Episode 3: To Mars and Beyond!
Gender discrimination in the workplace occurs no matter where the workplace is, even if it is underground. Dr Megan Clark AC, Chancellor of Monash University, experienced this first-hand when she tenaciously launched her career as a young geologist.
Only one problem – Australia’s mining industry didn’t allow women in its mines.
Recalling her early career in the latest Monash University Malaysia’s Future Conversations podcast with host Professor Meera Sivasoathy, Dr Clark said although the law was altruistic in that it aimed to prevent the slavery of women, it became archaic as times changed.
“It's very confronting at the beginning of your career to run into what I would call a structural barrier for women. So that was, yeah, a big challenge to overcome,” she said, adding that the matter came to a head when she was caught underground by a mines inspector who wanted her charged in court.
“The governor then provided me with an exemption from the law so I couldn't be prosecuted which caused such a fuss. But it highlighted the issue and the law was eventually changed,” recounted Dr Clark.
It seems fitting that Dr Clark’s career scaled to new heights over the ensuing years and in 2017, she was appointed to establish and later head the Australian Space Agency.
One of the challenges she faced was the problem of ever-increasing space debris and how it could damage spacecraft and other assets. In space, even a little speck of paint can travel at 28,000 kilometres an hour.
“If Malaysia wants to put a satellite up for communication, you have to get to your parking lot [in space]. And when you're navigating into your parking lot, you imagine hitting that with your windscreen. The damage that can be done is a real issue.
“We have to make sure that we have the right laws and we have the right responsibility for how we act in space. Otherwise, it could actually damage our capacity to operate in space,” said Dr Clark.
Which was linked to another challenge she handled while heading her country’s space agency – space laws.
Currently, while there are United Nations-backed laws that set out some rules over resources in space, there are also multilateral agreements between countries outside of the UN’s governance.
On top of that, some countries have also enacted their own individual laws for space activities and the use of its resources.
Noting that space legislation will be a key area in the near future, Dr Clark urged young lawyers to reach for the stars.
“If you want to be a cool lawyer, definitely, definitely do space law,” she said with a smile, noting that Monash University, which she joined in 2020, had its work cut out for it using its research expertise and experience to produce graduates for the space sector.
In 2023, the university hit the headlines when it placed second among 37 teams from around the world in the University Rover Challenge (URC) in Utah, United States.
The rover, designed for Mars exploration, was strikingly coloured pink to further spur conversations about girls and women in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics).
Together with an international conglomerate, the team is now working on Australia’s first lunar rover as part of a AUD$42 million Australian Space Agency project.
A firm advocate of human settlement on Mars in the future, Dr Clark is well-grounded in the reality of the challenges that must be overcome from the six to nine months return journey to radiation and solar wind.
“Teams are working really hard on how to protect the astronauts,” she notes, adding that collaboration between nations will be key.
Looking back on her time with the Australian Space Agency, Dr Clark, who also has had extensive stints in finance and technology, noted it was the first time she’d ever started something from an absolute scratch.“It was a delight to be able to do that and right from the very start we made the decision that we would be 50:50 male, female from top to bottom.
From our Advisory Board right through to our graduates and it was fantastic to see that team flourish.”The geoscientist pointed out that space research was not confined to just outer space, but had very real impacts on Earth-bound issues, one of them being climate change, with space-based views and measurements vital for climate models, rainfall, vegetation and sea level rise just to name a few.
“My vision is that what we do in space actually will make us look after our own planet, look after our own people a lot better than what we do now,” she said.
Her inspiring achievements make Dr Clark a role model, and to this she says she was guided by her belief in science and its power to build nations both on Earth and beyond.
“This is really about building. Value for your country, for the nation, I believe in both of those. And whilst my career has some turns and curves all the way through, it's just my love of exploration, my love of discovery.
”For the generations that will one day work both on and off the planet, Dr Clark urges them to get their professions under their belts, revealing that along her career path she had added different professional and technical backgrounds to her scientific qualifications.
“Learn your skills, learn your trade and go deep into your trade. After that, you can really go anywhere but you need to add to those skills. Broaden those skills out once you've learnt your trade and think how you can make the world a better place."
Tune in to the riveting podcast for deeper insights and the full spectrum of ideas Dr Megan Clark and Professor Meera discussed, including space tourism and Australia’s role in the moon landing photographs. Click here to stream the full podcast.
And do follow Monash University Malaysia's Future Conversations, a vital platform for engaging with the big questions shaping our world. For more information, e-mail: mum.media@monash.edu