I have a wealth of experience in different forms of science communication and public engagement. This includes, but is not limited to, my main areas of authorship, training, and storytelling. This page provides a comprehensive overview of my experiences.

Authorship

Writing is a passion for me and I have work published in many forms and for different audiences. These include peer-reviewed research papers, technical reports, and articles and blog posts. It is a life-long ambition to write a book and this is something I am working towards.

Research Papers: I have published twelve peer-reviewed research papers including six as lead author. Topics include environmental modelling and science communication. Click here for a narrative list.

Technical Reports: I have written technical reports covering flood modelling projects for the Environment Agency, Hull City Council, and the Hull Lagoon.

Articles and blog posts: I contribute articles and blog posts covering themes of modelling, science communication, gaming, and positive environmental actions. My contributions include for the Multiplay Network, Yorkshire Flood Resilience, The Conversation, and the European Geoscience Union. Click here for a list.

Presenting and public speaking: I am a confident and engaging public speaker and have presented in front of many different audiences. This includes international science conferences, research meetings, and public lectures. Click here for a list.

Training and Teaching

I am an experienced trainer and educator, covering practicals, lecturing, and module design. I am an Associate Teaching Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. My training-related activites have included:

• Concieving, designing, and delivering the NERC-funded Earth Arcade Academy in 2019-2020. It trained, equipped and resourced a cohort of early career researchers in designing their own outreach activities.
• Guest lecturing for the HydRoData UNESCO Chair on Water-related Disaster Risk Reduction at the University of Ljubjlana, Sovenia, in 2023. I designed and delivered a session on communicating hydrology and data.
• Invited speaker at the 2023 Peter Wolf symposium, the annual early career meeting of the British Hydrological Society. I designed and delivered the session “Six Things Society Needs from Hydrologists”.
• Lecturing for the Masters in Flood Risk Management course at the University of Hull, 2020-2021. I designed and delivered the module “Flood Resilience: Living with Water”. It was delivered online due to Covid lockdown.
• Lecturing and demonstrating for the University of Hull and Bishop Burton College on subjects across flood risk, geomorphology, and Geographical Information Systems (GIS).
• Designing and delivering geography-based problem solving workshops for the University of Hull’s Foundation Science course.

Storytelling

I use stories to help people understand the impacts of environmental issues, including flooding, and to help them imagine the potential of positive actions. I make use of immersive storytelling that uses video games, virtual reality, and 360 videos to place the audience inside of the story. This brings them much closer to the narrative.

• Help Sali: the flood recovery story of a young girl using 360 animations. Includes themes of disability, temporary housing, and making positive change. Part of the Flood Stories project.
• Help Callum: the flood recovery story of a young boy using 360 animations. Includes themes of loneliness, anxiety, and making positive changes. Part of the Flood Stories project.
• Inundation Street: a 360 animation showing the aftermath of a flooded house and the actions that can be taken to increase resilience. The video has been viewed more than 3 million times on YouTube.
• Flash Flood!: an interactive virtual reality experience telling the story of a real flash flood in a small upland valley.
• I was a Digital Champion for the SEPA360 project, which included receiving training for making 360 videos for education. 

Events

I cut my teeth in science communication through developing exhibits for events to share research objectives and outcomes. Click here for a list and summary of my work with exhibits.

The majority of this work was through the Earth Arcade project I conceived at the University of Hull. Some of events I have led include:

• Earth Arcade @ Hull Freedom Festival 2019. A large multi-activity exhibit over two days and with more than twenty volunteers at Hull’s premier cultural festival.
• Earth Arcade’s ‘Problem with Plastics’ @ Manchester Science Festival 2018. A multi-activity exhibit in the Museum of Science and Industry.
• Earth Arcade @ British Science Festival, Hull 2018. Multiple activities across multiple venues at Hull’s Humber Street. 
• Earth Arcade @ Hull Science Festival, 2018-2019.
• Flash Flood! @ NERC’s Operation Earth, Natural History Museum, London, 2018.
• Flash Flood! @ NERC’s Unearthed, Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh, 2017.
• Flash Flood! @ NERC’s Into the blue, Manchester Airport Viewing Centre, 2016.

Activity Design

I have produced and helped to produce several activities designed to engage people with environmental issues and research. Activities I have worked on include:

• Crabby’s Reef – a retro-arcade style game communicating the impact of ocean acidification on marine animal. Play on itch here.
• Flood Alert – a web-based game to engage young people with property flood resilience. Play on itch here.
• Defend the City – gamification of an existing modelling activity into a workshop exploring flood risk interventions.
• Humber in a Box – an interactive virtual reality activity that merges a numerical model of tides and sea level rise with a 3D gaming engine. What a video summary here.

Funding Applications

I have applied for and been successful in receiving funding to support my science communication activities. These include:

• European Geoscience Union Public Engagement Grant – £1.5k for Crabby’s Reef.
• Environment Agency Ready 4 Floods – £27.5k for Help Callum.
• NERC Embedding Engagements – £4.5k for the Earth Arcade Academy.
• University of Hull’s Innovation Fund – £34k for Earth Arcade Workshops.
• ESPRC Data Assimilation for the REsilient City Pilot Fund – £24k for Inundation Street.
• NERC Flooding from Intense Rainfall Knowledge Exchange – £12k for Flash Flood!
• British Society for Geomorphology Outreach Grant – £1k for Flash Flood!

Awards

• Environment Agency One Team Award – Awarded to the organising committee for the summer activities at the Science Museum in 2024, which I co-led.
• Environment Agency Local Recognition Award – Personal award for my contribution to the Environment Agency’s summer activities at the Science Museum in 2024.
• Flood & Coast Digital Excellence Award – ‘Highly Commended’ for Help Callum in 2021.
• University of Hull Research Excellence Award for Outstanding Impact, Outreach or Engagement in 2018.
• HEY Digital Awards ‘Best use of technology in education’ – Finalists in 2016 and 2018.
• NERC ‘Into the blue’ Public Award – Joint second-place for most popular exhibit in 2016.
• University of Hull Excellency Award for Public Enagagement in 2015.

Media

I have provided expert commentary and advice for several media projects, including radio, tv, and theatre. This includes:

• Expert commentary of estuarine geomorphology for the BBC Radio 4 show ‘I, by the Tide of Humber‘.
• Piece for ITN about proposals to dam the North Sea.
• Expert interview for Blast Theory as part of the performance 2097.
• Expert interview for the Slung Low performance Flood.
• Co-host for the JD & Skinner Show and the Jam & Cheese Sandwich programmes on the Jam 1575 student radio station, 2004-2006.

My Training

I am alway keen to develop my skills and to learn new ones. Some of the training I have undertaken includes:

• Science Museum Academy training in 2023 and 2024.
• NERC Researcher Engage Academy 2022-23.
• 360 video for education as part of SEPA360 in 2019-2020.
• NERC Operation Earth Training in 2018.
• Science Busking with Ken Farquhar in 2016.