Intergenerational Conversations

When

Thursday 9th Oct 2025 @ 8:30 pm – Thursday 27th Nov 2025 @ 8:30 pm

Where

Online (Zoom)

The second ISCAST—NZCIS Conversation Series of 2025 is breaking new ground with an experiment in intergenerational dialogue. Each week, an experienced voice and a younger scholar or scientist will team up to explore the meeting point of science and Christian faith in their field. Together they’ll reflect—both personally and professionally—on how the big questions and challenges have shifted (or stayed the same) across recent decades. After their conversation, you’ll have the chance to join in and put your own questions to both speakers. We’re excited by this fresh format, and we hope you—and especially younger participants—will find the conversations lively, thought-provoking, and inspiring. 

DETAILS:

• Thursday nights from 9 Oct until 27 Nov on Zoom
• 8:30 – 9:30 p.m. NZDT

PRICES:

For this Conversations series, you can either register for the full series or register for separate sessions.

We’re offering ISCAST and NZCIS members 50% off. If you’re a student member, you can register for free! Become a member of ISCAST or NZCIS today.

• $70 for the full series ($35 for ISCAST/NZCIS Members)
• $20 for student/concession, full series (free for student/concession members of ISCAST or NZCIS)
• $18 per individual session

SPEAKERS + TALKS:

October 9

Speakers:
Emeritus Prof. Gareth Jones (ethicist and anatomist at Otago University)
+
Hannah Acheson (neuroscience student at Otago University / 2024 NZCIS mentoring student)

Topic:
Ethics in Science

Gareth Jones is Emeritus Professor of Anatomy in the University of Otago. He has written extensively across a range of science-faith topics, especially bioethical issues relating to the human body- mainly at the beginning and end of life. His books include Brave New People: Ethical issues at the Commencement of Life; Manufacturing Humans: The Challenge of the New Reproductive Technologies; and The Peril and Promise of Medical Technology. His most recent book is At the Margins: A Life in Biomedical Science, Faith, and Ethical Dilemmas, Resource Publications, Wipf and Stock, OR, 2022. He is currently writing a book for Cambridge Scholars Publishing on the interface of human anatomy and ethics: Encountering the Dead; Ethical Reflections of a Human Anatomist.

Hannah Acheson completed her BSc(Hons) in neuroscience from Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka | University of Otago in 2024. Her Honours dissertation investigated a novel sheep model of Parkinson’s disease, contributing to a programme that is developing a new drug delivery system for Parkinson’s and other brain conditions. Alongside her love for translational neuroscience, Hannah has a deep curiosity for how the relationship between science and the church could grow deeper and more fruitful. This curiosity brought Hannah to be involved in the 2024 NZCIS mentoring programme, which she wholeheartedly recommends to anyone considering it!

October 16

Speakers:
Associate Professor Andrew Sloane (Old Testament theologian and former medical doctor)
+
Dr Nicole Esther Rose Williams (intern doctor in Gippsland)

Topic:
Medicine: Secular vs Christian Perspectives 

Andrew Sloane is a lecturer in Old Testament and Christian Thought and Dean of Bible and Theology at Morling College. He studied medicine at the University of New South Wales and practised briefly as a doctor before training for Baptist ministry at Morling, from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Theology and a ThD in philosophy and Old Testament studies. Andrew was ordained as a Baptist minister in 1991 and ministered in Sydney and Newcastle before joining the faculty at Ridley (Anglican) College in Melbourne in 1996. Andrew joined the faculty of Morling College in 2002 and has published in Old Testament, hermeneutics, ethics, philosophy, and theology.

Dr Nicole Williams is an intern working in the Gippsland region of Victoria with an interest in rural and emergency medicine. She is a graduate of Deakin University’s Doctor of Medicine program and has undergraduate degrees in biomedical science with a minor in bioethics, and exercise and sports science. As a medical student she was involved with Christian Union and the Christian Medical and Dental Fellowship of Australia in student leadership roles as well as being a student member of the CMDFA ethics management team. She was brought up in a Christian family and has attended church all her life. In her spare time she enjoys running, photography, and playing board games.

