Confirmed Speakers

Dr. Brunk is a regular consultant to the Canadian government and international organizations on environmental and health risk management and biotechnology. He was a member of the Environment Canada/Health Canada Chemical Advisory Committee, Vice-President of the Science Advisory Board of Agriculture Canada, and a member of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency Expert Advisory Committee. He served as Co-Chair of the Royal Society of Canada Expert Panel on the Future of Food Biotechnology, and as a member of the Canadian Biotechnology Advisory Committee. He is a founding member of the International Forum for TSE and Food Safety and served on the Council of Canadian Academies Expert Panels on Nanotechnology and on Integrated Testing of Chemical Pesticides.

Dr. Curry is a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American Geophysical Union. She has recently presented U.S. Congressional Testimony to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works and the House Subcommittee on the Environment. She is a prominent public spokesperson on issues associated with the integrity of climate research. Curry serves as president and co-owner of the company Climate Forecast Applications Network LLC (CFAN). CFAN translates the scientific weather and climate research so that governments and industries can better anticipate and manage weather- and climate-related risks. Curry is proprietor of the blog Climate Etc., which discusses current topics in climate science, climate and energy policy, challenges at the science-policy interface, and use of social media in engaging with the public on complex and controversial topics. 

Stevienna's research interests lie in the intersection of social movements, feminist theory, and science and technology studies, particularly around the social aspects of emergent technologies. She has previously studied the relationship between software architecture and women's speech in online media communities, and the development of techno-scientific knowledge as part of political activism, an interest derived from her own background in the indigenous sovereignty and anti-nuclear movements. She is presently developing part of this research, a case study of the Feminist International Network of Resistance to Reproductive and Genetic Engineering (FINRRAGE), into a book to be published by Palgrave in 2017. Her current research with Prof. Paul Martin at the University of Sheffield focuses on elite and activist perspectives on the construction and operationalisation of Responsible (Research and) Innovation as a policy framework, as part of the Leverhulme Trust research programme 'Making Science Public: Challenges and Opportunities'.

Maurice has worked for the Campaign since it was set up in 1984 and has been its director since 1987. He previously worked on access to environmental and safety information issues for the corporate accountability group Social Audit. He drafted the successful Private Members’ Bills which became the Access to Personal Files Act 1987, the Access to Medical Reports Act 1988, the Environment and Safety Information Act 1988 and the Access to Health Records Act 1990. He was a member of the Lord Chancellor’s Advisory Group on Implementation of the Freedom of Information Act and the Commonwealth Group of Experts whose Freedom of Information Principles were adopted by Commonwealth Law Ministers in 1999. He received an OBE for services to open government in 2004.

Dr. Sarah Hartley investigates the science / policy interface in the context of emerging biotechnologies in Europe and North America. She has published in several policy journals and produced an edited volume on science, ethics and public policy. Previously, she held positions at Simon Fraser University, University of British Columbia, University of Victoria and Genome British Columbia. She holds a PhD in Political Science and Environmental Studies from the University of Toronto.

Leo is director and editor of Carbon Brief which reports on the latest developments and media coverage of climate science and energy policy. Leo previously worked for 16 years as a journalist, editor and author at the Guardian newspaper. Before joining Carbon Brief, he was WWF-UK's chief advisor on climate change. In 2013, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Exeter in recognition of his journalism. His books include A Life Stripped Bare, The Final Call and Will Jellyfish Rule the World?

During academic year 2014-15 John was a member of the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton. He is
editor of A Manifesto for the Public University (Bloomsbury 2011) and blogs regularly on higher education issues for the Campaign for the Public University, Research Blogs, Open Democracy, and Global Dialogues. He is joint managing editor of Discover Society, a free online magazine of social research, commentary and policy analysis.

