I am a storyteller and biologist by training (b. 1972, London. UK) and currently Wallscourt Associate Professor in Immersive Media in the School of Arts at UWE Bristol. My writing practice spans and draws on several professional roles from creative writing to arts commissioning, curation, academic research, teaching, policy and blogging. 

  • As film commissioner and executive producer at B3 Media I set up their national shorts programme,  Blank Slate and B3 Talent Lab (now focused on XR), launching the film careers of several filmmakers. This was funded by Arts Council England, The UK Film Council, Film4 and the now defunct London Development Agency.
  • As curator of Sheffield Documentary Festival's DocFest Exchange public programme I selected and showcased the work of documentary filmmakers, alternative reality creators and commissioners linked to planetary health. This was funded for five years by Wellcome and subsequently spun out as OKRE.
  • As storytelling tutor on immersive arts and digital media courses at UWE Bristol and Manchester Metropolitan University, I supported MA and BA students to develop and shape their early ideas and careers through proposals to final exhibition and beyond.
  • As storytelling tutor on EarthWatch's ScienceCamp, an environmental science programme for early career researchers, I support scientists to develop authentic stories to connect with diverse communities to spur interest and collective action in relation to planetary health.
  • As storytelling lead on Engaging Environments, a national programme for environmental scientists and diverse communities to consider equity in relation to the climate and biodiversity crises, I invested in cultural partner, Watershed's Alternative Technologies: A Just Transition, which resulted in a reparative rest policy for staff and practitioners.
  • Arts and Impact lead on Patterns in Practice, a research project with Sheffield University, UWE Bristol and Watershed exploring the role of emotions, values and beliefs in AI practice.
  • As an academic, I am co-editor of book series Digital Materialities and Sustainable Futures with Emerald Press, and have published several journal articles, book chapters and policy pieces across disciplines spanning design, emerging technology, biology, public engagement, racial justice and equity in research funding.
  • On an adhoc basis, I support Studio residents writing and development programmes e.g. Tom Marshman's Queer Writing Programme through ideas development 1 to 1s with participants.

I am co-founder and co-director of Squirrel Nation, a small design agency that creates experiences from creative concepts that consider co-existence as an ethic, through installations, live events and moving image. We have held fellowships with Jerwood/ Manchester International Festival and AHRC AI Ada Lovelace/ LSE which shaped AHRC's Responsible AI fellowship programme, BRAID. Squirrel Nation are alumni of the Stuart Hall Scholars and Fellows network.

I am currently working on the next phase of my writing practice with a charitable donation from Dr Simon Chaplin, to develop and explore my creative writing practices as a cultural leader and storyteller.

*transdisciplinary = integrates and moves beyond discipline-specific approaches to address a challenge.