Dr Honor Hugo and researcher Meaghan Smith shared their scientific knowledge with city library patrons on Wednesday and are also touring local schools.

Ms Smith is a molecular biologist at the University of Sunshine Coast studying chemical communication of crown of thorns starfish on the Great Barrier Reef while Dr Hugo is a research fellow at QUT Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation studying the links between high breast density and increased breast cancer risk.

Dr Hugo, who originally hails from Melbourne has been at QUT since February and admits that when they were handing out regional centres for scientists to visit for Science Week, she deliberately chose Mount Isa.

“I’ve always wanted to visit the red dirt and always loved to see the outback,” Dr Hugo said.

“Plus I am an MKR fan so I caught up with Shaz (Sellings).”

Dr Hugo and Ms Smith are here as part of a program called Catch a Rising Star promoting women in science in regional Queensland.

“We’re trying to encourage girls to get into science,” Dr Hugo said.

“They are still not asking questions like the boys, I was involved in the Young Science ambassadors program for year 5s and 6s and 90% of the teams were male. The girls are too scared to put their hand up.”

Dr Hugo has been putting her hand up for serious science for many years.

“I’ve been working in the field of breast cancer for over seven years as a post-doctoral research fellow trying to understand cell invasion and I’ve now moved into a field of mammographic density to try and understand why density within the breast masks the detection of cancer and how it also can contribute to the growth of cancer,” she said.

“It is common in women but it is not reported and it is not reported as a risk factor by the clinical community.”

Dr Hugo likened the problem to looking through glasses that are cloudy or haven’t been cleaned.

“It’s not talked about and that’s what I’d like to see happen, especially coming up to Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October.”