October 23

Speakers:
Prof. Doru Costache (Theologian, Editor and Orthodox Priest)
+
Emma Belcher (Program Director for NZCIS, postgrad student)

Topic:
Science Engaged Theology 

Protopresbyter Doru Costache is Professor of Theology at the Australian University College of Divinity (AUCD), Academic Dean of AUCD’s Nisibis Assyrian Theological College, and ISCAST Research Director. He authored Nature Contemplation in Clement of Alexandria: Elements of the Method (Routledge, 2025) and Humankind and the Cosmos: Early Christian Representations (Brill, 2021). He coauthored A New Copernican Turn: Contemporary Cosmology, the Self, and Orthodox Science-Engaged Theology (with Geraint F. Lewis; Routledge, 2024) and Dreams, Virtue and Divine Knowledge in Early Christian Egypt (with Bronwen Neil and Kevin Wagner; Cambridge University Press, 2019).

Emma Belcher was born in New Zealand but raised in Brazil with her two older sisters as a missionary child. She is currently the Student Program Coordinator with Ngā Karaitiana Kimi Matū/New Zealand Christians in Science. She has a BSc in anthropology, a BA and MA in philosophy, and a Dip. Grad in theology. Her area of specialty is theodicy. She is passionate about translating her academic study into lived experience, especially around the question of living with pain and suffering. She enjoys dance, is an avid reader and a soccer mum! She lives in Onehunga, Auckland with her husband Charles, and their three children.

October 30

Speakers:
Emeritus Professor Andrew Bennett (wildlife/conservation researcher and lecturer)
+
TBA

Topic:
Ecology & Stewardship

Andrew Bennett is an Emeritus Professor who completed a BSc (Hons) and PhD at the University of Melbourne, and worked for twelve years in wildlife research at the Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research (Victorian State Government). In 1996 he moved to Deakin University and in 2008 was awarded a Personal Chair in Landscape Ecology. In 2015, he commenced a joint appointment as Professor of Ecology at La Trobe University and a Science Leadership role at the Arthur Rylah Institute. From 2018 to 2022, he served as the inaugural Director of the Research Centre for Future Landscapes at La Trobe University. He has broad interests in landscape ecology and conservation biology, with a particular focus on understanding how human land use and landscape change affect native wildlife and ecological processes. Together with colleagues and research students, he has investigated factors that influence wildlife conservation in agricultural landscapes, the effects of fire on biota (in ecosystems ranging from semi-arid mallee, to box-ironbark and foothill forests) and the conservation biology of numerous species of birds and mammals. Six month study periods in Canada (Carleton University, 1989), Britain (Monks Wood, Centre for Ecology & Hydrology 2000) and USA (Harvard Forest, 2012) have been formative experiences.

November 6

Speakers:
Dr Graeme Finlay (retired cell biologist)
+
Dr Zachary Ardern (evolutionary genomics researcher)

Topic:
Evolutionary Biology

Dr Graeme Finlay is retired from cancer research and the teaching of scientific pathology at the University of Auckland. He is a lay preacher. He is author of Human Evolution: Genes, Genealogies and Phylogenies  (CUP 2013), Evolution and Eschatology (Wipf & Stock, 2021), God’s Gift of Science (Wipf & Stock 2022),  A Way of Reading John’s Gospel (Wipf & Stock 2024), and A Letter to Stressed Communities (on James’ letter, Wipf & Stock, in press). He has authored peer-reviewed articles on the theology of biological evolution.

Dr Zachary Ardern is a research fellow in microbial evolutionary genomics, researching the origins and evolution of proteins and gene regulation across bacteria. He’s currently based in Cambridge, UK and is originally from New Zealand. He completed BA|BSc conjoint degrees and his PhD in experimental evolution at the University of Auckland, and helped to set up NZCIS as a PhD student. Zachary regularly speaks and writes for diverse audiences on evolution and Christian faith and is a fellow of the International Society of Science and Religion (ISSR).

