Corey, who describes himself as having been ‘functionally illiterate’ when he left school after Year 10, has led an extraordinary life. At only 32, he has worked at wildlife sanctuaries and zoos, as a mobile alpaca shearer, and as a research assistant, notching up numerous qualifications along the way. While employed at a university in NSW, he manned booths at careers fairs, encouraging young people to explore science as a career.

“I have a self-belief that I can make a huge impact on people if I try and work hard enough, so I also started running sessions in Redfern with local mob and found the kids were really interested,” he says. “They were smart and understood I was genuine, and not there to just tick boxes.”

Corey began searching online for remote schools and asking about their STEM programs. On hearing the ironic laughs at the other end of the line, he started sending science books to schools.  And then his GoFundMe initiative reaped an extraordinary $250,000.

“My late grandfather had once said to me that I needed to work out what my place is in this world and how I’m going to impact our people,” Corey said. “I realised this was it.”

In 2018, Corey founded DeadlyScience, a not-for-profit organisation to provide STEM resources and learning experiences to regional and remote schools in Australia and to connect young Indigenous people with STEM professionals. DeadlyScience is now Australia’s leading Indigenous STEM charity, working with more than 800 schools and community organisations.

The Brian M. Davis Charitable Foundation has just committed $450,000 over three years to DeadlyScience’s ‘Empowering Learners with our Deadly STEM in Schools Program’.

The initiative aims to deliver in-school culturally appropriate and curriculum-aligned STEM education that provide hands-on learning experiences to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.

Corey says that while Indigenous Australians have been practicing science for over 65,000 years, they are significantly underrepresented in the modern STEM fields.

The 2020 Australia’s STEM Workforce Report highlighted that the percentage of the Australian non-Indigenous population with a university STEM qualification is 5.2%. The percentage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander with a university STEM qualification is 0.5% (or one tenth of the non-Indigenous rate).

“This initiative directly addresses these educational disparities,” Corey says. “The program integrates Indigenous STEM knowledge and perspectives, fostering cultural pride and empowering students to connect their own heritage with modern scientific principles. Hopefully, that inspires them to consider a career in the sector.”

Corey says the program also breaks down geographical barriers by bringing STEM education to those in remote and underserved communities. The primary focus will be on NSW and Queensland, with plans to expand to the Northern Territory, Western Australia, South Australia, and Tasmania in coming years.

Brian M. Davis Charitable Foundation CEO Anita Hopkins says that the grant funds will support the program’s core components including staff salaries, travel, and materials, curriculum development, and program evaluation.

“DeadlyScience anticipates the Deadly STEM in Schools program will run about 360 sessions in 40 schools, directly reaching at least 3,500 individual students over the next three years,” Anita says.

Corey says they are committed to evaluating the success of the program through analysing student attendance patterns and assessing if students enjoyed the STEM classes and were more aware of career options.

Corey credits his own understanding of his need to connect with his heritage to a mentoring program he enjoyed at his own high school.

“It introduced me to a lot of families and gave me what I needed to stay connected to mob,” he said. “I had never realised the importance of that until that program. I believe that DeadlyScience is doing the same for lots of kids now.

“The Brian M. Davis Charitable Foundation grant is crucial to supporting First Nations STEM learners around the country and will have a generational impact on our communities.”

Corey and his work have been well recognised in the past few years. He was named the 2020 NSW Young Australian of the Year. In 2021, DeadlyScience received the Australian Museum Eureka STEM Inclusion Prize and in 2022, Corey received the Medal of the Order of Australia for service to Indigenous STEM education.

He has also written the award-winning bestseller, The First Scientists: Deadly Inventions and Innovations from Australia's First Peoples and This Book Thinks Ya Deadly, featuring the profiles of 70 First Nations achievers working across sport, art, activism and science, through to politics, education and literature.

“A lot of these awards have been a shock to me,” Corey admits. “I feel like saying, can somebody tell these people I grew up in Dapto?”

For more information, visit DeadlyScience.