Sophia Frentz

Photo of a white non-binary person with short brown hair smiling behind a microphone. They are wearing a black short-sleeve knit dress.

Selfie of a white non-binary person with short brown hair wearing a moon and stars patterned short sleeve button down. They are hamming it up a bit for the camera.

Selfie of a white non-binary person with short curly brown hair grinning in their home office.

Selfie of a white non-binary person with short brown hair in a nasa sweater with light-up bunny ears on their head, holding a (mostly empty) glass of wine and giving the camera a knowing look in front of a picture of space with the words "tūhura module" above it

“Hi! I'm Sophia, a non-binary Data Consultant at Eliiza with a PhD in Medical Genetics. I'm autistic, and was diagnosed about five years ago. Being diagnosed means I feel like I can ask for what I need without feeling guilty that I'm not able to do "what everyone else can". My social relationships have always been a bit fraught because I'm autistic, and forgiving myself for not being a mindreader while improving how I communicate continues to be difficult, but all personal growth is. I am a New Zealander, and have an undergraduate in genetics from the University of Otago and a PhD from the University of Melbourne. While I adore genetics and lab science, I knew that the job instability of an academic career simply wasn't going to work for me, so made sure to build up a strong CV during my PhD that meant I immediately landed a job at Deloitte in their Technology, Strategy, and Transformation Consulting team. In March this year, I moved on from Deloitte to Eliiza as a Data Consultant, where I support and enable our genius data scientists and engineers to deliver awesome solutions like using computer vision to read your gas meter, or predicting wind energy outputs. Generally, I love anything that lets me nerd out about science and technology - I am also a councilor for the Royal Society of Victoria, which means I get to help promote science throughout my state. We've been providing talks online recently, so definitely check a future event out!”

Twitter: @sophiafrentz