A love for science and encouraging students in remote areas across Australia to pursue STEM careers has led to Corey Tutt being awarded a prestigious honour - a medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to Indigenous STEM education.
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Mr Tutt founded DeadlyScience in 2018 after realising there was a lack of STEM resources within remote schools across Australia.
The former Dapto High School student said he was also inspired by his own childhood when he founded DeadlyScience.
Mr Tutt is a Kamilaroi man originally from Nowra and as a kid, he dreamed of becoming a zookeeper.
"I had a difficult childhood. I was born in Nowra and I moved around a lot with my mother, so I grew up in a lot of different places," he said.
Mr Tutt spent most of his childhood in the Illawarra and Shoalhaven as well as in South Australia.
"I never really had a stable place that I called home and my love of science really grew during this time. I was that kid that would pick up lizards and snakes and go fishing all the time.
"I idealised Dr Harold Cogger and Harry Butler when I was growing up. They were before my time, but a lot of the books I got when I was younger were older because they were from the Salvation Army."
Mr Tutt also said his love of animals inspired him to want to become a zoo keeper.
"The only real constant in my life when I was growing up was animals," he said.
"I left school at 16 because I was told that zookeeping wasn't something I could do."
After living in Western Australia when he left school, Mr Tutt returned to Nowra and started working as a zookeeper at the Shoalhaven Zoo. He also worked at the local RSPCA and Animal Welfare League.
"I then found myself working as a laboratory technician where I started off changing the mouse boxes and then moved into taking the DNA samples before moving into a management position.
"That's how I started DeadlyScience. I wanted to mentor other young kids who didn't have the best background growing up and get them interested in science.
Mr Tutt was 24-years-old when he founded DeadlyScience. The organisation has now distributed over 7500 boxes of resources to remote schools in 180 communities across Australia.
"I found my way into science through a really odd way. It wasn't the traditional way of going into science and I had to do all of my study later on in life."
Mr Tutt has also previously been awarded the 2021 Eureka Prize for STEM Inclusion, he was announced as the NSW Young Australian of the Year in 2020 and the Indigenous STEM Champion for CSIRO in 2020.
His first published book The First Scientists: Deadly Inventions and Innovations from Australia's First Peoples has also been awarded the Book of the Year for Younger children at the Australian Book Industry Awards 2022.
He has also made significant contributions as a researcher through the Matilda Centre at The University of Sydney where he was involved in the Cracks in the Ice Indigenous project and created resources for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people suffering with methamphetamine dependence.
"I still work on those projects and act as an advisor. I'm very passionate about that research," he said.
Mr Tutt made the move to Port Macquarie around one and a half years ago and now calls the Mid North Coast home.
At 29-years-old he said he is humbled to receive the honour of an OAM.
"It's a tremendous honour, but it's also a bit of responsibility as well. I want to show young people that they can get this recognition too," he said.
"This honour has highlighted how important it is to recognise all of the people who have supported DeadlyScience along the way.
"It's not just me that's doing this. It takes a village, so for everyone who donated, helped pack boxes and to all the kids who pick up our DeadlyScience books and realise this thing that seems out of touch to them could be a reality, thank you.
"When I think about this honour, I think about those people."
Mr Tutt said his greatest achievement is to have been able to teach children to read, become interested in science and encourage them to reach their goals.
"I do this because of kids who wouldn't normally have gotten the opportunity."
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