can contribute something valuable,” Eleanor says. “I want others to see the importance of inclusivity.”
Geoscience and culture overlap in shortlisted film from UNE’s LithoLab
UNE geologist and palaeontologist, Dr Marissa Betts, has directed and produced a short film, ‘ROLA (Stone)’ that sheds light on the connections between geology, landscape and culture. The film has recently been announced as a finalist in the UNESCO 2022 Earth Futures Film Festival.
Blockbuster emotions
Diversity in STEM is poor, but particularly in the geosciences. Marissa..sees making a human connection through outreach and education as an important means of addressing such disparities. Which is partly why, once every month, she commandeers Armidale’s Belgrave Cinema to host Sci-Flicks.
Mixing Movies and Sci-comm: Inspiring EMCR’s
“Films can give people feelings about something that motivates them much more powerfully than facts…we must remember the human connection, as this is what ensures our facts can ‘land’ and have the most impact.”
Featured on People of Earth Science
“Marissa’s research is in geology and palaeontology, where she investigates the Cambrian time period (542 – 509 million years ago) of South Australia, Antarctica, Canada, China and Mongolia.”
A platform for UNE’s geosciences
"We have an outstanding group of researchers who produce world-class science across a range of geosciences. Litholab provides us with a way to tell stories about the work of our individual scientists, but to give all that work a collective identity and provide a hub for us to connect with our students."
Preserving a magnificent window into the deep past
“Rising from South Australia's outback plains, the Ikara-Flinders Ranges have long been loved as a destination, but a new World Heritage bid seeks to also recognise the ancient landforms as an extraordinary window into the evolution of animal life.”
Modelling continental drift to better understand evolution
“Just five years after finishing her PhD, UNE lecturer in palaeontology and geology Dr Marissa Betts has won a substantial Australian Research Council (ARC) grant that will support an ambitious three-year project using fossils, rocks and cutting-edge 3D visualisation software.”
Curious Minds program encourages girls to pursue careers in STEM
“The program — which aims to address the underrepresentation of women in STEM — provides female students in years 9 and 10 with a pathway into STEM study and careers.”
Outstanding student achievement recognised
“Not only do the awards recognise the students and their hard work, they are also testament to UNE’s strength in palaeoscience beginning at undergraduate level.”
Hat trick of awards for UNE superstar of STEM
“Stellar work in documenting the geological history of our earth, specifically the early Cambrian Period, has earned Dr Marissa Betts a coveted 2021 Tall Poppy Science award from the Australian Institute of Policy and Science (AIPS).”
Adventure into Sci-Flicks with Dr Marissa Betts
“Blockbuster movies especially can often stretch the limits of reality when it comes to the science they reference. Have you ever watched a movie and wondered “I wonder if that’s really true”, or “how likely is it for that to happen?”. Sci-Flicks gives people the opportunity to have some of these questions “myth-busted” by a real scientist.”
Love of old rocks brings reward for new scientist
"UNE has a long history of outstanding geoscience and palaeoscience, disciplines that were established here by A.H. Voisey, so it is a great honour to receive this award."
Meet UNE’s newest Superstars of STEM
“Dr Marissa Betts and Dr Mary McMillan from the University of New England are part of a group of 60 brilliant women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics who will step into the spotlight as media stars chosen for this acclaimed national program.”