Meet the Team
Jessica Jones
National Manager and Teacher (SA)
Jessica has an extensive background in conservation, biodiversity, science and education. A practicing teacher with the Department for Education in South Australia for over two decades, Jessica has worked in both traditional and non-traditional education contexts, specialising in outreach education and management.
In 2017 Jessica joined NewSpec to establish and grow Hitachi/NewSpec’s corporate social responsibility collaboration, “Inspire STEM Education Australia”. We are excited to see this program grow nationally and beyond.
Téa Christou
Customer Support
Téa officially joined NewSpec in October 2017.
During her year 11 and 12 studies in 2016, she took on a joint
traineeship between her school and NewSpec and successfully
completed her Certificate III in Business Administration. Téa did a
great job of the traineeship and was a pleasure to have around the
office and as such, we had no hesitation in asking her to join our
Customer Service Team on a permanent basis. Thankfully she said yes!
Luke Basso
Presenter
Qualifications: Forensic Science at Western Sydney University
Experience: Luke joined the NewSpec team in 2018 after completing his undergraduate degree in Forensic Science at Western Sydney University. During his degree he conducted a research project on gunshot residue. Luke’s research required him to conduct beta-testing on desktop Scanning Electron microscopes, determine optimal search parameters and conduct various scientific tests to identify these particles.
Luke has gained approx. 2 years’ experience at the Advanced Materials Characterisation Facility (AMCF) located at Western Sydney’s University. Here he gained exposure and skills in a range of scientific instruments as well as sample preparation of various materials.
AMCF are also very well known for their Outreach programs, and Luke spent quite some time working with students and various school groups showing off the various aspects of microscopy…..a great lead up to assisting with our program in Sydney and installing the microscope at sites in NSW
Andrew Chua
Outreach
Andrew joined the Outreach branch of NewSpec at the beginning of
2021. With a lifelong interest in geology, he graduated from the
University of Adelaide with a BSc degree in Palaeontology and
Geology. Andrew used SEM to image and geochemically identify bone
surface coatings for his honours project. As a result, he has
fascinating insight into cave history at Naracoorte in South Australia.
Andrew’s passion for research and science communication shines through in his work with
families, teachers, and students, being incredibly engaging and knowledgeable in his
teaching and training. Andrew’s familiarity with geology, particularly in South Australia, is an
asset and will continue to enrich and inspire new content and learning opportunities for
schools joining the Inspire STEM Education community.