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Derek Fish

Derek Fish

Fulbright Scholar
Director of Unizulu Science Centre

Derek Fish

Fulbright Scholar
Director of Unizulu Science Centre

After graduating, Derek taught in a high school as a Science and Mathematics teacher for three years. Since then he has been running Unizulu Science Centre in Richards Bay, South Africa, for over 30 years. Derek’s passion is presenting Science and Mathematics to children in a way that encourages curiosity and inspires them to study further. He has presented science shows all over the world and attended all eight of the Science Centre World Congresses, on every continent. He has represented Africa on the International Programme Committee for these Congresses and serves on the Global Committee of ASTC (The Association of Science and Technology Centres). He is a Council member, founder and former President of the Southern African Association of Science and Technology Centres (SAASTEC). He is active in the South African Institute of Physics (SAIP) and has guided their outreach program to schools for the past few years. In 2016 he completed his doctorate in Physics Education with a study based in his science centre. In response to the COVID crisis, he has pioneered a unique set of offline physics videos for matrics. Derek has won many awards for his contributions to science, including the 1999 National Science and Technology Forum (NSTF) Award for the best individual contribution to Science in South Africa. He was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship in 2021 to work with the Institute of Learning Innovation and Oregon State University in Corvallis, OR, in 2023. He is married to Karen, who will accompany him on his Fulbright Exchange, and they have two grown-up daughters.