Corey Tutt

Corey Aden Tutt[1] grew up in the Illawarra, New South Wales, and is of Kamilaroi heritage.[2][3] Tutt attended Dapto High School,[4] where his favourite subjects were science, agriculture and history and animals.[5]

In 2020 Tutt appeared on ABC Radio National program, Sunday Extra, with Julian Morrow, in the segment entitled "The Year That Made Me", and spoke about the year he lost a close friend to suicide, 2011, and the impacts that had on him which led him to becoming an alpaca shearer, and finding the love of science again.[6]

He began his career as a zookeeper on the NSW South Coast,[7] then spent time as an alpaca shearer travelling throughout Australia and New Zealand.[6]

He then started working as a research assistant at the University of Sydney's Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use.[8][9]

He founded DeadlyScience while working at the university. Originally working two jobs to fund DeadlyScience, he set up a gofundme page that attracted over A$240,000 in donations,[10] after realising that there was a school in remote Australia who had only fifteen books in their library.[11] Starting off by sending his own books and other resources, including telescopes to remote schools, Tutt started coordinating donated resources, including books from high-profile scientists such as Brian Cox and Karl Kruszelnicki. By 2020 he had delivered 7,000 books and 200 telescopes to over 100 schools and foundations.He wants to encourage Indigenous students in remote communities to pursue a career in STEM.[12]

He particularly wants to ensure that every remote Australian school has resources that tell the true history of Australia's first scientists, such as Bruce Pascoe's book, Dark Emu.[13]

From 2019, Tutt founded a series of Deadly Junior Scientist Awards, aimed at inspiring Indigenous students to engage with STEM and to examine local wildlife and land in a scientific way.[14][13]

In 2020, DeadlyScience began assisting with rebuilding schools affected by devastating bush fires which ravaged most of the South Coast of New South Wales. They did this by providing books and resources to schools that have been destroyed by fire. DeadlyScience also successfully raised A$7,000 for Broome Primary School in Western Australia that was burnt down by an arson attack. Tutt said on the ABC Nightlife program "Schools are the heartbeat of our community and for our community in Broome we stand with you during this dark time".

In 2020 he was made NSW Young Australian of the Year.[13][15][8]

In 2021 Tutt led a huge project to provide food and educational supplies to Aboriginal families in NSW struggling with COVID-19. During the floods on the Mid-north coast of NSW in 2021, when Telegraph Point Public School was destroyed by flooding, Tutt donated books to replace the books lost by the school.[16]

During the 2021 COVID-19 outbreak in NSW, Tutt led a social media campaign to support kids and families doing it tough in lockdown, and sent books to families.

Tutt appeared on Wil Anderson's podcast Wilosphy, in which he spoke about overcoming trauma as a child to create DeadlyScience.[17]

By October 2021, DeadlyScience had distributed more than 16,000 books and 500 telescopes and other resources to over 110 communities around the country.[18]

Tutt is also a member of the equity and diversity committee at Science & Technology Australia.[4]

• 2019: AMP Foundation Tomorrow Maker
• 2019: STEM Champion Award, in the 2019 Indigenous STEM Awards[14][19]
• 2020: ABC Trailblazer Heywire[12]
• 2020: Indigenous STEM Champion CSIRO[20]
• 2020: NSW Young Australian of the Year[13]
• 2020: One of ten Human Rights Heroes at the substitute Human Rights Awards[21][22]
• 2021: The Australian Museum's Eureka Prize for STEM Inclusion, with Team DeadlyScience: [23][18]

• DeadlyScience