Cristy Burne, Suzy Urbaniak: Volcano Hunter and STEAM Warrior, Wild Dingo Press, February 2023, 151 pp., RRP $15.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781925893786
The Suzy Urbaniak story is another instalment in the inspirational ‘Aussie STEM Stars’ series published by Wild Dingo Press. Author Cristy Burne also wrote the story of Fiona Wood: Inventor of Spray-On Skin in the same series, as well as numerous other fiction and non-fiction books, all with STEAM themes. This is the story of risk taker Suzy Urbaniak’s quest to become a geologist and then to inspire Western Australian children to follow in her footsteps through an award-winning teaching program.
Much of this book focuses on Urbaniak’s school days – the challenge of being Polish in a very strict Australian Catholic school where girls didn’t question and there was no place for students that drew ‘imperfect circles’. But Urbaniak liked imperfect circles. And she asked probing questions and challenged the norms, which became more important in her later career as a geologist. Also featured are many summer camping trips across Victorian lakes which were once volcanic craters offering junior geologist Urbaniak lots of rocks, crystals, and earthly mysteries to solve.
The story then pivots to Urbaniak’s relentless strive for high grades to get into university to achieve her dream of studying geology. There’s not a lot of detail on her role in the field of geology. But where Urbaniak excelled later in life was in her career as a teacher of geology which fills the last quarter of the book. Through the teaching program she developed known as Centre of Resources Excellence (CoRE), Urbaniak equipped students with the right skills and knowledge to take on a variety of career pathways in science and engineering.
For her contributions to science teaching, and inspiring a new generation of scientists, Suzy Urbaniak was awarded the 2016 Prime Minister’s Prize for Excellence in Science Teaching in Secondary Schools.
This is an encouraging read for science loving 9-12 years olds.
Reviewed by Stef Gemmill
