Sarah Chapman is the Head of Department of Science at Townsville State High School and is in her fifteenth year of teaching. She is passionate about inspiring, engaging and empowering people through STEM, fuelling sparks of curiosity in the classroom that build strong lifelong connections with the wonder, ingenuity and dynamic possibilities of STEM.
Sarah commits extensive portions of her own time lifting the profile of science education, by working with students, teachers and the broader community. She is the Founder of the Townsville STEM Hub. Sarah is an Executive Committee member of Women in Science Australia.
 In August 2018, Sarah was selected as one of ten national STEM Ambassadors by Science and Technology Australia, to work with federal politicians and policy makers around the STEM agenda. Sarah was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute in 2018. She was awarded a Barbara Cail STEM Fellowships in 2016, which involved international travel to research best practice in engaging young people into STEM. In 2017 Sarah co-authored Engaging the Future of STEM Report, including the findings from the Barbara Cail STEM Fellowship. Sarah was awarded the prestigious Prime Minister’s Secondary Science Teaching Prize for Excellence in Science Teaching in 2013. In 2014 she was selected as a Queensland Government Science Champion. Sarah’s work has also been recognised with a prestigious Peter Doherty, Outstanding Teacher of Science Award in 2008 (Queensland Government) and an Australian Award for Teaching Excellence in 2009 (Teaching Australia).
Sarah is an inspirational keynote speaker and workshop presenter at local, state, national and international STEM events. She is also regularly consulted by a range of institutions for the advice around vision and direction of STEM engagement and education.