Upulie Pabasarie Divisekera is an Australian molecular biologist and science communicator. She is a doctoral student at Monash University and is the co-founder of Real Scientists, an outreach program that uses performance and writing to communicate science. She has written for The Sydney Morning Herald, Crikey and The Guardian.
Upulie Divisekera | |
|---|---|
Upulie Divisekera in 2017 | |
| Alma mater | |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | Monash University |
Early life and education
editDivisekera wanted to be a scientist since she was a child.[1] She is of Sri Lankan descent.[2] After finishing high school she worked for biochemist Mary-Jane Gething from 1995 through 1997. She completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Melbourne in 2001.[3] Here she worked on molecular parasitology with Malcolm McConville. Between 2002 and 2004, she worked as a research assistant at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research on apoptosis and antibody production. She joined Australian National University for her postgraduate studies, graduating in 2007.[3] Divisekera worked on the epithelial to mesenchymal transition in fruit fly embryos in Canberra.[2] She worked as a research assistant at the University of Melbourne in 2007. Divisekera worked as a research assistant at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre from 2008 to 2012.[3][4][5] During this time, she worked in developmental biology and cancer research with Mark Smyth.[2] She studied CD73 as a potential immunotherapy for breast cancer.[6] She is a doctoral student in the department of chemical engineering at Monash University working on nanoparticles and drug delivery.[7][8]
Career
editIn 2011, Divisekera participated in and won the online science communication competition, "I'm a Scientist, Get Me Out of Here".[3] Divisekera spoke at TEDx Canberra in 2012 on dinosaurs, curiosity and change in science.[9] She has written for The Guardian, The Sydney Morning Herald, Crikey, and ABC TV's panel show Q and A, while also regularly contributing to ABC Radio National.[1][10][11] In 2013, she was one of three co-founders of the Real Scientists project, a rotating-curator Twitter account where a different scientist is responsible for a week of science communication.[12] Real Scientists looks to democratise access to science through live diarising of a scientists' day on Twitter, as well as demonstrating the diversity in the sector.[12] She appears regularly on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's radio channels.[13][14][15] Divisekera provides training for academics, postgrads, clinicians and humanities students in science communication.
Alongside science communication, Divisekera is involved with arts programming, including events at the Wheeler Centre.[16][17][18] She took part in a discussion with Cory Doctorow and Maggie Ryan Sandford about the prospect of inhabiting Mars in 2015.[19] Since 2016 she has been a speaker at the Melbourne Writers Festival, and has spoken at The Writer's Bloc, the New South Wales Writers' Centre and the Emerging Writers' Festival.[20][21]
Divisekera was included in the Government of Australia Chief Scientist "Five Scientist Pledge".[22] She has spoken on Australian Broadcasting Corporation about what can be done to support more women into science.[23][24] She gave a keynote talk at the March for Science in Melbourne.[25] In May 2018 Upulie took on Elon Musk in a Twitter feud after he referred to nanotechnology as "bs".[26][27][28][29][30] She is a contributor to the literary magazine The Lifted Brow.[31]
References
edit- ^ a b "Upulie Divisekera on the quest to know everything". Radio National. 2 December 2016. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
- ^ a b c "2014-01-05: Upulie Divisekera, Molecular Biologist and @RealScientists Admin (@scienceupulie) | RealScientists". realscientists.wordpress.com. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
- ^ a b c d "Profile – Health Zone". healthj11.imascientist.org.au. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
- ^ "Was it amazing working at the peter Maccallum Cancer Centre? I (sadly) know someone who had to go there! – Health Zone". healthj11.imascientist.org.au. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
- ^ "Members, Gras Research Group, Chemical Engineering, The University of Melbourne". chemical.eng.unimelb.edu.au. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
- ^ Stagg, John; Beavis, Paul A.; Divisekera, Upulie; Liu, Mira C. P.; Möller, Andreas; Darcy, Phillip K.; Smyth, Mark J. (1 May 2012). "CD73-deficient mice are resistant to carcinogenesis". Cancer Research. 72 (9): 2190–2196. doi:10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-12-0420. ISSN 1538-7445. PMID 22396496.
- ^ "Postgraduate students". Engineering. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
- ^ "The Australian Nanotechnology Network". www.ausnano.net. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
- ^ TEDx Talks (2 October 2012), Dinosaurs (and feathers), bosons, curiosity: Upulie Divisekera at TEDxCanberra 2012, retrieved 25 July 2018
- ^ "Alien life will be found, but what will it be?". NewsComAu. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
- ^ "Upulie Divisekera". the Guardian. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
- ^ a b "About @RealScientists". Real Scientists. 9 February 2013. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
- ^ Research Filter 2016: babies, stars and what to expect in 2017, 15 December 2016, retrieved 25 July 2018
- ^ "Space". Radio National. 6 July 2017. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
- ^ "Fear". Radio National. 28 November 2017. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
- ^ WheelerCentre (16 December 2015), Upulie Divisekera: How does the world end?, retrieved 25 July 2018
- ^ "Late Night Lit: Art vs Science - Emerging Writers Festival - Loop Project Space & Bar". looponline.com.au. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
- ^ "Listen – Upulie Divisekera: How does the world end?, from The Interrobang". The Wheeler Centre. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
- ^ "Watch – Does science fiction give us an unrealistic expectation that we can effectively inhabit Mars? Questions on discovery, imagination and progress". The Wheeler Centre. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
- ^ "Melbourne Writers Festival - Upulie Divisekera". Melbourne Writers Festival. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
- ^ "Why science doesn't belong to everyone (yet)". Crikey. 11 February 2013. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
- ^ "FIVE SCIENTIST PLEDGE – IDENTIFIED SCIENTISTS" (PDF). Chief Scientist. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
- ^ "Upulie Divisekera – Science in Australia Gender Equity (SAGE)". www.sciencegenderequity.org.au. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
- ^ "Comment: Why are Australian women leaving STEM?". Topics. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
- ^ Science, Technology & the Future (23 April 2017), Upulie Divisekera - Science Belongs to Everybody - March for Science Melbourne, retrieved 25 July 2018
- ^ "Scientists Say Elon Musk's 'Nano' Claims Don't Make Any Sense". Live Science. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
- ^ "Elon Musk noemt nanotechnologie 'BS'. Wetenschappers maken hem belachelijk - wel.nl". Welingelichte Kringen (in Dutch). Retrieved 25 July 2018.
- ^ Divisekera, Upulie. "Why nanotechnology is more than just a buzzword". The Conversation. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
- ^ "Scientists Say Elon Musk's 'Nano' Claims Don't Make Any Sense -". www.rr-magazine.com. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
- ^ "Elon Musk Is Feuding With Scientists On Twitter After Some More Bizarre Comments". IFLScience. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
- ^ "THE BEST OF THE LIFTED BROW: VOLUME TWO". The Lifted Brow. Retrieved 9 August 2018.