Lily Serna
{{Short description|Australian mathematician and television presenter}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Use Australian English|date=August 2015}}
{{Infobox person
| image=
| name = Lily Serna
| caption =
| birthname =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1986|7|5|df=y}}
| birth_place = Jerusalem
| death_date =
| death_place =
| occupation = Mathematician, television presenter, data analyst
| partner = Blair Hickey
| children = 2
}}
Lily Serna (born 5 July 1986) is an Australian mathematician and television presenter,{{cite web|url=http://www.saxton.com.au/lily-serna |title=Lily Serna |year=2011 |publisher=Saxton |accessdate=23 July 2011 |archivedate=19 March 2012 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120319104246/http://www.saxton.com.au/lily-serna/ }} best known for co-presenting the SBS game shows Letters and Numbers (2010−2012{{Cite web|url=https://mumbrella.com.au/sbs-drops-letters-and-numbers-for-countdown-99383|title = SBS drops Letters and Numbers for Countdown|date = 24 June 2012}}) and Celebrity Letters and Numbers (2021−), as well as the cooking show Destination Flavour (2012). She works as a data analyst for Atlassian in Sydney.{{cite web |url=https://careers.amsi.org.au/lily/ |accessdate=17 May 2020 |title=LILY SERNA Mathematician & Data Analyst: Atlassian |work=AMSI Careers |publisher=Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute |date=2019-06-25 }}
Early life and education
Born in Jerusalem to a Palestinian family,{{Cite web|url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/i-couldn-t-solve-this-maths-whiz-s-problem-without-hsc-maths-could-you-20240314-p5fcdk.html |title= I couldn’t solve this maths whiz’s problem. Without HSC maths, could you? |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=16 March 2024 |accessdate=17 March 2024 |archivedate=16 March 2024 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20240316200551/https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/i-couldn-t-solve-this-maths-whiz-s-problem-without-hsc-maths-could-you-20240314-p5fcdk.html}} Serna attended Cheltenham Girls High School in Sydney, Australia, and graduated from the University of Technology Sydney in 2009, with a Bachelor of Mathematics and Finance and a Bachelor of International Studies. She spent a year living in Bordeaux, France.{{Cite web|url=https://www.sbs.com.au/guide/video/11844163969/Lily-Serna-interview|title = Lily Serna interview}}
Career
In August 2010, Serna began co-presenting Letters and Numbers on SBS Television while completing honours studying part-time in mathematics with applications in biology.{{cite web|url=http://www.sbs.com.au/shows/lettersandnumbers/cast/detail/id/632 |title=Meet the Hosts: Lily Serna |year=2010 |publisher=Special Broadcasting Service |accessdate=20 January 2011 |url-status=live |archivedate=16 April 2012 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120416030300/http://www.sbs.com.au/shows/lettersandnumbers/cast/detail/id/632 }}{{cite news|title=Boot camp for the brain |author=Sacha Molitorisz |url=http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/boot-camp-for-the-brain-20100802-112dq.html |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=2 August 2010 |accessdate=20 January 2011 |archivedate=7 November 2012 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107115201/http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/boot-camp-for-the-brain-20100802-112dq.html }}
In August 2012, she was appointed Numeracy Ambassador for National Literacy and Numeracy Week and in September to the board of the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute,{{cite web|url=http://amsi.org.au/2012/09/11/genders-balance|title=Gender's in the Balance|date=3 October 2017|publisher=Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute}} although she is no longer a board member. She works as a data analyst for software company Atlassian. She had previously been a data analyst at Fairfax Media.{{cite web |url=https://careerswithstem.com.au/profiles/data-analyst-lily-serna/ |title= Data star Lily Serna |work=Careers with STEM |first=Elise |last=Roberst |date=28 April 2019 |accessdate=16 May 2020}}
Serna was co-host, with actress and presenter Renee Lim and Adam Liaw (second season winner of MasterChef Australia) of the SBS cooking show Destination Flavour which was first broadcast as a 10-part series in late 2012.{{cite news|url=http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity/masterchef-australias-2010-winner-adam-liaw-finally-has-own-tv-show-destination-flavour-on-sbs/story-e6frfmqi-1226298851983 |title=MasterChef winner Adam Liaw snares own TV show on SBS |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=14 March 2012 |accessdate=30 March 2012 |url-status=live |archivedate=17 March 2012 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120317012924/http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity/masterchef-australias-2010-winner-adam-liaw-finally-has-own-tv-show-destination-flavour-on-sbs/story-e6frfmqi-1226298851983 }}
Serna appeared in an episode on risk for the ABC's Catalyst television program which aired in 2019.{{cite web |url=https://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/s20-e08-should-i-risk-it/11564488 |accessdate=16 May 2020 |title=Should I Risk It? |work=Catalyst |date=8 October 2019 |publisher=ABC}}
She is again a co-presenter in a celebrity version of Letters and Numbers which commenced transmission on SBS on Saturday 2 October 2021.
Personal life
Serna became engaged to Blair Hickey at Surprise Bay during a hike in Tasmania early in 2019.{{cite web |url=https://www.instagram.com/p/BsRxeXcHNXW/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/instagram/lily_serna_numbers/1950557704659195350_1950557461322648041 |archive-date=26 December 2021 |url-access=registration|via=Instagram |first=Lily |last=Serna |title=We're getting married!!! |date=6 January 2019 |accessdate=16 May 2020}}{{cbignore}} They have a child born in late 2019.{{cite web |url=https://www.instagram.com/p/B6tcJ5cA4RX/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/instagram/lily_serna_numbers/2210546817559659607 |archive-date=26 December 2021 |url-access=registration|title=One final addition before the year is out |date=31 December 2019 |via=Instagram |first=Lily |last=Serna |accessdate=16 May 2020}}{{cbignore}}
Publications
- Serna, L. 2012. Lily's Number Puzzles. Hardie Grant. {{ISBN|1742704018}}
- Serna, L. 2019. Curious: life hacks through maths. Pan Macmillan. {{ISBN|9781760781156}}
References
{{Reflist}}
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Category:Australian television presenters
Category:Australian women television presenters
Category:Australian people of Palestinian descent
Category:People from Jerusalem
Category:University of Technology Sydney alumni