“I’ve spent more than 10 years working with journalists, artists and illustrators to learn how to be a better communicator. I didn’t just drop in fully formed."

Siouxsie is an associate professor at the University of Auckland and leads the Bioluminescent Superbugs Lab. She always hoped her work would make a difference.

“I assumed it would be through my research by helping develop a new antibiotic. But through the pandemic, I’ve learned that I can have a huge impact globally by doing good science communication.”

Together with illustrator Toby Morris, Siouxsie created many memorable gifs that were shared around the world and translated into lots of different languages.

“They’ve been used by refugee communities, in doctors surgeries, to educate people working in the youth justice system in the USA - all sorts of things. It’s been the most productive and impactful collaboration I’ve ever had, which after 20 years as a scientist is quite something.”

While communicating science is fundamental for Siouxsie, she believes it should be valued and funded as part of every research grant.

“That would create a generation of academics who are incentivised to work alongside communities, who value communication and do what their country needs them to do rather than being focussed on only writing academic papers.”

Siouxsie’s high profile in the media has challenged public perceptions of scientists.

“One of the reasons for keeping my hair pink is because kids kept saying they didn’t think scientists could look like me. Others said I’d shown it was OK to be themselves and still be a scientist. That’s made me determined to make my lab an inclusive environment where people from diverse backgrounds feel welcome.”

Despite a career-long research interest in microbiology, a need for more knowledge about viruses is not the standout lesson Siouxsie will take from the pandemic.

“What it’s taught me most is that people are far more important. We have one organism going around the world but the pandemic is playing out really differently in different countries. That’s simply because of people’s actions, cultures and governments. What we’ve done here is amazing!”