Mike was previously professor of Climate Change in the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of East Anglia. He served on the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) from 1995 to 2001 and has advised the EU Commission, the UK Government, international agencies and many private and third sector organisations about climate change. He is the author of Can Science Fix Climate Change? A Case Against Climate Engineering (Polity Press, 2014) and Why We Disagree About Climate Change (CUP, 2009), chosen by The Economist magazine as one of its science and technology books of the year.

Richard Jones is an experimental soft matter physicist whose research focuses on the properties of macromolecules near interfaces. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society. In addition to his work as an experimental physicist, he has written extensively on wider issues surrounding science and society, with a particular focus on nanotechnology, the subject of his book Soft Machines: nanotechnology and life (OUP 2004). He has, since 2004, kept a blog - www.softmachines.org - covering issues in nanotechnology, public engagement and science and innovation policy. He is a Council Member of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, and is currently a member of the steering group of HEFCE's Review of the role of metrics in research assessment.

Claire’s research is in the social study of biosciences, in particular genetic sciences and biotechnologies. She investigates the role of scientific knowledge in public policy and controversies, the relationship between lay and expert knowledge, and public participation in the governance of science.

Victoria coordinates the Voice of Young Science (VoYS) programme, delivering media and peer review workshops for early career scientists and researchers. She also liaises with the VoYS network of 2000 early career researchers and coordinates myth-busting projects on issues that matter to them. She manages Sense About Science events and in 2012, launched the inaugural John Maddox Prize, an international prize to recognise those who stand up for science. She is currently working on a project to help teenagers develop their critical thinking, as part of the Ask for Evidence campaign, to be introduced in schools in 2015. Before joining the team in September 2011 as events and campaigns officer, Victoria worked as an explosives engineer in the mining industry and in science outreach.

David Nutt is Chair of the Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs (ISCD) and Vice-President of the European Brain Council. In addition he is a Fellow of the Royal Colleges of Physicians and of Psychiatrists and a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences. Previously he has been member and Chair of the Advisory Committee on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD – 1998-2009), member of the HEFCE/NHS Senior Lecturer Selection Panel and member of the MRC Neuroscience Board. He broadcasts widely to the general public both on radio and television including BBC science and public affairs programmes on therapeutic as well as illicit drugs, their harms and their classification.

Kathryn is currently working on the relationship between evidence and policy, particularly relating to research 'impact' or 'usage' in policy domains, global health policy networks and systems and conceptualising the policy process. Until May 2014, Kathryn worked at the Mitchell Centre for Social Network Analysis at the University of Manchester. Prior to that, she worked in public health and health policy research environments. She has worked on policy/practice/research collaboratives (CLAHRCs) researching the uptake of knowledge into practical environments. At the Institute of Education, she contributed to a policy-focused series of systematic reviews and developed evidence synthesis methodology; at NICE (at the Royal College of Surgeons), working on Clinical Practice Guidelines; and at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, on public health undergraduate education for allied health professionals and medics.

Until December 2012, Miles was Deputy Chief Scientific Adviser to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and its Director of Science. He was formerly Director in the international office of the OST. He is a marine scientist with long-standing connections to MAFF, Defra and Cefas. He was awarded the OBE in the New Year's Honours List 2013

Helen is working on public participation and science policy. Her PhD thesis looked at organisational learning from and about public participation in the UK Government-funded public dialogue body Sciencewise, as a way of understanding the increasing institutionalisation of public participation practices. She has worked on the EPSRC-funded 'Realising Transition Pathways' project, and more recently the UKERC-funded 'Systemic participation and decision-making in the energy transition' project. Both projects are concerned with conceptualising, mapping and designing diverse forms of participation around energy policy and the energy system.

Professor Peters' recent focus has been on vaccine development for livestock in sub-Saharan Africa and is currently working with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on programmes for the genetic improvement of African livestock. He is also Managing Director of ARPEXAS Ltd., a UK based company which provides consultancy to the animal health industry and the third sector in development of veterinary medicines, with special emphasis on vaccines. He is a member of several committees including the Veterinary Products Committee (VPC), Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE), the bovine TB Scientific Oversight Group (TB SOG) and the BBSRC Agriculture and Food Security Panel (AFFSP).

