Fiona has a degree in Journalism and 15 years experience in media relations. She held the position of Senior Press Officer for the Equal Opportunities Commission for six years, followed by two years running the media operation at the National Council for One Parent Families. A total change of environment followed as Fiona became Head of Media at CAFOD, one of the UK’s leading aid agencies. She founded the Jubilee 2000 press group, which helped to force serious Third World issues onto the media and political agendas. Fiona is an experienced public speaker and a trained journalist, who has written extensively for newspapers and publications, authored several policy papers and contributed to books on humanitarian aid.

Read Fiona Fox's blog, On Science and the Media

Having graduated with a degree in Cell Biology from the University of Manchester, Claire stayed on to do a PhD in Biochemistry. Her PhD focussed on using different types of microscopy to study the movements inside frog eggs. She won the Daily Telegraph's young science writer award in 2003, and this convinced her to leave bench science and begin a career in science communication. After getting some work experience with Cancer Research UK, Manchester Museum, and writing for academic magazines, Claire began work at the Science Media Centre in 2004 as Science Information Officer. She was promoted to Senior Press Officer in December 2005.

Claire is also Newsletter Editor for the Stempra (the Science Technology Engineering and Medicine Public Relations Association).

Ed studied Zoology in Sheffield before heading north to do a PhD in Evolutionary Biology at the University of Edinburgh. Here, despite the joys of wasps and wonderful fieldwork spent diving in Oman, he began to indulge in a spot of science communication on the side. Whilst running workshops in schools, writing a booklet on evolution and training PhD students to be communicators, he won Famelab’s 2007 Vodcast Award for talking about the sex lives of bedbugs. He was volunteering at the University of Edinburgh’s Press Office when the post at the Science Media Centre called him back to London in 2008.

Helen joined the SMC in October 2007 as the dedicated Engineering Press Officer, and handles any issues in the fields of engineering, technology and the physical sciences that hit the headlines. Having previously worked in the press office of the international science journal Nature, she is also a scientist by training with a biomedical science degree from the University of Sheffield and a PhD in neuroscience from the University of Oxford. In 2004 she received a Science Communicator’s Award from the Pupil Research Initiative, and has taken part in many activities to improve the way that science and engineering issues are presented to the public – including volunteering at the SMC many moons ago!

Will graduated from the University of Leicester in 2005 with a degree in Biological Sciences, and went on to complete a Master’s degree in Science, Culture and Communication at the University of Bath where he volunteered at the Press Office and gained experience in media relations and science writing. Will worked as a volunteer at the Science Media Centre in summer 2007 before joining the Centre full time as Science Information Officer the following September.

Graduating from UCL in 2004 with a degree in Biology (Organismal and Ecological pathway). He has since spent a year working at the Grant Museum of Zoology administrating the website, designing interactive learning resources for undergraduates, documenting and maintaining and publicising the collections. Simon joined the Science Media Centre in October 2005, he is responsible for the day-to-day logistics of running the busy centre, monitoring the activities, supporting the fundraising efforts and maintaining the website.

Simon is studying for the Advanced Certificate in Public Relations with the CIPR (Chartered Institute of Public Relations).

He is webmaster and committee member of Stempra (the Science Technology Engineering and Medicine Public Relations Association).