A passion for teaching science to Indigenous students has seen Port Macquarie man Corey Tutt take home the Transgrid Indigenous Achievement Award at this year’s 7NEWS Young Achiever Awards NSW & ACT.
The award recognises young Indigenous people using their own stories and life experiences to give back to their communities and making a difference.
“I was a bit speechless as the other candidates in my category were all amazing people,” he said.
29-year-old Corey founded DeadlyScience, a STEM charity that works with over 100 youth organisations and schools.
He was recognised for his work supporting remote schools and creating books like First Scientists and the DeadlyScience series with cultural experiences that help young people understand Australia’s history with science.
“The work that we do with DeadlyScience is really important because we often think of Aboriginal and Torres Strait kids as sportspeople or artists but our people were also the first scientists, the first engineers, the first astronomers.
“Young people love STEM and when we give kids opportunities in STEM today we build better tomorrows,” he said.
Corey started providing STEM resources when he realised how under resourced remote schools were.
“I noticed in the science books didn’t necessarily have women in them or Aboriginal people so I decided to create my own science books that have Aboriginal kids in there, both boys and girls.
“It’s so they can open the books up and see other kids like themselves doing science and believe they can do it as well, because you can’t be what you can’t see,” he said.
Transgrid Head of Indigenous Engagement and Sustainability Heather Wagland presented Corey with his award.
“As a business Transgrid has a passion for supporting Indigenous businesses as part of our reconciliation journey, especially those that help close the gap in education.
“We also have a passion for students to learn and study STEM subjects and in Corey with his Deadly Science program the two come together and we are so pleased that we can support him in is incredible work,” she said.
Corey often travels to communities to mentor young people doing it tough whilst helping elders and raising money for families. Earlier this year he organised a bus for Cabbage Tree Island Community school after the devastating floods that destroyed their school.
Transgrid would like to congratulate Corey and the other outstanding finalists Isaiah Dawe, Lachlan Skinner and Seaneen Wallace for the incredible work they do in their local communities.