On Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 August, science-loving teams will disperse across the Capital for the Canberra Science Treasure Hunt, as part of National Science Week (15-23 August), where they will explore the ACT’s connections with science and history and discover their inner scientist.

The hunt will be run by Canberra Treasure Hunt’s Alex Norris and Lucy McAuliffe, who say they love to see locals getting out and about and learning about the city they call home. The Science Week treasure hunt has proved so popular there’s now a wait list to secure a spot.

“We love partnering with local institutions and events and putting a bit of a spin on our usual hunt,” Lucy says. The duo run hunts every month, with this weekend’s hunt to be a special Science Week edition.

“Our typical hunts are a three-location, this one [this] weekend will be five.

“We’d love to have every team finish with a giant smile on their face and have learnt something new,” says Lucy.

“Our favourite thing to hear at the end of a hunt is ‘I’ve lived here my whole life and never knew this existed’.”

Alex says this weekend’s Canberra Science Treasure Hunt will certainly bring out the inner scientist in each of the participants and will showcase a scientific side of Canberra that may have flown under the radar of even the most astute locals – without giving too much away!

“People might be surprised at the science connections that you can find in Canberra,” she says, “places and suburbs and things that might have some unexpected connections.”

Due to COVID-19, numbers of participants had to be limited for this year’s event: “we had to cap it at 13 teams each day,” says Lucy.

There are a number of events happening this week for National Science Week. For more information and the calendar of events, visit scienceweek.net.au. This National Science Week project is supported by the Australian Government.