Bernie Hobbs
Science Journalist, ABC Science Online
Judge, ABC TV’s The New Inventors

I spent Wednesday April 12 (and the rest of that week) lying in bed with a hideous virus that made me way too familiar with mucous and the colour green. If I hadn’t been sick (and I really was – I’ve got a retrospective medical certificate from a dodgy doctor to prove it), I would have been up to my regular Wednesday stuff. Wednesdays start early for me – instead of clocking on at about 10.15am, I get a phone call at home at about 9.20am from Red Symons (host of ABC Radio’s breakfast program in Melbourne). From the comfort of my couch, we chat about what’s gone down in science that week. Red’s great fun to work with – really into science and cheeky as all get up. His producer, Kon, records the interview, and they play it the next morning, almost always without editing out the noise of my dog howling in the background. (Schpinky’s got quite firm opinions on science). After that it’s a quick walk/bikeride to work, another couple of interviews (with Richard Fidler in Qld and Bernadette Young in Perth) and whatever I’ve got on my to-do list for the day. I haven’t got one of those jobs that are the same each week – it changes a lot depending on what I’m working on. About the only things that are constant are answering emails & phone calls, doing 6-7 radio spots each week and trying to make sure I get Mondays off. (I only work 4 days/week – it really helps keep you sane, and it means you don’t waste half your weekend doing the washing or paying rent). We’ve just finished filming the 3rd series of the ExperiMENTALS – the ABC’s new science show for kids - so I’ve been busy with the redesign and new content for the website. And a big part of my job is Science Outreach – where I do public events. So I’ve been travelling around regional Victoria and up to Brisbane (my hometown) a few times in the last month to host events like Science Live, science hypotheticals and café scientifics. It’s great fun, but the travel part is really tiring – you eat bad hotel food, stay up late watching in-house movies and don’t get any exercise at all. On the plus side, I meet some amazing people (Nobel Prize Winners, Australians of the Year, great researchers and people who’ve dedicated their lives to working for a better world), and I can pack for any trip in under 5 minutes. Every second Wednesday, I also have to sneak in a meeting with the producer of the New Inventors – to let her know what questions I want to ask in the episodes we’ll record that Friday. (We shoot two episodes at a time, and it’s about 3 weeks before they’re ready to go to air). I make sure I get time for lunch – even if it’s only 20 minutes. Because I work better in the arvo/evening, I don’t usually knock off until 6.30-7pm. Then it’s a quick walk/busride home to chill out with my partner & our flatmate, and a big walk with the dogs (never big enough for them). There’s a lot of talking in my job, and a lot of live (ad-libbed) performing – which I love. Luckily, there is not many practical skills required – I’m really slack with stuff you have to actually do. I love learning about what’s going on in research, and meeting people who are working on things they really care about and that will make life simpler and better for the rest of us – we’d really be in trouble if everyone was like me and would rather talk about things than do them! A Pic of Me!