Speakers

TEDxWollongong will feature 12 local voices sharing 12 ideas worth spreading.

Speaker TEDx Wollongong 2026

Dr Karl Kruszelnicki is one of Australia’s most trusted science communicators, known for making complex ideas clear, engaging and accessible. With a background in medicine and biomedical engineering, he has spent decades bringing science to the public through ABC radio, television, live events and more than 40 bestselling books. Passionate about evidence, curiosity and critical thinking, Dr Karl helps audiences see the world and their place in it with fresh perspective. Dr Karl grew up and studied in Wollongong, and is a former steelworks worker.

Speaker TEDx Wollongong 2026

Carlie Schofield has worked as a counsellor, and cultural consultant for the past 12 years. As an Aboriginal woman and mother, Carlie’s work explores how intergenerational trauma, perfectionism, and silence shape women’s emotional lives and how reclaiming safety and self-leadership can change entire family legacies. She works as a Cultural Advisor and Indigenous Mental Health Professional at MindSpot and is an associate lecturer in Indigenous trauma recovery at the University of Wollongong.

Speaker TEDx Wollongong 2026

Dr Meghan Dares is an orthopaedic surgeon and clinical leader at Joint Vision Orthopaedic Group in Wollongong. She specialises in joint preservation and lower-limb reconstruction, combining advanced surgical techniques with research into movement longevity. Her mission is to help Australians age well by protecting the strength and mobility that underpin independence and vitality. Dr Dares holds the esteemed position of Director of Orthopaedics at Wollongong Public Hospital.

Speaker TEDx Wollongong 2026

John Pabon has spent two decades in the business of saving our Earth. After leaving his role at the United Nations, John travelled the world studying the impacts of sustainability first-hand in factories, on fields, and in Fortune 500s. He is widely considered Australia’s leading independent greenwashing expert. He is the author of “Sustainability for the Rest of Us: Your No-Bullshit, Five-Point Plan for Saving the Planet” and “The Great Greenwashing: How Brands, Governments, and Influencers are Lying to You.”

Speaker TEDx Wollongong 2026

Nuwangi Pramuditha Cooray is a PhD researcher at the University of Wollongong whose work stands at the intersection of nanotechnology, sustainability, and public health. Her research focuses on developing next-generation, safer sunscreens designed specifically for Australia’s extreme ultraviolet (UV) environment. By combining advanced nanomaterials with a new UV Index based testing method, she aims to bridge the gap between laboratory performance and real world protection, helping Australia lead global innovation in sun safety.

Performer TEDx Wollongong 2026

Isobel Bee is a clasically trained singer and sound bowl practitioner. She is the owner of Naturally Is which delivers sound bowl experiences to help high-performing teams and executives master their energy, regulate their nervous system, and enhance cognitive performance through immersive sound healing and neuroscience-backed wellness strategies.
She partners with law firms, financial teams, tech startups, and corporate leaders to redefine success—balancing productivity with deep well-being.

Speaker TEDx Wollongong 2026

Kylie Moffitt is a multi-award-winning businesswoman, Physiotherapist, Accredited Exercise Physiologist and Lymphoedema Therapist with over 25 years’ experience in health and medical care. She is the founder of PhysioHealth & Sports Injury Clinic and the driving force behind the CanConquer cancer rehabilitation program, both built on her core values of science, love, trust and pixie dust. Kylie’s mission is to reframe exercise as medicine and embed prehabilitation into standard cancer care across the Illawarra, supporting people from the moment of diagnosis to strengthen their body for treatment and improve outcomes, rather than waiting for recovery.

Speaker TEDx Wollongong 2026

Dr Greg Ryder is a Senior Research Scientist at Sicona Battery Technologies, an Australian materials company pioneering the next generation of energy storage and thermal management solutions. With a PhD in chemistry and over a decade of experience in advanced materials research, his mission is to help build a digital future that’s as sustainable as it is intelligent.

Speaker TEDx Wollongong 2026

Kylee Dennis is a former NSW Police detective turned scam investigator and educator. After nearly 14 years in law enforcement serving as an undercover operative, negotiator, and detective, Kylee shifted her focus to combating one of today’s most insidious crimes: online romance scams. Driven by compassion and justice, she went undercover as both a 67-year-old man and a 62-year-old woman to expose how digital predators manipulate trust and emotion to exploit victims. Her work breaks the stigma surrounding victims of online deception and empowers people to protect themselves and others in the digital world.

Speaker TEDx Wollongong 2026

Dr Emanuela Brusadelli is Lecturer in Clinical Psychology at the University of Wollongong. Currently undertaking research on epistemic trust and help-seeking, her goal is to deepen our collective understanding of people’s lives and to open meaningful conversations with students and the broader community about how we can nurture trust, connection, and resilience. Dr Brusadelli is a consultant of the Psychodynamic Diagnostic Manual.

Speaker TEDx Wollongong 2026

Based at Wollongong TAFE, Project Bucephalus is a community team with a mission of “Create Opportunity, Transform the Community”. The team is diverse, over 70% have a disability. Project Bucephalus champions STEM education, particularly for those normally overlooked. Joining 600 teams at the 2025 FIRST Championships, Project Bucephalus won the Impact Award, the single highest award in the global program – only the 4th time in 32 years the award has gone outside the USA. Now a member of the FIRST Hall of Fame, Project Bucephalus is recognised as a team that literally changes the world.

Speaker TEDx Wollongong 2026

Jack Brown is the co-founder and Director of national suicide prevention charity Talk2mebro. Jack uses lived experience and education (B Psychology - UOW) to empower people to think differently. His work advocates for suicide to be talked about in a trauma informed, safe way. He also brings awareness to statistics around suicide and how we can reduce suicide to zero with a communal, trauma-informed approach. Jack was the 2025 Wollongong Young Citizen of the Year, and was nominated as the 2026 Young Australian of the Year.

Speaker TEDx Wollongong 2026

Jo Burston is the founder and CEO of social impact business Inspiring Rare Birds, dedicated to advancing economic equality through education, mentoring, and community connections. She's a serial entrepreneur who took her first startup, Job Capital, from $0 to $40 million in just four years and has been recognised as one of Australia's top 30 female entrepreneurs since 2013. Jo has also authored three books on entrepreneurship, which serve as a foundation for her accelerator and incubator programs that support the growth and development of the innovation and startup ecosystem.