Associate Professor Siouxsie Wiles MNZM is a microbiologist and bioluminescence enthusiast who heads up the Bioluminescent Superbugs Lab at Waipapa Taumata Rau The University of Auckland. Siouxsie studied medical microbiology at the University of Edinburgh, followed by a PhD in environmental microbiology at Edinburgh Napier University and the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in Oxford. She started her career at Imperial College London, where her work won the inaugural 3Rs prize from the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research. In 2009 she was awarded a Health Research Council Sir Charles Hercus Fellowship and emigrated to Aotearoa New Zealand. Siouxsie has worked on lots of different microbes in her career so far, including those responsible for tuberculosis, toxic shock, and diarrhoea. Her current obsession is the microbiological safety of reusable period products, and she is a founding member of Period People Aotearoa, a women’s health research programme led by an all-women group of transdisciplinary academics. A firm believer that research doesn’t end with a peer-reviewed publication, Siouxsie’s passion for demystifying science has seen her win multiple awards, including the NZ Prime Minister’s Science and Science Communication Prizes, the Royal Society Te Apārangi’s Callaghan Medal, and Universities New Zealand Critic and Conscience Award. In 2019, she was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to microbiology and science communication. When COVID-19 arrived, Siouxsie joined forces with cartoonist Toby Morris to help make the changing science and health measures clear and understandable to the public. Their award-winning graphics were adapted by governments and organisations worldwide, including the World Health Organisation. She was named one of the BBC’s 100 influential women of 2020 and the 2021 Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year.

Check out more of Siouxsie’s work at the University of Auckland website.