Ben's interests are energy and environmental politics, and the social dimensions that underpin seemingly technical discourse. He is a frequent contributor to Spiked-Online magazine, and blogs at climate-resistance.org, now in its ninth year of critical coverage of the climate debate.

Daniel's work focuses on revealing and improving the connections between science policy decisions, scientific research and social outcomes. His most recent book is The Techno-Human Condition (co-authored with Braden Allenby; MIT Press, 2011). He is editor of the magazine Issues in Science and Technology and is also a regular columnist on science policy affairs for the journal Nature.

Alexandra has been with the Research Councils for almost a decade and during that time has been involved with
various policy developments. Currently Alexandra leads the RCUK Strategy Unit which provides support to the
Research Councils in overlapping and collective areas of interest. Within the Strategy Unit, Alexandra has
responsibility for teams providing expertise in supporting the Councils to develop policy for research funding;
impact; international; research careers; diversity; public engagement; and communications. Current priorities
include preparing for the next spending review; supporting Paul Nurse’s review of the Research Councils and
implementing the recommendations of Professor Sir Bob Burgess’ independent review of the RCUK open access
policy. Prior to joining RCUK, Alexandra was with the Economic and Social Research Council. Life before the
Research Councils included roles with English Heritage and, before that, the private sector.

Mike was previously Head of the Research Group "Media Constructions of Climate Change" at the Cluster of Excellence CliSAP in Hamburg. In his research he looks at media representations and public perception of climate change and at the impact that media has on science.

Louise has worked in the UK and developing countries as a researcher, research manager, advisor to policy teams in government departments and management consultant. Her particular focus is evidence-based policymaking processes: improving the impact of research on policy and practice, knowledge brokering, methods for implementing evidence-based approaches to policymaking within government departments, the political economy of knowledge-to-policy processes, and monitoring and evaluation of research programmes. She is currently the Programme Manager of the Evidence and Policy Group for the DFID-ESRC Growth Research Programme and Senior Adviser to one of the DFID-funded BCURE projects in South Africa where she is helping a government department implement their research and evidence framework. Louise has worked for several UK government departments and international funders such as DFID, Gates Foundation, AusAID/DFAT, Devco (EU), IDRC, the World Bank and ESRC.

Dr Jack Stilgoe has spent his professional life in the overlap between science policy research and science policy practice, at the think tank Demos, the Royal Society and at UCL, where he teaches courses on science policy, responsible science and innovation and the governance of emerging technologies. He has worked with a range of organisations at the interface of science and policymaking, including EPSRC, BBSRC, MRC, Practical Action, the Environment Agency, the European Space Agency, Unilever and Pfizer. At the Royal Society, he ran the study that produced the influential report The Scientific Century. He is a member of the Government’s Sciencewise steering group and the Research Councils UK Public Engagement Advisory Panel. He regularly blogs about science policy for the Guardian.

Gerry Stoker has always been an engaged scholar. In 2001 he was designated by the UK’s Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) as a Hero of Dissemination and in 2004 received a “Making A Difference” Award from the UK Political Studies Association for the impact of his work on governance. He was the founding chair of the New Local Government Network (UK) which was the think-tank of the year in 2004, senior policy advisor on local government reform to the Blair Government and author of the award winning book Why Politics Matters: Making Democracy Work. From 2004-8 he held a prestigious professorial fellowship funded by the ESRC. In 2012 Gerry was appointed as the founding director of PublicPolicy@Southampton, a unit within the University that seeks to connect high quality research from all the University disciplines with policymakers.

Dr. von Storch is a climate scientist. He chairs the BALTEX Working Group on BACC II, which is assessing in climate and climate change in the Baltic Sea region. He is also involved in the provision of a regional climate service at the HZG. von Storch is a frequent speaker about climate change at academic, professional and public events, and for the media. He also regularly contributes to the German press, including Zeit, Spiegel, Welt and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.