Meet the team: Dr Benjamin Matthews
Introducing Dr Benjamin Matthews, creative industries supervisor & mentor of the DeNovocastrians iGEM team.
Dr Benjamin Mathews works within the Creative Industries, engaging with the meeting points of research and industry practice to solve human problems and produce work ready graduates. When asked what led him to this industry, Ben said, “I chose this area because I always loved writing and this led me to start participating in creative teams, expanding my expertise to all kinds of media from interactive web and digital through to film, animation and even old fashioned print media”.
Ben grew up on sheep and wheat farms in western NSW, so he’s always had a close affinity with the natural environment and took mostly science subjects at School, he even enrolled in Agricultural Science at Sydney University, before switching to Communication. In the end, Ben’s love of writing won out, and he completed a PhD before becoming a professional writer in creative teams, working in digital agencies producing all kinds of media from interactive digital to print and video. Ben then started his own consultancy, before rejoining the University as a Lecturer in Design in the School of Creative Industries where he now focuses on work ready skills and entrepreneurship.
When asked why he decided to join our iGEM team he told us he wanted to engage in a genuinely transdisciplinary context of research, teaching and learning and address a real human problem as part of a creative team. Ben’s role in the group is to act as a supervisor and mentor, especially around strategic communication, media production and engagement.
In his spare time Ben is an all-round adventure man, enjoying cycling, swimming, surfing and hiking. He also loves hats and fermentation, lots and lots of fermentation.
