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“My life would be totally different if I hadn’t come to UOW,” says Dr Tamantha Stutchbury, who has lived many lives since first stepping foot on campus in the 1990s.  

“Computers and emails were still relatively new – there were no laptops. Lecture notes were written down, and if you missed out you would go to the library and photocopy the overheads,” she reflects.  

More than 30 years later, Tamantha still calls ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵapp home, having worked at UOW in multiple roles, as a researcher, lecturer and now Director of iAccelerate, the ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵapp’s start-up hub.  

The first in her family to attend university, she enrolled in a Bachelor of Medicinal Chemistry (Honours), where she joined a small but passionate cohort of like-minded students, before beginning a PhD.  

“I ended up in a share house with three other students all doing their PhDs in biology. It was huge fun. We would slowly write up (our theses) then someone would move out, another student would move in, and it was a real generational experience,” she says.  

As a PhD student and post-doctoral researcher in biochemistry, Tamantha researched and developed new chemotherapy drugs, in an environment of mostly men. 

“There was me and one other female researcher, and we both shared a lab bench. There were eight guys in my lab, and I remember cricket playing on the radio all summer,” she laughs. 

^{Tamantha was the first in her family to attend university and went on to complete a PhD. Photo: Michael Gray.}

That started to change in the late 1990s, when a new generation of young women came through UOW to study STEM. One microbiology honours cohort was made up of almost two thirds of female students – including Martina Sanderson-Smith. 

“I remember being quite intimidated by Tam when I first met her. She was a few years ahead of me in her career, and she was just so across everything,” says Martina. 

“A few years into my PhD I was going through those typical mid-20s challenges and she just noticed that I was not doing so great. She took the time to sit down and have a chat, then from that point, she just really made the effort to check in on me regularly and soon became a person I knew that I could always go to for advice.” 

Over 20 years, the pair have supported each other professionally and personally. While both were heavily encouraged to move overseas to pursue their careers, Tamantha stayed in ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵapp. The chemotherapy drug she was researching had started to become commercialised and let her explore the professional side of the university sector, while also supporting her young family. 

“I loved the physicality of a lab job, running experiments and the collegial nature. But being on contracts while raising children was difficult,” she says. 

“As my career evolved, seeing my children visit me on campus and feel like university was a viable option for them, as someone first in family that meant a lot.” 

At the same time, Martina headed abroad for a fellowship with the Von Humboldt Foundation. Adamant that she didn’t want to be a group leader or academic, Martina spent two years in Germany and “spent her weekends exploring Europe instead of saving up for a house,” she says.  
Returning to ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵapp, Martina decided to start a family. Two days before her parental leave, she received a phone call that her grant submission had been accepted, and she would have her own research lab and salary. 

“I remember getting the phone call and thinking ‘I should be excited, but I’m about to have a baby!’” she laughs. 

Despite her original reluctance to lead research groups or teach, over the past 20 years, Martina has become a pioneer of bacterial research. She has supervised 11 PhD students and is currently supervising or co-supervising seven more, and in 2024 was made director of UOW’s prestigious research institute Molecular Horizons.  

^{Martina is now the Director of UOW's Molecular Horizons research institute.}

“I feel so lucky that I've been able to build a research career. I think back to those days when it was just me and it was my lab group, and I was so lucky to be supported by people who were collegial and prepared to support me," she recalls. 

“As an undergraduate it almost didn’t occur to me that there were any challenges around being a woman in research. Not only did I have that cohort, but I had these three powerhouse female academics who were such a fundamental part of the school, including my biochemistry lecturer Sharon Robinson.” 

By the time Martina started her degree, Sharon had a decade of environmental biology research behind her, completing her PhD in the UK before relocating to Australia as a post-doctoral researcher.  

Based in Canberra, and having spent a year in the US, she was faced with a life-changing decision: return to the UK or take a job in ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵapp - a town she’d never even visited before her interview.  

“There were 25 people on the interview panel [for the UK job], and only two of them were women. When I came to ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵapp, there were two women on the selection panel out of five, and it wasn’t mandatory then,” says Sharon.  

“I didn’t consciously think that was one of the things that I was making a decision about, maybe it was, subconsciously.” 

At the same time, Sharon was also in the running for a prestigious grant which would allow her to travel to Antarctica for her research.  

“I remember telling the Head of School in ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵapp, ‘if I get this grant, I will need to go to Antarctica for about four months’ and he said yes.” 

Almost 30 years later, Sharon has travelled to Antarctica more than a dozen times and is recognised as one of the world’s leading Antarctic researchers, named an Australian Laureate Fellow in 2024. 

Despite her global recognition, it's the impact she has made closer to home that Sharon looks back on fondly. She taught students up until 2018 when she was made Dean of Research and holds a special place for the next generation of scientists she has helped to mold, especially Tamantha and Martina. 

“That's one of the highlights of the job, when you have people who you've mentored or taught, and you see their career develop,” she says.  

Seeing Tamantha and Martina grow professionally and personally has been “a real buzz” for Sharon, who says she is also in awe of the women who have continued to excel professionally alongside raising young families. 

“I think women in general can be a bit more reticent when it comes to applying for a promotion or a new opportunity, so it’s really rewarding when you encourage them to go for a position and they get it.”

^{Sharon is one of the world's leading experts in Antarctic environmental science. Photo: Michael Gray.}

What does the future hold? 

It's clear that all three women want to use their own varied experiences to champion the next generation of women and young people in STEM. 

“As I leader I want to help clear the path for people to take the next step towards success. It might be as simple as sitting down and having a coffee with a young researcher, they might say ‘I don’t think I can do research anymore, how do I create a career outside of that?’ And I want to use my experience or any influence I have for good,” says Tamantha. 

“I tell them to not let their future be defined by what they’ve done in the past. Think about your skills rather than the jobs you’ve had. Think about what it is you enjoy on a day-to-day basis and back yourself.” 

For Martina, who is about to complete her first year in her new Director role, she looks back at the supportive environment she came up through and hopes to emulate that in her teaching and mentoring practices.  

“I think back to those days when it was just me and my lab group, and I was so lucky to be supported by people who were collegial and show me the ropes, I want to make sure that the next generation of people coming through have that kind of experience,” says Martina.  

“I want to build my team up. I have a great team of researchers that, if I wasn’t here tomorrow, any of them could step up into a leadership position with ease.” 

For Sharon, the next five years will see her establish new ways to analyse Antarctica from afar through emerging technology, as part of her Australian Laureate Fellowship. Beyond that, she is excited to continue her legacy within the university and abroad.  

“I'm passionate about my science, so I really enjoy working with students to try and infuse them at all levels to be passionate and understand it,” says Sharon.  

“At a broader level, as a climate change scientist, I’m aware of how important Antarctica is to the climate system so I want to make sure people care about what happens in Antarctica. If the ice melts, that will become seawater that will end up on beaches in ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵapp. I’d like to leave a legacy of strong female leads in research, and community action to do something about climate change.”