Dr Lindy Orthia
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About
Lindy is an Honorary Senior Lecturer at the School of Sociology, within the Research School of Social Sciences in the ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences.
From 2007 until early 2021 she was an academic in science communication at the Centre for the Public Awareness of Science within the ANU College of Science, at Senior Lecturer level from 2015.
Lindy completed a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences at La Trobe University then came to ANU to undertake honours in plant systematics, jointly with the Australian National Herbarium, CSIRO. She commenced a PhD in plant systematics but soon transferred to a PhD in science communication in 2005, graduating in 2010. Recognising much of her work took a historical approach, she undertook a Graduate Certificate in History from 2013-15. Prior to studying science, Lindy was an activist who spent much of her time researching, writing and agitating in regard to diverse political issues, working in student representative and community organisations.
Professional Awards and Honours
- 2020 Winner: College of Science Dean's Commendation for Excellence in Education for Programs that Enhance Learning (Team)
- 2014 recognised as Senior Fellow, Higher Education Academy
- 2013 Winner: Vice-Chancellor's Award for Teaching Excellence
- 2013 Winner: ANU Commendation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning
- 2012 Winner: Colleges of Science Award for Teaching Excellence
- 2009 Winner: ANU ResearchFest Award for Excellence in Tutoring or Demonstrating
Affiliations
Research interests
Lindy's current research interests are:
- the politics of knowledge, in particular the rhetorical power of Western science compared to the world's many other systems of science and knowledge
- intersections of science and science communication with sociopolitical categories such as race, gender, sexual orientation, class and disability
- representations of science in popular fiction and public responses to them
- histories of science communication and the uses of history in public communication about science.
For more current and complete information on Lindy's publications and bio, including a more up to date publications list, go to lindyorthia.com.
Research projects
Lindy is currently editing a book with Dr Tara Roberson (UQ) entitled Queering Science Communication: Representations, Theory and Practice.
She is also working on other projects related to her research interests, details to be updated as projects are formalised.
Projects
- Enlightenment was the choice: 'Doctor Who' and the democratisation of science, Principal investigator
- Ideologies of science in 'Doctor Who', Principal investigator
- Science communication in early colonial Sydney, Principal investigator
- SCOM2003 projects about science, fiction and the public, Principal investigator
- Accessing visual communication modes to promote an understanding of Alzheimer’s disease in the digital realm, Supervisor
- Audience responses to fictional representations of future technology, Supervisor
- Characterising a movement against cancer research, Supervisor
- Communicating endometriosis to young women to decrease diagnostic time, Supervisor
- Communicating the sociology of safety to the Australian pipeline industry, Supervisor
- Communication in the integrated use of Indigenous Knowledge and Western Science in environmental management, Supervisor
- Communication on menstruation: Women’s knowledge, health risks, disposable products, and the environment, Supervisor
- COMPLETED - Facts in fiction: Categorising science in narratives, Supervisor
- Discourses of race and evolutionary theory in the X-Men series of films, Supervisor
- Doctor Who characters as STEMM role models, Supervisor
- Engaged in fiction, engaged in science: Can stories about science inspire a career?, Supervisor
- Environmental scientists' and ecologists' uses of Indigenous ecological knowledge, Supervisor
- Fictional portrayals of real scientists in semi-biographical films, Supervisor
- How the sitcom The Big Bang Theory influences audience perceptions of science and scientists, Supervisor
- Is a photograph worth a thousand words? The communication of Alzheimer’s disease research using visual interdisciplinary methodologies, Supervisor
- Knowledge exchange between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, Supervisor
- Making sense of the geology of Middle-earth in Lord of the Rings, Supervisor
- Models of expertise in the South African HIV/AIDS crisis, Supervisor
- Nuclear Power - what does the world think?, Supervisor
- Opportunities and Challenges in an Ongoing and Collaborative Non-Formal Program for Developing Students’ Trajectories into Post-Compulsory STEM study, Supervisor
- Portrayals of science and the environment in the computer game 'Civilization 5', Supervisor
- Public involvement in decision-making about science and technology, Supervisor
- Representations of scientists in kids' programs on Australian television, Supervisor
- Science and 'Breaking Bad', Supervisor
- Science in music videos: using the creative arts to generate environmental awareness, Supervisor
- Science plays as science communication: a case study of Caryl Churchill's 'A Number', Supervisor
- Scientific Crackpots : A Side Effect of Science Communication?, Supervisor
- Stories of Scientists: Can they be used to engage the public?, Supervisor
- Students’ perceptions on the gender imbalance in physics: a case study from the Australian National University, Supervisor
- The influence of 'Scrubs' on medical students' clinical practice, Supervisor
- The influence of the musical Rent on the HIV/AIDS campaign in the US in the years 1996-2011, Supervisor
- The role of (un)realistic science in the reception of narrative fiction, Supervisor
- The role of long term aged care facilities: expectations of responsibility, Supervisor
- The roles of scientific jargon in science-themed fiction, Supervisor
- The Scientific Revolution and its others in popular discourse, Supervisor
- Uses of Jurassic Park in popular science books, Supervisor
- What would a 'scientifically engaged Australia' look like?, Supervisor