Marshmallow cannons and magic tricks, Cat Nielsen brings the fun of science to life

Questacon’s Cat Nielsen is looking forward to performing on her home turf at Albury when the science centre’s travelling circus comes to the region in August and September for a series of shows.

She admits she’s most excited about two things: seeing her 12-year-old Golden Labrador Dexter and showing kids how to turn the family vacuum cleaner into a marshmallow cannon.

Cat is one of a team of 12 from Canberra’s national science and technology centre who will be travelling to the area and performing at schools for three weeks as well as staging pop-up shows in Wangaratta and Wodonga and hosting a three-day stint at the Henty Machinery Field Days.

“I’m really looking forward to having my family and friends back in Albury see what I do,” said the 29-year-old.

“It can be hard to explain to people and I think a lot of people don’t really get what our team does.

“A lot of the time it’s, ‘Oh, you’re a performer’ or ‘So, you’re a children’s entertainer?’, and yes there’s an element of that, but what people don’t realise is that a lot of the team have science degrees and we are here because we are passionate about science.”

Cat grew up on the border, starting her early years of schooling at Thurgoona Public School before transferring to Trinity Anglican College in Year Four and going through to Year 12.

Her love of science began at an early age and a family holiday to a fossil site inspired a love of paleontology.

“I was interested in two careers when I was young; I wanted to be either a teacher or a scientist. Then I became a Cub Scout leader and decided maybe full-time teaching wasn’t for me, maybe an hour or two was better,” she laughed.

“When I went to a talk by a paleontologist on that family holiday I knew then what I really wanted to do; my mind was made up.”

Cat went on to study zoology and archaeology at La Trobe University in Melbourne and completed her honors degree at Flinders University in Adelaide, which is home to one of the best paleontology departments in Australia.

“Sometimes I wonder how it led me to where I am today, but I got myself a few internships during my undergraduate course and one of those was with Naracoorte Caves.

“I was asked if I wanted a summer job there to talk to visitors about the fossils and the cave system and that sounded way more fun than working in retail for the summer.

“I did that for two summers and I was there when I finished my degree. I was umming and ahing about whether I’d do a PhD or do some travel and one of the researchers working in the cave while I was doing tours came and had a chat to me and told me all about the Questacon Science Circus.

“I remembered the science circus coming to my school as a child and I thought, ‘Great, that sounds more fun than writing a PhD so I’m going to go and do that for a year.'”

That was five years ago and in between, Cat, who is now Questacon’s national touring programs team leader, also spent time working with similar outfits in Scotland and Canada.

“I have crammed a lot in,” she said.

“I really enjoy travel and I enjoy a fast pace which I think helps with that. I think that’s what I like so much about my job with Questacon, I get to travel, get to meet so many cool people and I get to talk to so many young people which is just delightful.”

She revealed that performing at the Henty Field Days would be a new experience for the team, and a large-scale event like nothing they had done before.

She said the aim of the national touring program was about showing children and students that science was fun and that it could be exciting.

“We tell most kids that they are already doing science and it’s not something that you just do in a lab coat with your glasses on; science is all around you.

“We like to tell the children in our primary school shows that the first step of being a scientist is asking a question. It’s not big and scary, like it’s often made out to be, it’s fun and it’s doable at home; that’s what I love about this job.”

The science circus includes demonstrations with fluids, flight, spinning, bubbles, liquid nitrogen and some magic tricks, of course, which can be explained by science.

“We also have the do-it-yourself section and it’s basically, here’s things that you probably have at home that you could borrow from Mum and Dad and adapt.

“My favourite one is about turning a vacuum cleaner into a marshmallow cannon; just what every parent wants their children to be doing with their vacuum cleaner I’m sure, but it’s just so much fun!”

Cat is a people person and her bubbly personality, keen intellect and desire to educate is the perfect fit for Questacon.

“I do think what I love most is talking to people, that was my biggest downside to my honors; fossils don’t talk to you and when they do it generally means you’ve been staring at them through a microscope for too long.

“I think I’ve found what I’m good at. I love the human connection element and the chance to sit down and talk to people.

“That’s what’s so great about the pop-up science centres. We have so many people come through and while they may be short interactions you get the chance to have an impact and a conversation.

“For most people that’s not going to have a long-term impact, we know that, but there are people like myself, that many, many years later will still remember it.”

Questacon Science Circus will perform a free pop-up science centre experience in Wangaratta on 31 August and Wodonga over the 14 and 15 September weekend. Tickets must be booked through Ticketek.

At the Henty Machinery Field Days they will hold a 15-minute show on the hour from 10 am to 2 pm every day opposite site 350 in the central area.

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