home

I am a British freelance writer currently based in Vancouver, Canada.

I started out studying chemistry but my keyboard antics were better received than my explosion-prone lab efforts, and so I moved into journalism (see CV). Much of my writing is on science and technology topics, including in-depth business profiles and quite a bit on the state of the biotechnology industry and the environment.

Having said that, I have covered everything from swimming in rancid chocolate to watching Robbie Williams videos at the dentist. And I recently enjoyed writing about the science behind movie special effects in teen consumer magazine Flipside.

My writing has appeared in annual, monthly, weekly and daily magazine and Internet titles, and on the radio. I have written for business, consumer and academic audiences both nationally and internationally. I've recently been a regular contributor to the Science for Environment Policy site, a news service set up by the European Commission's DG Environment to reinforce the links between science and policy.

I also have experience lecturing MSc students on the University of the West of England's Science Communication course in Bristol on science writing. I gave a talk about my career in science writing at the University of Southampton in summer 2008 and was part of a team offering media training to an environmental organisation.

The Science Council's FutureMorph careers website, designed to illustrate some of the amazing and unexpected places that studying science, technology, engineering and maths can take you, was launched in November 2008. It features a video about my science writing career.

expertise

Topics I have substantial experience with include:

Business (especially pharmaceutical, biotech, chemicals, specialities and gas)

Careers

Science policy

Environment

Basic science

Applied science

Public engagement

Medical/biomedical

Technology/engineering

Regional and company profiles

Science writing/training