Mitchell Jeffrey

Cairns region, Australia
Previously: Canberra; San Francisco Bay Area

I'm a science communicator. I use evidence, but also emotion, to help people understand the world in new ways. I also write software and make radio. Previously, I kept software systems running reliably for Google. Let's chat about projects and collaborations.

Contact me View Résumé

Projects

Sound Show

Connecting the physics of sound to art and music, the Sound Show is a live performance for primary students of all ages.

Foldable Flight

An online interactive workshop for upper primary students that covers the basics of flight, including how to fold two paper planes.

Magnets & Electricity

A surprising workshop about how magnets and electricity are connected, and how we use them both to do cool and useful things.

Software Security

Three lesson plans for senior high school students to explore careers in software and security.

Market Stall

A science outreach project that brings surprise, curiosity and delight to community markets, delivered off an ironing board.

Talking Mushroom

I dressed up as a talking mushroom and shared a handful of physics demonstrations with the punters at a bush doof.

2022 Federal Election

We used spirit, humour and costume to defuse tension with voters and encourage them to place a particular candidate last on the ranked choice ballot.

Radio

At KFJC 89.7FM I hosted and produced 700+ hours of live radio, plus production work and interviews.

Writing

I arrange words for enjoyable reading. Have me research and synthesise topics I'm unfamiliar with, such as: sex, drugs or parasites.

Wonky Holes
(Double Helix issue 71; also adapted as a guest seminar in Writing and Literature at California College of the Arts)
A fishing yarn tells of giant vents of fresh water on the ocean floor.

Space Craft: Lightship Basket Weaving
(Double Helix issue 69) Astronaut Dan Bursch made baskets in space. You can make them at home!

Psychedelic Psychotherapy
Is the double-blind, randomised control clinical trial universally suitable for examining all claims?

Queer Nuns
Behaviour Change Theories and the Play Fair! Campaign

Guinea Worm
Modern efforts to eradicate an ancient parasite

Bespoke Content for Schools

Let me build a presentation or workshop based on your students' needs and interests. I can bring relevance and perspective to your classroom content — tell me what you'd like covered or just point to sections of the Australian Curriculum you're visiting this semester.

While I can work with any subject matter, my personal strengths are in maths, physics (light, sound, forces & energy), computer science & software engineering, the nature of science and how we know & discover things.

For Researchers & Institutions

Your work or research can, and should, meaningfully touch communities beyond paywalled journal publications and fleeting broadcast media splashes. There's lots to love about community engagement and participation:

Building sentimental & financial support for your work
Fostering trust in science broadly in our communities
Opening up to the needs and views of others to inform your work
Making it easy to persuade or influence, or inform policy, should your research suggest so

I can inspire you to broaden your research impact and build your capacity to do so. Or, if your time is limited, I can develop and deliver novel experiential content based on your work and then tell your story during my own outreach. Let's discuss the possibilities.

Education & Employment

Master of Science Communication (Outreach)
Australian National University, 2021

Graduate Certificate in Science Communication
Australian National University, 2020

Software Engineer; Site Reliability Engineer
Google. My Maps, Traffic Control SRE, Spanner SRE. 2013-2020

B.Sc (Mathematics, Physics)
2011