On Friday June 16, 10 students from Gippsland Grammar attended the School’s session of the Festival of Big Ideas where they heard from Australian science icon Dr Karl Kruszelnicki. Dr Karl spoke to a packed auditorium full of secondary students from across Gippsland. He spoke to the students about future careers, climate change and covid vaccines. He spoke of hope for the future as new technologies emerge at greater rate in our lifetimes, and he emphasised the need for our young people to get involved in politics and make changes. A big part of his speech was on climate change, the fossil fuel industry and the need for investment in education and carbon neutral industries. He told the students that their generation is smarter than any that have come before, and that they may indeed be the first generation to live forever. At the end of the session Dr Karl took questions from the audience, and a few of our Gippsland Grammar students got up and asked Dr Karl some questions. Year 9 student Isobel asked ‘What is the best thing that anyone can do to help the planet?’ and Dr Karl’s reply was: ‘Get involved. Locally, then local government, state government and federal government. P for Politics means P for Power. Become aware and knowledgeable.’

Year 8 student Luca and Year 7 student Tegwyn also asked Dr Karl some questions about AI and the size of the Universe. At the end we had the opportunity to speak with Dr Karl as a school and take some selfies with him. He was very generous and insisted that we take a Charlie’s Angels photo, as well as a Blue Steel pic. It was great to see the entries from all the students who applied.