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Full members

Paul Rodgers is a freelance science, technology and medicine writer. His work has appeared in The Independent on Sunday, New Statesman, The Observer, The Economist and New Scientist. He has written for tabloids, broadsheets and magazines on both sides of the Atlantic.

Nadya Anscombe is a science graduate with many years of experience as a magazine editor and journalist. After holding senior positions on national and international technical magazines, she became a freelance journalist in 2002. She has experience in writing about a large range of topics including electronics, photonics, physics, chemistry, nanotechnology, material science, manufacturing, environmental science, medical physics and biotechnology. Since becoming a freelancer, her work has featured in a number of magazines, including New Scientist, Science and Nature Photonics. Nadya has also developed a media training course for scientists and engineers, which has been well-received by several engineering firms and university departments including BAE systems, PERA and the Optoelectronics Research Centre at Southampton University.

Philippa Pigache has covered everything in 45 years as a journalist except crime and sport. She also writes books, plays and short stories. She has worked on local newspapers, women's magazines, national newspapers, radio and television including the Sunday Times, Daily Mail, The Guardian, ITN and BBC science features. She was quiz-queen for Cosmopolitan, an agony aunt for Woman's Realm, and more recently began to specialise in health and medical science for professional readers. Philippa has published several general readership books on medical conditions and health. Her latest, How To Be A Healthy Weight, was published by Sheldon in 2007. She has won awards for her medical journalism, her books and also for her fiction, and is honorary secretary of the Medical Journalists' Association, and editor of its journal, MJA News.

Evelyn Harvey works as a freelance science writer following several years as a biomedical researcher. Her interests include medical research, public health and development, and the effective public communication of science. Evelyn is particularly interested in TB, which was a research interest of hers, and she writes for several non-governmental organizations about issues surrounding TB, HIV and public health policy.

Dr Emily Baldwin completed her PhD in Planetary Science at University College London, and now works for Astronomy Now magazine. Her main role is as the website editor, providing news content. She has recently taken over assistant editor duties, which involves co-ordinating the regular sections of the magazine. Emily also runs the Society for Popular Astronomy’s Young Stargazer section, which is aimed at encouraging under-16s to take up an interest in space and astronomy, as well as co-editing the Starlight newsletter, which is distributed free to schools and science centres across the UK. She was nominated for the Best Space Reporting award at The Arthurs in 2009.

Bella Williams is a freelancer who has written about anything and everything - most of it science, but not all. She started her working life as a pharmacologist, loving science and feeling priviledged to make a living finding out about interesting things. Realising that she enjoyed researching and writing about others' achievements more than working at the lab bench she eventually moved into science communication. From writing press releases at Brighton Science Festival, she gradually became more involved in science writing, including magazine articles, industry publications, policy documents, websites and newsletters. Her key interests lie in communicating medical ethics and science policy issues to lay audiences. For the past two years she has worked as lead content writer and web editor of a science website providing information on the use of animals in scientific research.

Terry Knott is a chartered chemical engineer and chartered scientist, with long experience of researching and writing about the technology of the oil and gas industry, and more latterly about renewable energy, biofuels and carbon capture. As a freelance writer with 25 years' experience, preceded by working as an engineer in the UK and USA, he has been commissioned by most of the leading companies in the oil and gas sector, and for over 20 years regularly reported through Offshore Engineer magazine as senior editor. He has won prizes for his writing from DTI/British Business Press, The Construction Industry Board and the Offshore Northern Seas Foundation. Terry has travelled widely and is also author of the business book No Business As Usual. For the past ten years he has been managing editor of Frontiers, BP's very successful group technology publication - which he launched for BP. This addresses diverse technologies across all of BP's businesses around the world. As managing editor he is responsible for the entire production process.

Marianne Freiberger completed a PhD in mathematics in 2001 and worked as a research mathematician at Queen Mary, University of London until 2005. She then joined the free online Plus magazine, which is about mathematics aimed at the general public. Plus is part of the Millennium Mathematics Project based at the University of Cambridge and covers mathematical angles of topics as diverse as art, medicine, cosmology and philosophy. As co-editor, Marianne looks after the day-to-day running of Plus, writing articles and news items, doing interviews, producing podcasts, copy-editing work by external authors, publishing content online, and managing one-off projects. Between 2005 and 2007, Marianne was editor-in-chief of the Maths Careers website produced by the Council for Mathematical Sciences.

