For Penguin Awareness Day, Dr Cat and archeologist Dr Wenjing Yu are sliding onto the Antarctic ice to celebrate these iconic birds. Having voyaged to Antartica as part of Homeward Bound, a leadership program for women and non-binary people in STEM, they encountered thousands of penguins in the wild. They chat about the penguins they met, what makes penguins such extreme overachievers, and why life in the cold demands clever adaptations.

From first impressions to deep dives into penguin behaviour, survival, and sheer charisma, this episode proves that you don’t need to fly to be cool. Sometimes the best science comes with a tuxedo and a clumsy belly slide.

Originally aired 20th January, 2026.

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This week on Science Queeries, Dr Cat is sniffing out the science of dog happiness with interdisciplinary researcher at the University of Melbourne, Dr Mia Cobb. While animal welfare science has focused on preventing negative experiences, she is finally asking the tail-wagging question: are working dogs and pet dogs having positive experiences?

From behaviour and body language to hormones in saliva, Mia explains how researchers are working to create one of the first scientifically validated measures of dog happiness — and why humans are surprisingly bad at judging how our dogs are really feeling.

Originally aired 10th January, 2026.

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For Halloween, the Ghost Buster is Dr Cat. She talks about the history of Halloween and Día de los Muertos, sheds some light on glowing will-o’-the-wisps, de-spookifies ghosts, and gets all tangled up in the fang-tastic science of spiders.From mysterious ghost lights to spider-powered robots, she’s proving that even the creepiest science stories can be illuminating…and even useful.

Originally aired 28th October, 2025.

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Dr Cat chats with ecologist Clancy about his research with the Yolŋu people and their deep connection to bees, honey, and Country – and how these tiny pollinators are crucial for conservation of Australian ecosystem. From Arnhem Land to backyard bee hotels, we’re diving into the world of Australia’s incredible native bees. Plus, we explore how bees do arithmetic (yes, really!) and how building a simple bee hotel can help protect biodiversity.

Originally aired 21st October, 2025.

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Professor Andrew is a well-renowned geneticist and conservation biologist at The University of Melbourne. He leads the aptly named TIGRR (Thylacine Integrated Genomic Restoration Research) Lab, and his work will help the Tassie tiger thyla-shine again! This episode may give you some real paws for thought about extinction and conservation science!

Originally aired 30th September, 2025.

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Dr Cat describes the evolution of life on Earth from the very beginning. Then, palaeontologist Alyssa Fjeld comes onto the arthropod-cast to chat about ancient bugs that were around during the “Cambrian explosion”, when life got wilder and whackier. Dig deep into Earth’s ancient past with us.

Originally aired 16th September, 2025

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What niche pockets of beetle species exist in the sky islands of the Australian Alpine mountains? How did empty beer stubbies once pose a threat to the golden Jewel beetles (spoiler: they were super sexy stimuli)? What can we learn from insects to better understand the natural world? Dr Cat and Charlie dig through leaf litter, scale the Aussie Alps, and discover just how speci-tacular beetles can be!

Originally aired 19th August, 2025.

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Dr Cat chats to her friend and colleague, A/Prof Jen Martin. An ecologist-turned-science communicator at The University of Melbourne, Jen is the perfect person to introduce you to ten Aussie animal underdogs.

From the eel-lectrifying short-finned eel to the ink-redible giant cuttlefish, the dugong that’s truly sea-riously charming, and the mole-vellous marsupial mole – this week’s episode will give you a lot of animals to skink your teeth into. These quirky critters aren’t just hiding in the shadows – they’re bat-tling for your love.

This episode originally aired 12th August, 2025.

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Adele is a final-year PhD candidate in the Western Australian Organic and Isotope Geochemistry Centre at Curtin University, has named two pterosaur species, and is an absolute Superstar of STEM. From demon pelicans to iron dragons, we soar through time and discover that the skies of ancient Australia were anything but empty.

This episode originally aired 22nd July, 2025.

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They also discuss how societal views have shaped this area of research, and why it’s important to have diverse voices in STEM research. At the beginning of last century, same-sex sexual behaviour was observed among different birds (including penguins), but was dismissed or swept under the carpet. But things are changing…

This episode originally aired 15th July, 2025.

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Thanks for a whole year of curiosity, queerness, and questions that spiral like DNA’s double helix. Whether you’ve been listening from episode one or just dropped into the Petri dish recently, Science Queeries wouldn’t be the same without you.

This episode originally aired 8th July, 2025.

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This episode originally aired on 17th June, 2025.

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This episode originally aired on 27th May, 2025.

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This episode originally aired on 20th May, 2025.

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This episode originally aired on 13th May, 2025.

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This episode originally aired on 29th April, 2025.

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This episode originally aired 11th March, 2025.

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This episode originally aired 25th February, 2025.

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Originally aired 18th February, 2025.

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This episode originally aired 11th February, 2025.

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This episode originally aired 28th January, 2025.

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This episode originally aired 7th January, 2025.

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This episode originally aired on 24th December, 2024.

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This episode originally aired 17th December, 2024.

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This episode originally aired on 26th November, 2024.

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Originally aired 5th November, 2024.

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This episode originally aired on 22nd October, 2024.

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