#71 Rowan Brookes – STEM, Learning & Meaningful Living

Episode #71 guest, Rowan Brookes, brings inspiration and energy into the podcast all at once. Rowan is Director of Education for the School of Biological Sciences at Monash University, Co-Founder of STEMsidebyside, a widely published author, keen adventurer and athlete. 

She works to improve equity in STEM as a Member for the Women’s Advisory Roundtable for the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science and as a founding member of the STEMsidebyside program.

Despite the growing number of women in STEM, Rowan mentions that she continues to find several implicit and insidious barriers for women in the industry. Her work encourages the opening up of dialogue about these barriers as way to tackle the issue with openness.

Recalling her childhood explorations of the glittering nature in New Zealand, Rowan carries a deep connection with the environment in all of her work, life, and accomplishments. Being in the natural world, she says, provides an “invitation to be a bigger self“.

It was great to hear about how Rowan takes the values of exploration into her teaching practice to motivate her students to be more creative and maximise their potential.

Fun fact: we referred to Rowan by a previous guest from our show, Louka Parry. It turns out, they were training partners for the New Zealand Coast to Coast Race.

Rowan carries such a grounded and holistic sense of wellness in life and in work as a change-maker. She shared a rejuvenating quote with us that we won’t forget:

The success of a change initiative relies on the interior condition of the person who is leading the change”

We were so glad to have Rowan on the podcast! If you enjoyed our conversation with Rowan, please subscribe to our podcast by clicking this link, and give us a rad 5-star rating.

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