Murdoch PhD student Valeria Senigaglia has been named the WA State Final winner in the annual FameLab competition, which brings together young researchers to tell their science stories in less than 3 minutes.

FameLab is regarded as the leading science communication competition that seeks to find and mentor young STEM researchers keen to share their stories with the world.

It is run annually in Australia and in over 25 countries across the world. The competition brings bright young minds from across the globe to culturally share their experiences of science and compete for the title of the world’s best science communicator.

This year, Australian early-career scientists took to the ‘stage’ in a different way. Via their loungerooms they delivered short, sharp explanations of how their research can make a difference in our ever-changing world.

In 2020, the WA semi-final comprised all women finalists, including two from Murdoch University —Valeria Senigaglia and Miaomiao Cheng.

Valeria Senigaglia is a PhD candidate in Marine Science with over 12 years’ experience in marine mammal research. Throughout her career, Valeria has worked in the public and not-for-profit sectors to further her research into the impact of human activities on marine mammals. 

A keen interest in marine conservation and sustainable wildlife tourism has always been at the heart of Valeria’s interests and passions, and despite a short break to become a food journalist and restaurant critic, the ocean lured her back to science in 2016 when she commenced her PhD studies at Murdoch University. Now, she juggles two careers and one endless curiosity.

Valeria Senigaglia's PhD project focuses on the socio-ecological consequences of dolphin food-provisioning in Bunbury — essentially combining a love for marine mammal conservation and for food).

Valeria’s research is investigating the position of female dolphins within a social network of dolphins, including number of ‘friends’, how long the dolphins in the group swim together and how well these females are connected to other dolphins.

Early analysis of the data, while not yet definitive, suggests that females who are reliant on food provisions from humans tend to be very central in the ‘network’, but lack strong relationships and connections with the rest of the dolphin group.

The research also suggests these factors have an influence on dolphin calf survival. In short, while the female dolphins being studied are coming into contact with many other dolphins also living close to the coast, they are not actively socialising or interacting with them.

Valeria's project seeks to quantify the effect of food-provisioning on individual dolphin reproduction and survival and assessed its repercussion on the population of bottlenose dolphins in Bunbury.

The research also considers the importance of balancing the long-term sustainability of the dolphin population with the local tourism industry in Bunbury.

“As a STEM ambassador and trained journalist, I have always enjoyed telling stories. Having a passion for the marine environment and for animal behaviour, stories related to these topics are the ones I love to share the most,” explains Valeria.  

“Participating in, and winning, the Western Australian State final was first and foremost great fun, a good confidence boost and an occasion to practice and enhance my science communication skills.

FameLab is a fantastic platform for science communication and it is a privilege to share my work and passion and to engage with such a wide and diverse audience.” 

Valeria describes science communication as an essential tool in marine conservation because it is through education and awareness (by humans) that a difference can be made to the future of marine wildlife wellbeing.

“I want my research to reach the people that are out on the water next to dolphins, those are the ones we need to talk to and they will probably never read my scientific papers. Platforms like FameLab offer the opportunities that have not previously existed.”

Murdoch University congratulates Valeria and all the State finalists of the FameLab competition.