​A Murdoch University researcher is honing her science communication skills with the best in the world on an internship with the BBC’s Naked Scientist show.

Mariana Campos, from Murdoch’s Harry Butler Institute, is living and working at Cambridge University in the UK for eight weeks as part of the opportunity, offered by the popular Naked Scientist himself – Dr Chris Smith.

During her stay, Dr Campos will conduct interviews, write articles, edit and produce her own 30-minute podcast on biosecurity, which will be aired on BBC 5 live, Radio National Australia and released on the Naked Scientists Podcast.

Dr Campos said she became interested in the internship when Dr Smith highlighted the opportunity during a science communication workshop he was hosting at Murdoch.

“We had to complete an exercise in which everyone had 90 seconds to tell their message and the other attendees would try to decipher it, and it made me realise just how important it is to be able to communicate your research effectively to your audience,” she said. 

Dr Campos, who is currently settling into her quarters at Cambridge and working with the Naked Scientists team, said she was thrilled to have been given the opportunity to learn from the most successful science communicators in the world.

“I was ecstatic and a little bit starstruck to be able to spend some time at Cambridge University which is a bit of a hub for science communication and for podcasts,” she said.

“It is really something to be at the core of things and learn from people who have been doing it for 18 years.”

Dr Smith, whose engaging science podcasts have been downloaded around the world more than three million times, said Dr Campos was fitting in well with the Naked Scientists team.

"The Naked Scientists brand thrives on talent and personality, and Mariana has heaps of both,” he said.

“She stood out at the science communication workshop we ran at Murdoch as a passionate and knowledgeable scientist, and an enthusiastic communicator - she hasn't disappointed.”

When she returns to Perth, Dr Campos intends to apply her new skill sets to promote biosecurity issues and the research outcomes of the Harry Butler Institute.

“I really do wish for Australia, and Perth in particular, to be able to engage more in worldwide science communication for the general population,” she said.

“We also have excellent work being produced, and we can only benefit from the general population knowing about the amazing research being done.”