Dr Lisa Godinho: Humans of BioSciences

Meet Dr Lisa Godinho, Teaching Specialist, Senior Lecturer and a coordinator of the Bachelor of Science (Extended) degree. Lisa has extensive experience teaching first year biology and is also the Chair of our BRITE committee (BioSciences Research for Innovation in Teaching Effectiveness).

Lisa crouched in long grass with digging equipment and a sample tub beside her; in the background is a barbed-wire fence and rolling paddocks

Who are you and what’s your role in BioSciences?

Who am I? I am descended from Anglo-Celtic colonists that lived around Newcastle, Sydney and Wollongong - my family were bakers, coal miners and steel workers before my parent's generation had the chance to go to university and become scientists. So, I was raised by two scientists - two chemists in fact - and my interest in science was a foregone conclusion! My science expertise is behavioural ecology and conservation - particularly of bats. But 10 years of teaching first-year biology has allowed me to re-engage with all the discipline areas in BioSciences - it's been a real privilege - biology never fails to surprise me!

My role now in BioSciences is Senior Lecturer. I am a Teaching Specialist Academic - this means that I spend the majority of my time focused on the education of our students. I am currently Chair of BRITE, which is our School's education group, and have a long-standing interest in progressing diversity and inclusion through our People and Culture committee. I am also a coordinator of the Bachelor of Science (Extended) degree, which is a four-year science degree that supports Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to follow their passions in STEM.

Lisa holding up a radio antenna - behind her is a stretch of parkland, with the Melbourne city skyline in the distance

Tell us about your passion for teaching.

Since I began teaching in 2009, I have been passionate about equity in education - creating a learning environment in which all students feel they belong, can demonstrate their strengths, and feel supported in taking intellectual risks is really important to me. This passion has only grown with my role in the Bachelor of Science (Extended) degree, during which my engagement with Indigenous Knowledges and cultures has challenged me to reassess the way I understand and teach science.

What are your most memorable experiences of your time here at UniMelb?

Great question, here are a few that spring to mind:

  • Holding a science class in the University's rare books collection to look at the some of the first microscopy drawings in Robert Hook's Micrographia - it is amazing to stare at the incredibly detailed 350-year-old drawings and consider that this represents the first-time humans observed these microscopic worlds.
  • The creativity of my colleagues' in response to the COVID-19 lockdown, in particular Mick Moylan from Chemistry, whose idea it was that we post our students prac kits so they could keep doing science practicals at home.
  • Working with my brilliant colleague in Engineering, Kaya Prpic to take Indigenous science students down to Budj Bim (Gunditjmara Country) on a field trip to see engineered stone structures older than the Pyramids and hear from Elders as they describe their culture and deep connection to the landscape.
  • Being part of the academic procession for the graduation of our first Bachelor of Science (Extended) student and hearing his family cheering for him as he received his degree.

What do you enjoy doing outside of science?

I have just bought a mountain bike and am now being schooled by my eight-year-old on proper technique for negotiating obstacles on the trails - he is very patient with his Mum! I also love getting out to our family property in central Victoria which is on Taungurung Country where we are revegetating the box-ironbark woodland.

A selfie of Lisa and her son on their bicycles; in the background is a dirt track and trees