VIPSites Media

I am a passionate STEM changemaker and advocate.

My passion and drive knows no bounds to changemake opportunities for young people in STEM.

SEE LATEST WORK

Services offered

Program Design

  • Design & development of opportunities & programs STEM engagement.

  • Design & develop K-12 lessons, unit and curriculum plans aligned to Australian Curriculum.

  • Design & develop novel K-12 integrated curriculum STEM programs.

  • Design & develop novel K-12 Design Thinking programs.

  • Design & develop teacher professional development.

Engagement Evaluation

  • STEM engagement appropriateness for target audience/s.

  • Analysis of STEM skill development & gaps.

Capability Coaching

  • Observation of staff or teacher practice.

  • Student mentoring and coaching in study skills, science subject capability and leadership.

  • Instructional coaching with supported reflection and constructive feedback.

  • Mentoring & improvement co-planning.

Messaging and Bias Review

  • Inclusiveness of messaging.

  • Messaging appropriateness for target audience/s.

  • Presentation of messaging.

  • Parent engagement & support.

Bespoke Services

  • Using broad global and national STEM perspectives - Identification of opportunities & programs STEM engagement.

  • Design & development of opportunities & programs STEM engagement.

  • Blue sky thinking and solution design.

Partnership Development

  • Curation of connections and partnerships within and beyond education, industry, research, government and community.
VIPSites Media

About me

  • Founder of STEM Changemakers, a program focused on empowering underrepresented regional girls in STEM.

  • Twenty years’ experience as a secondary science educator and Science Head of Department.

  • Founder of the Townsville STEM Hub, a volunteer community organisation that has engaged over 10,000 people in a range of student, teacher and community events.

  • Co-Chair of Women in STEMM Australia, a for-purpose organisation advocating for women and girls in STEMM.

  • Board Member of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute.

  • Bachelor of Science with First Class Honours.

  • Graduate Bachelor of Education.

  • Commonwealth Bank of Australia Teaching Award Fellowship, 2019.

  • One of ten national STEM Ambassadors by Science and Technology Australia, 2018.

  • Fellow of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute, 2018.

  • Barbara Cail STEM Fellowship, 2016 - Research of international best practice engaging young people in STEM.

  • Prime Minister’s Secondary Science Teaching Prize for Excellence in Science Teaching, 2013.

Recent work

PowerLink / CopperString Experience Centre

  • Messaging Evaluation of Experience Centre

  • Messaging Evaluation of website, social media, video recordings

  • Capability of Staff Review and Coaching

  • Design & development of STEM / Australian Curriculum aligned engagement programs

  • Promotion of STEM engagement opportunities via extensive professional network.

STEM Changemakers

STEM Changemakers is a dedicated program for underrepresented regional and rural girls in STEM.

National Roundtable with Australian Academy of Science and National Committee for Chemistry 2024

  • Provided evaluation of STEM engagement appropriateness for target audience/s

Royal Australian Chemical Institute – Education Advisory Committee Member 2024

  • Review & advise linking and alignment of context to Australian Curriculum

  • Messaging appropriateness for target audience/s

Consultant on the Strategic Review and 20-year Strategic Plan of Questacon 2023

  • STEM ecosystem partnership gap analysis

  • Identification of opportunities & programs STEM engagement

Convenor and Consultant on Australia’s Chief Scientist’s STEM in Northern Australia Round Table 2022

  • STEM ecosystem partnership gap analysis

  • Identification of opportunities & programs STEM engagement

STEM Changemakers Podcast

Podcast Link: Stories of Giving and Receiving

International Fellowship and Report

Engaging the Future in STEM

What my clients are saying about my work

Sarah leads from the front when it comes to attracting a diverse, growing STEM workforce in regional Australia. Sarah is the powerhouse behind STEM Changemakers which on its first pilot has already boosted the number of high-school girls from diverse backgrounds taking up STEM careers in North Queensland. You would not meet a more passionate, dedicated champion for regional girls in STEM that knows how to make change, and then jumps straight in to make it happen.

Melanie Olsen

Australian Institute of Marine Science

Sarah has been instrumental in inspiring the next generation of engineers in her role as the Founder of STEM Changemakers. I've had the pleasure of collaborating with Sarah during the inaugural Changemakers program and have witnessed first hand the impact her passion has had in shaping the future of regional girls. By connecting industry with teachers, parents, and students, Sarah has put in motion an unstoppable force - empowered girls who know their worth and potential. I am confident that STEM Changemakers will continue to be a success and look forward to working with the budding engineers who got their start through this program.

Nikki Thomson

Energy Queensland

Sarah's STEM Changemakers program created wonderful opportunities for my 13 year old daughter to be involved in working with industry on solving real-world problems. The program also created opportunities for the girls to build their confidence speaking to industry professionals, and in presenting their work to a large audience.

The girls learned from other women in STEM - role models in the industry and this really helped them to see themselves entering a STEM career.Since finishing the STEM changemakers program, my daughter has a more concrete idea of what is possible in a STEM career. She has been motivated to make Year 9 subject choices suitable to a STEM pathway. At an early age, she has shown that through STEM opportunities such as the STEM changemakers program, she is able to make informed choices about getting involved in subjects and activities that will set her on the right path to becoming a STEM professional and a changemaker in the future.

For girls in rural and regional areas, such opportunities to be involved in a program of this nature would not be available without passionate educators such as Sarah and her wonderful team. I highly recommend the STEM changemaker program to all girls in rural and regional areas who are curious about STEM or a STEM career pathway. Let's change the gender-based statistics in STEM careers and help girls to see themselves as STEM changemakers!

Tracey Ahern

James Cook University

Sarah is an incredible leader that is devoted to getting more women into STEM particularly in remote and regional areas. She is brilliant and knowledgeable in gender diversity and inclusion especially in STEM.

Morley Muse

iSTEM Co.

Biography

Biography

Sarah Chapman is the Founder of STEM Changemakers, a program focused on empowering underrepresented regional Australian girls in STEM. She has twenty year’s experience as a secondary science educator and Science Head of Department. Sarah is also the Founder of the Townsville STEM Hub, a volunteer community organisation that has engaged over 10,000 people in a range of student, teacher and community events. Sarah Chapman is Co-Chair of Women in STEMM Australia and a Board Member of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute. She is passionate about inspiring, engaging and empowering people through STEM. Sarah commits extensive portions of her own time lifting the profile of STEM education, by working with students, teachers and the broader community.

 

In 2019, Sarah was awarded a Commonwealth Bank of Australia Teaching Award Fellowship. In 2018, Sarah was selected as one of ten national STEM Ambassadors by Science and Technology Australia, and was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute. She was awarded a Barbara Cail STEM Fellowship in 2016, which involved international travel to research best practice in engaging young people into STEM. Sarah was awarded the prestigious Prime Minister’s Secondary Science Teaching Prize for Excellence in Science Teaching in 2013. In 2014 she was selected as a Queensland Government Science Champion. Sarah’s work has also been recognised with a prestigious Peter Doherty, Outstanding Teacher of Science Award in 2008 (Queensland Government) and an Australian Award for Teaching Excellence in 2009 (Teaching Australia). 

 

Sarah is an inspirational keynote speaker and workshop presenter at local, state, national and international STEM events. She is also regularly consulted by a range of institutions for the advice around vision and direction of STEM engagement and education.

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Address

North Queensland, QLD, Australia