November 13

Speakers:
Dr Sarah Wilson (ISCAST Program Director, researcher, electron microscopist, and lecturer)
+
Brittany Spencer (BSc(physiology & biochemistry) graduate)

Topic:
The Biology and Spirituality of Human Health

Dr Sarah Wilson studied science with a master’s degree in seaweed phylogenetics and a PhD in cell biology. While a researcher, she had many opportunities to communicate her scientific studies to the public and undertook a short fellowship at the ABC in Sydney where she learnt ways to publicise complicated scientific processes to a lay audience. For fifteen years, Sarah worked as an electron microscopist for a large research group focused on improving grain quality for human health purposes. She continues this work part-time at La Trobe University. She also lectured in plant and cell biology undergraduate courses and coordinated practical classes. She has published many peer-reviewed scientific papers and has participated at overseas conferences as an invited speaker. She has worked in laboratories in both South Korea and the USA funded by academic scholarships. Sarah is married to Geoff, a Principal Scientist for the Victorian Government, and they have three children.

Brittany Spencer studied a Bachelor of Science at Monash University, with a major in physiology and a minor in biochemistry. Throughout her degree, she completed an internship and a research project at the Hudson Institute of Medical Research, alongside a wide range of subjects learning about human health from both a micro level (physiological processes) and a macro level (the healthcare system and statistical research). Brittany is passionate about cross-disciplinary practice and the power that it holds to create practical and effective change in society. Throughout her university years, she was part of the Science Future Leaders program, the Green Steps Sustainability Leaders program, entrepreneurship workshops, as well as electives in Design Thinking and Design for Social Impact. She has a Certificate III in Christian Ministry and Theology and is a graduate of The Dream Center Leadership School in Los Angeles.

Speakers:
Dr Sarah Beattie (author of From Eden to Interstellar Space)
+
Cirũ Mũriũki (Anglican Ordinand and master’s student / 2025 NZCIS Mentoring student)

Topic:
The Use of Science in Understanding the Bible

Dr Sarah Anne Beattie has a background in teaching and behavioural healthcare with an initial degree in Education majoring in Art and Psychology. After several years of facilitating and writing studies for small group Bible study, the questions that she encountered about the impact of science on Christian faith led her to further study in Theology and Biblical Hermeneutics. She subsequently completed a post-graduate Diploma in Theology, a MA in Hermeneutics and a PhD from the University of Divinity in Melbourne. Her doctoral thesis From Eden to Interstellar Space was published as a book this year and looks at how a biblical perspective of reality might be interpreted amidst perspectives emerging in quantum mechanics and astrophysics. This is to highlight the relevance of biblical narrative as an important complementary, rather than competing, supplement to science in addressing the broken relationships between humankind, the environment in which we live, and the other species with which we co-exist in an increasingly fragile world. She lives in Wellington, New Zealand where her thinking about God is inspired by the wonders of nature and the joy of experiencing them: with horses and dogs, and through the eyes of her three-year-old grandson.

Cirũ (shee-row) Mũriũki is originally from Kenya. She is currently an ordinand with the Anglican Church in Aotearoa NZ and Polynesia. She is also in the final few months of her Master of Ministry through Otago University. Her research is focused on the necessity of death in the formation of faith, and is doing this by looking at the Paschal Mystery and rites of passage. Her interest in theology has been lifelong, but science has been a later development (she is an NZCIS mentee). As she has come to know God it has become increasingly apparent that while God is spirit we come to know God through matter. The wisdom, character and way of God “hidden” in creation have made science and the world around her come alive in a way it hadn’t before. Engaging with science has deepened her awe of God, and in turn her awe of God has deepened her appreciation of science. When she is not studying, she enjoys hosting dinners, a good film, or a glass of tempranillo!

Stuart has over twenty years of experience delivering rail infrastructure projects, overseeing them from tender and design through installation to final commissioning. In 2015, Stuart joined the Melbourne Metro Rail Authority where he led the technical team for the Rail Systems Alliance (RSA) through the tender preparation and contract award process. He is currently the Testing and Commissioning Manager for the RSA project, which keeps him busy in the final phases of testing the Melbourne Metro Tunnel. Prior to this work, he served as Engineering Manager – Technical, where he set up the engineering department. In the last decade, his role has shifted from a technical focus to leading and managing technical teams and engaging with clients and stakeholders. Stuart and his family are part of St Jude’s Anglican Church in Carlton.