Follow Your Gut

Ailsa Wild (Author)

Ailsa Wild is an author and performer with a history of circus performance and deep collaboration. She has written two junior fiction series, the Squishy Taylor books and the Naughtiest Pixie books, and is the lead writer for Scale Free Network, where she works with scientists to translate complex science into compelling illustrated narratives. Ailsa has two nonfiction books for adults, You’ll Be a Wonderful Dad- advice on becoming the best father you can be and The Care Factor- a story of nursing and connection in the time of social distancing. She has been published in Spain, Brazil, the US, the UK, Egypt, South Korea, Israel, and China.

Dr Lisa Stinson (Author)

Dr Lisa Stinson is a perinatal microbial ecologist at the University of Western Australia. Her research interests include the infant and human milk microbiomes and the developmental origins of health and disease. In 2020, she was selected as one of the ABC’s Top 5 Scientists. Lisa is currently a Research Fellow in the Australian Breastfeeding and Lactation Research and Science Translation (ABREAST) group, where she co-directs the Human Milk Biobank and the BLOSOM birth cohort. Lisa’s work aims to support and improve early microbial assembly for lifelong health.

Briony Barr (Author)

Briony Barr is a visual artist who uses process-based drawing to explore ideas around structure, emergence, and the impact of different boundaries and generative limits. She regularly collaborates with scientists, writers, musicians, and dancers on a diverse range of interdisciplinary projects including making picture books and graphic novels about symbiotic microbes, designing large-scale, participatory drawings exploring complex systems, and performing live drawing to improvised music. She is co-founder of Scale Free Network.

Dr Gregory Crocetti (Author)

Dr Gregory Crocetti is a microbial ecologist, science educator, writer, and advocate for microbes. His PhD and post-doctoral research explored the roles of different populations of bacteria in a range of environments - including those found in mouse intestines, sponges, seaweed, stromatolites, and sewage - with his peer-reviewed scientific articles having been cited over 1,000 times. He is co-founder of Scale Free Network. Gregory also co-creates award-winning picture books and graphic novels about microbes and their symbiotic partnerships with larger forms of life, including the Small Friends Books series.

Ben Hutchings (Illustrator)

Ben Hutchings is co-founder of Melbourne’s first comic studio, Squishface Comic Studio, where he works as a comic book publisher, animator, and coin designer. His previous works include Avanti! Tutta! for Lingopont, Mini Mel & Timid Tom, and The Invisible War- a tale on two scales.