2025 QLD Young Australian of the Year Dr Katrina Wruck

Australian Community Media

Meet your Australians - 2025 QLD Young Australian of the Year Dr Katrina Wruck. ACM is proud to be media partner for the 2025 Australian of the Year Awards.

Transcript

00:00I was working with natural zeolite which is a very abundant rock and during my

00:06research I discovered a way to turn it into zeolite LTA which is actually the

00:13main ingredient in laundry detergent. I thought of this idea for a business that

00:18I could make a reusable laundry system, the first of its kind in Australia, that

00:25could also help other people. In Australia there's something called

00:29rheumatic heart disease and it is a disease of poverty that affects

00:34predominantly indigenous people in remote communities. One of the driving

00:40factors of rheumatic heart disease is it's caused by a bacteria, strep. Strep is

00:45highly contagious and one of the ways you can prevent strep is by having

00:52access to laundry facilities. I really want to help the community to provide

00:58laundry facilities to stop rheumatic heart disease from happening. One of the

01:03other things that I'm very passionate about is engagement with young people

01:07from marginalised groups such as indigenous people and people from low

01:12socio-economic backgrounds. I grew up on the Gold Coast on the south end near

01:17Burley Beach. We actually never had any scientists come and visit our school. We

01:23only had the Army or the Defence Force come and recruit and so I wanted to give

01:29young people an opportunity to meet a real scientist and I quickly realised

01:35that what I was doing was very impactful. I had students you know coming up to me

01:41and telling me that you know I was the first indigenous scientist that ever met

01:45and that they think that they can see themselves doing university because of

01:53the influence that I've had on them. Since then I have used my own funds to

01:58to fund the outreach or the engagement I do in these remote communities. My

02:03ultimate goal would be to have a research lab full of deadly young

02:09indigenous students working on topics that matter to them. It's really really

02:14special to be able to to bring my my passion for science and chemistry in

02:19with my connection to country.

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