Education graduate: Geoffrey McNamara AM
Convenor, Science Mentors ACT and Manager/Teacher, MSATT, Mount Stromlo Observatory, ACT
2021 UTS Alumni Award Recipient for Community
Graduate Certificate in Design Tech, 2000; Diploma of Teaching in Technical Education, 1989; Bachelor of Adult Education, 1997
Geoffrey McNamara AM is a passionate and decorated champion for science and public school education. He has been a teacher for 33 years, and from 2006 until recently he taught at Melrose High School in Canberra.
In 2008 he developed the Science Mentors Program, connecting students in years 8 to 10 with scientific mentors, tapping into their passion for science and giving them real-world experience.
Geoff has authored over 100 papers for science magazines, published several books and helped to develop several telescopes including the McNamara–Saunders Astronomical Teaching Telescope. In 2018, Geoff was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia for significant service to secondary education, particularly in the disciplines of science and astronomy.
All students, all people, have their own characteristics, their own potential. They learn and express themselves in their own way, and blossom at different times in their lives. They need to be accepted and allowed to be themselves.
My advice for new graduates is learn to adapt to change, and to solve problems. These are the only two skills I can guarantee will be needed for individual and societal survival for the next century or more.
Above all, wherever possible, follow your heart, do what fulfils you, what gives you a sense at the end of the day that you made some small, positive difference in the world.
READ MORE ABOUT GEOFF
Geoff chats with UTS FASS's Dr Jane Hunter from inside the MSATT telescope at Mt Stromlo observatory. A passionate and decorated champion for science and public school education, Geoff's inventive approach to teaching has inspired generations of students.
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