Dr. Karl Kruszelnicki

 Dr. Karl Kruszelnicki is perhaps best described as a science populist. His goal is to get the Australian (and global) public included in scientific conversations, dispel scientific myths, and answer scientific questions that ignite childlike curiosity. He may be a “generalist” in his current scientific pursuits, but this is a man who has delved deep into numerous fields over his lifetime. He has a Bachelor's degree in Physics, a Masters degree in Biomedical Engineering, a Bachelors in Medicine, and a final Bachelors in Surgery (medical degrees work differently in Australia). Individuals in medicine crossover into other fields often - but it is his motive for doing so that is particularly inspiring. As a doctor at a children’s hospital, he witnessed the death of a young child from whooping cough - a highly contagious bacterial disease with a vaccine that has been around since the 1930s. Dr. Karl linked the misinformation of the patient’s family to several news programs in Australia that had encouraged debate about the efficacy of vaccines. He decided that going into the media - for the purpose of correcting it -  would allow him to save more lives than even being a doctor would. Dr. Karl went on to become a cornerstone of science media in Australia: presenting on ABC, co-hosting a show called Sleek Geeks, hosting the science talkback show Triple J, guest starring on BBC radio’s Up All Night numerous times, headlining a show named after him on Discovery Channel, and regularly writing a column for Australian Geographic magazine. In short, Dr.Karl is a science celebrity. He was declared a “National Living Treasure” by the National Trust of Australia in 2012.

As of now, Dr.Karl continues to live in Australia where he is active on twitter (correcting inaccuracies of both large and small voices), creating Tik Toks in response to questions from fans (such as: How does alcohol impact our perception of attractiveness?), and continuing much of his life-changing work in Australian media.