I work in the field of Science and Technology Studies and focus primarily on the social, political and ethical dimensions of the biosciences. I am especially interested in the ‘public’ parts of all this; what happens when biotechnologies — and the people making them — get out into the world. I’m currently pursuing these interests by participating as a social scientist in a field that attempts to make biology easier to engineer, Synthetic Biology. Here, I am focusing primarily on the relationship between research funding and public value; the ability of synthetic biology to address meaningful social and environmental challenges; and what happens when scientists try to automate important parts of their work. A lot of my research involves working closely with synthetic biologists, other social scientists, artists and policy makers; in unexpected spaces; and with lots of different kinds of increasingly large data (of the digital kind, funding portfolios), so I am fundamentally interested in method.

I joined The University of Edinburgh in April 2018 to work with Jane Calvert as part of the Engineering Life Project and Centre for Mammalian Synthetic Biology. This builds on two years worth of researching, intervening and scheming (sometimes with with synthetic biologists) at the Department of Global Health & Social Medicine, King’s College London. I completed my PhD at the University of Nottingham, during which I was interested in the development of a biofuel controversy in the UK, and particularly the way that groups — policy makers, NGOs, research funders, scientists and consultants — navigated and reacted to this controversy. I originally trained as a biologist and hold a BSc (Hons) in Animal Science.

I’d be very happy to talk to anyone in more detail about any of this!