Barry Gibb originally trained as a molecular biologist and neuroscientist. In 2005, he left research to start his own company, digitalis media: a means of exploring science through creative and emerging formats. His book, The Rough Guide to the Brain, was released in 2007. After several well-received short online science films, his 3 Minute Wonders - Life After Coma (Mosaic Films) – were broadcast on Channel 4 in early 2009. Most recently, he filmed, directed and edited eight documentaries for Channel 4 and The Wellcome Trust’s online Routes project, a groundbreaking fusion of genetics, drama, documentary and gaming. He is now working with the Wellcome Trust as their Science Multimedia Editor. (Not one of the Bee Gees then? OK -Ed)


Associate members

Dr Helen Jamison is a Senior Press Officer at the Science Media Centre in London – an independent press office working to promote the voices, stories and views of the scientific community to the national news media when science hits the headlines. Having previously worked in the press office of international science journal Nature, Helen is also a scientist by training with a biomedical science degree from the University of Sheffield, and a PhD in neuroscience from the University of Oxford.

Will Greenacre graduated from the University of Leicester in 2005 with a degree in biological sciences, and went on to complete a Master's degree in Science, Culture and Communication at the University of Bath. Here he volunteered in the press office, gaining experience in media relations and writing. Following a stint as a volunteer at the Science Media Centre in summer 2007, Will started full time as a Science Information Officer the following September. He is responsible for maintaining the SMC's database of experts, and preparing written scientific briefings on news stories as they break.

Michael Regnier studied natural sciences at Cambridge University before running away to join the theatre. He worked as a playwright for six years before joining Cancer Research UK as a press officer. Now a media officer at the Wellcome Trust, he is responsible for publicising the Trust's work in translational research and public engagement with science – including education, arts and medical humanities. Michael still occasionally writes plays, some of which are about science - notably Invitation to a Beheading, performed beneath a railway arch in Bethnal Green, London, which was Time Out Critics' Choice in October 2002, and The Prometheus Experiment, performed at Hoxton Hall in London in 2005.

Ollie Christophers is Communications Officer at the British Science Association, joining from Bell Pottinger Communications. He has previously worked on communications projects for the Department of Health, and has an MA in International Public Relations from Cardiff University School of Journalism.

Zoe McDougall has been working in science communications for 11 years. She is currently working for Oxford Nanopore Technologies, engaging in issues around the prospects for DNA sequencing and its potential impact on personalised medicine. She recently produced a session at the WCSJ: The $1,000 genome is coming. Are we ready? Previous work includes crisis management for BPL, part of the National Blood Service on the vCJD and blood products issue, and work in the clinical areas of asthma, diabetes, CVD and oncology.

Dr Ed Sykes works at the Science Media Centre in London. He is first point of contact for media enquiries and is responsible for the Centre's relationship with external press and PR officers. Ed studied Zoology in Sheffield before heading north to do a PhD in Evolutionary Biology at the University of Edinburgh. Here, despite the joys of wasps and wonderful fieldwork spent diving in Oman, he began to indulge in a spot of science communication on the side. Whilst running workshops in schools, writing a booklet on evolution and training PhD students to be communicators, he won Famelab's 2007 Vodcast Award for talking about the sex lives of bedbugs.

Tom Sheldon joined the Science Media Centre in April 2008 as the dedicated Engineering Press Officer, and handles any issues in the fields of engineering, technology and the physical sciences that hit the headlines. He volunteered with the charity Sense About Science in summer 2007, contributing to their expose of pseudoscience and blogging for the Guardian along the way. He has degrees in Artificial Intelligence and Bioinformatics, and one day might finish his thesis on protein structure prediction.

Katrina Nevin-Ridley has been working in the field of media relations for ten years. As Head of Media at the Wellcome Trust, she has been responsible for developing a media strategy aimed at raising the institution's profile, including the work of the scientists it funds and promoting the venue Wellcome Collection. Formerly Head of Press and PR at the University of Edinburgh, Katrina was responsible for looking after the profile of the Vice-Chancellor and briefing the press across a broad spectrum of University business. Whilst there, she also implemented a proactive approach to publicising new research. Prior to that, Katrina worked for international development agency, VSO. Katrina is also Chair of Stempra, an informal network set up to bring together people working in science communication.

Philip Connolly was a journalist for 10 years on various trade titles, and edited Education in Chemistry for the RSC. Philip then turned to the dark side to explain science and technology - with their associated issues - to often sceptical audiences for Shell, Glaxo and now Merial. In between he headed up the Coalition for Medical Progress.

Student member

Mico Tatalovic is studying on the Imperial College Science Communication course.