Each year, the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Program recognises a small number of exceptional female early‑career researchers in Australia and New Zealand with a prestigious fellowship. In 2025, for the first time since the program began in 2007, the award went to a mathematician: Dr Maria Kleshnina from QUT’s School of Mathematical Sciences.

Maria’s research is in game theory – an interdisciplinary field grounded in the mathematical sciences that studies how people make decisions when their outcomes depend on the actions of others. In this episode, we explore why game theory matters, the kinds of real‑world problems it is designed to tackle, and how it has become a powerful way of thinking across economics, politics, and – in Maria’s area of interest – conservation.

Maria is a Senior Lecturer at QUT, an Australian Research Council DECRA Fellow, and a Chief Investigator with the Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future initiative. We spoke with her about her research, her career journey, and what it means to be awarded a L’Oreal-UNESCO Women in Science Fellowship.

Our host is Dr James Nichols.