FLEET PhD student Matt Gebert, co-winner 2020 Monash Faculty of Science Award for Outstanding Contributions by a Graduate Research Student to the Life of the Faculty or School Community
Congratulations to FLEET PhD student Matt Gebert, recognised for his dedication to science-outreach by the Monash Faculty of Science.
Matt’s contributions to science outreach include running lab tours with Monash Tech School, demonstrating levitating superconductors and speaking at Monash University open day, teaching regional students via the Emerging Science Victoria program, coordinating PhD day, and in-class demos and talks, including FLEET’s John Monash year-10 unit, JMSS Immersion Day, Science Snippets, and an invited talk for Caulfield Grammar Chapel Service.
Outreach is a priority for FLEET, focusing on building understanding and passion for science in the community.
Matt’s involvement is particularly beneficial as students relate to him, being able to see themselves in his shoes. As a presenter, he is energetic and relates well to younger audiences, comfortably discussing his science journey, as well as clearly explaining complex science concepts.
“Throughout Monash Open Day, Matt had amazing energy, which is necessary when you are constantly repeating the same experiment and the same information to different groups of people,” says FLEET outreach coordinator, Dr Dianne Ruka.
Matt has designed and coordinated a hands-on graphene discovery exercise for JMSS secondary students, with students exfoliating graphene using scotch tape, and examining their discoveries under microscopy. As part of this activity, he investigated a number of different microscopes that would be appropriate to visualise the graphene, and coordinated with other schools in the Faculty of Science to borrow this equipment.
Matt has prepared and presented to regional schools via Emerging Science Victoria lessons, earning rave reviews from his partner teacher.
In 2020, Matt took over coordination of Monash Tech School lab tours run in FLEET’s labs at Monash University, building on existing demonstrations to and making it his own, with relevant examples and explanations from his own research.
“In my role as Education & Training coordinator, I am often asked to provide activities/tours/events for students,” says Dianne Ruka. “Matt definitely makes my life easier in this aspect because he is a person I know I can rely on. He will agree to doing these activities if he is available and he is always reliable and prepared for them. He is a joy to work with and his enthusiasm can be quite catching. I know that he will continue to be a reliable and worthy team member in this aspect.”
Matt Gebert (School of Physics and Astronomy) and Marycarmen Diaz (Earth Atmosphere and Environment) were announced co-winners of the 2020 Faculty of Science Award for Outstanding Contributions by a Graduate Research Student to the Life of the Faculty or School Community.