Murdoch University researcher Dr Paola Magni’s punchy presentation on using barnacles to solve crimes has won her the Audience Choice Award at the Western Australian FameLab semi final.

Dressed in a long mac and accessorised with a pipe and a snorkel, Dr Magni entertainingly explained how sea creatures including barnacles can be underwater witnesses, helping crime investigators solve murders.

Dr Magni must now wait to find out if she will be invited to compete in the national FameLab final in Perth on 8 May.

Dr Magni and fellow Murdoch researcher Kelli MacMillan were among 13 semi-finalists challenged to deliver an engaging overview of their work with no jargon and no PowerPoints in just three minutes in front of a sell-out audience at the WA Maritime Museum.

Dr Magni said she was delighted with the Audience Choice Award.

“It was very satisfying to see the audience enjoying the presentation and learning about our research,” Dr Magni said.

“We have found that the little creatures growing on items of clothing like shoes can tell us so much - where a body came from, how long a body has been in the water and the isotopes in the creatures can even help us to track the journey taken by a body in the ocean.

“The creatures tell us the when and where, pivotal information for a correct crime scene reconstruction.”

With two TEDx presentations and numerous community and media appearances under her belt, Dr Magni is an experienced communicator but said the discipline of bringing her presentation in under three minutes was an interesting challenge.

“There is so much to say about our forensic research, but being able to distil it for a wide audience is a very useful discipline, and one that helps to draw people from all walks of life into my research.”

Mother-baby relationship

Ms MacMillan is a former Three Minute Thesis winner at Murdoch. For FameLab, she presented on her doctoral research - an investigation into the drivers of the early mother-baby relationship.

She spoke about the reasons why some mothers and babies fail to develop a securely attached relationship, and how her findings could help those experiencing difficulties bonding with their babies.

Ms MacMillan said she entered the competition because it was an opportunity to develop skills in translating her research for the public.

“The world of research today is very different to how it looked ten years ago,” she said. “There are a number of mediums now available to researchers to get their information into the public space, and so as an early career researcher, I want to understand how best to use those tools.”

Murdoch University Deputy Vice Chancellor Research and Innovation David Morrison said he was proud of the researchers’ performances.

“Both are exceptionally talented science communicators and I’m very pleased for Paola that she won the audience award,” Professor Morrison said.

“In an increasingly competitive market for research funding and collaboration, the honing of effective science communication skills is incredibly important, helping researchers stand out to funders and partners, and ensuring the general public understand what they are doing and why.

“FameLab is a wonderful initiative helping researchers to develop and practice these skills in a supportive environment.”

Both Dr Magni and Ms MacMillan benefitted from a full day of science communication training from Comm-It before taking part in the FameLab semi-final.

Twelve participants from regional semi-finals in Queensland, Victoria, New South Wales and WA will compete in the Australia final, taking place in the State Theatre Centre of Western Australia.

The overall winner will be selected to represent Australia at the FameLab International Competition in the United Kingdom in June.