Dr Karl Sven Woytek Sas Konkovitch Matthew Kruszelnicki, AM is more popularly (and more easily) known as Dr Karl. His long and fascinating career has seen him ultimately become one of Australia’s most popular — and most trusted — science communicators. He has presented a weekly radio show on Triple J about science for over 40 years (it is now also a popular podcast). He also presented the TV shows Quantum and Sleek Geeks and has authored more than 30 books, including Dr Karl’s Little Book of Climate Change, 50 Shades of Grey Matter, Science is Golden, and Sensational Moments in Science. He is hugely popular on social media, and Twitter in particular, where has over 345,000 followers (he also has 108,000 on Instagram).
Dr Karl’s story begins in Sweden, where he was born to Polish parents who had met after escaping different concentration camps and fleeing to Sweden. They attempted to emigrate to America but chance saw them end up in Australia. The family ended up in a migrant camp and Dr Karl’s status as a European refugee saw him bullied throughout his childhood. After seeking solace in science fiction, he studied physics and, later, biomedical engineering. During this period of his life, he did everything from working as a taxi driver to being a roadie for rock-and-roll legends such as Chuck Berry to appearing as a TV weatherman.
After a spell working as a children’s doctor in the mid-1980s, Dr Karl left the profession to become a voice for science in the media. In the many years since, he has become one of Australia’s most respected voices of reason, gaining many awards and accolades, including being made a Member of the Order of Australia in 2006.