University of South Australia environmental psychology scientist Dr Brianna Le Busque has been named a Superstar of STEM for her work to change society’s negative perceptions of sharks and promote their conservation.
As one of the 60 scientists recognised by Science & Technology Australia as the country’s most inspiring female and non-binary people working in STEM, Le Busque is proud to help smash the stereotype of “an old man in a white lab coat”.
The UniSA behavioural scientist has undertaken multiple studies to address the public’s irrational fears of sharks, unfairly depicted as monsters in popular culture since the 1975 blockbuster horror film Jaws contributed to a rise in shark hunting and subsequent decimation of the species.
“In reality, sharks pose little threat to humans,” Le Busque says.
“The chances of being killed by a shark in Australia are one in eight million – but the damaging hype generated by media and shark movies has fed these fears and seriously harmed conservation efforts.”
Inspiring a passion for conservation
Globally, 100 million sharks are killed each year and a quarter of shark species threatened by extinction.
Le Busque has published 17 peer-reviewed publications and presented at nine conferences and will use her Superstar of STEM profile to highlight the appeal of non-traditional science careers, including conservation and environmental science.
During her PhD studies, Le Busque created a blog and Instagram account to inspire and support other PhD students and scientists, building a large female following. She continues to use Instagram as a platform to encourage women to pursue a career in science, as well as mentoring female undergraduate students.
“The human and psychological aspects of science are fascinating,” she says.
“I want to show people – particularly women and gender diverse people – that science is not restricted to working in a lab or using microscopes. I talk to people, I do surveys, read newspaper articles, and watch shark films. That is my science.”
