Get to know our team of trained science communicators!
You'll find them around We The Curious presenting exciting science shows, taking you on a trip to the stars in the Planetarium, growing in the Greenhouse, cooking in the Kitchen, guiding activities in Live Lab and, of course, playing on exhibits every day!
Tammy recently graduated from Imperial College London. She studied Biochemistry, exploring the building blocks of life and the chemical reactions that happen in all living things. Outside of We The Curious you will find her singing, writing songs and playing any instrument she can get her hands on (household objects can double up as instruments if you hit them hard enough). She has never written a song about biochemistry, though- maybe one day.
Favourite moment: When I was stargazing in the planetarium and I realized how many fiction and sci-fi book authors have been inspired by astronomy. For example, Sirius from Harry Potter is named after the brightest star in the night sky (which happens to be the nose of hunting dog constellation Canis Major!) These days, if I have to walk home at night, I feel safer knowing where my favourite childhood book characters are in the sky.
Favourite Exhibit: The tinkering air-table. I am working on a new breed of giant flying helicopter using the larger paper strips which I nicked from Animate it (don’t tell the other live science team members)
Image credit: Lee Pullen
Penny joined the team in October 2015 after remembering the interesting and fun time she had coming to At-Bristol for a forensics day in year 6. She has a degree in Biology from Swansea University and spent her free time on the beach and exploring the Gower coast. Working at We The Curious has sparked an interest in space and the stars but she can also be found on the court playing badminton, tennis or squash.
Image credit: Lee Pullen
Live Science Team Leader Raj first worked with At-Bristol in 2008 as part of the Bright Sparks Project, which was dedicated to raising science achievement amongst BME students in Bristol. Upon completing the project, Raj was inspired and decided he wanted to join At-Bristol/We The Curious and is passionate about science accessible to everyone in the Bristol community and beyond. Raj has a BSc in Biochemistry, a PGCE in secondary science and has taught Science in various other settings including secondary schools, a Young Offenders Institute, and inner-city supplementary schools. Raj has been training in martial arts since a teenager and still competes both locally and nationally.
Ellie studied Biology at the University of Bath and was fascinated by DNA and how our genes make all the cells in the body. She loves how science questions can go into more and more detail about how things work or how they can expand to ask some of the biggest questions of all.
Having worked all over the world in China, Central America, and diverse inner city schools in the UK, Ellie is passionate about making science available to people from all backgrounds. "Science can inspire cooperation, just like it has done in the International Space Station - we’re better when we’re together and talking with visitors is the best thing about the job." When not in We The Curious, you can find her half way up a climbing wall - still chatting probably!
Alison has a degree in Biology with French from the University of Sheffield and spent a year abroad studying everything from genetics to biodiversity at the Université de Bourgogne. Her real passion lies with insects and continues to hunt for bugs wherever she goes. After enjoying the hands-on side of science communication, she began delivering at science festivals and other public engagement events – which has taken her around the UK and beyond.
Alison has a huge passion for collaborations between the arts and sciences - particularly in the form of live shows! – and is very interested in combining immersive theatre techniques and public engagement with science to spark interest and ignite conversations. When she is not talking about science, you can find her cooking some grub or watching a play.
Image: Lee Pullen
I have previously worked in schools as a maths and science teacher and I have also worked in other science centres too! It has always been my dream to be an inspiration to people of all ages on some sort of scale. Carl Sagan is my inspiration. I am a keen and very passionate astronomer with a BSc (Hons) degree in Observational Astronomy. I am known as the Space Lady here in We The Curious!
Outside of work, I dabble in cycling, playing guitar and the Cajon (not all at the same time!) I also enjoy stargazing and classic computer games.
Image: Lee Pullen
Sarah did a degree in Biology before moving to Bristol to study for a master's degree in Palaeontology. She loves evolution, fossils, and thinking about what the world was like before people were around. Since joining the team in Septemeber 2013, she’s started presenting in the Planetarium and learning loads about space. It’s her new favourite subject. Otherwise, she spends her time enjoying wildlife, adding fossils to her collection and trying to outdo children with dinosaur facts.
Image credit: Lee Pullen
Kerina joined the team in October 2013, and loves it! She’s especially enjoyed learning more about the amazing universe and has a new found love of stargazing. She completed a degree in Maths and Music after not being able to choose between the two, and still loves the variety of doing both. Outside We The Curious, Kerina teaches music to children, including running music classes for toddlers and making children’s music videos; there’s even one about going to the Moon!
Image credit: Lee Pullen
Ginny is a graduate of Marine Biology and Oceanography from the University of Southampton, where she specialised in deep-sea biology and exploration. After graduating she went on an exploratory research trip, discovering and mapping unknown ecosystems and species in the Northwest Atlantic. She loves the ocean and can be found doing everything from surfing, kayaking and SCUBA diving, to sailing traditional boats. Ginny loves travel and adventure, and dreams of sailing around the world one day!
When she’s not under the sea, Ginny is a keen jazz and soul singer, frequenting Bristol’s open mic nights. She is also a trained seamstress and loves to design and sew crazy garments!
Amy studied for an MSci in Astrophysics at University College London, where she specialised in the evolution of the Solar Wind (the collection of particles streaming outwards from the Sun which, when energised by the Earth’s magnetic field, cause the Northern Lights!) She is also fascinated by the weirdness of quantum mechanics, general relativity, dreams and psychology.
Before joining the Live Science Team, Amy worked as a Science and Maths tutor and spent time hitch-hiking across Europe. Outside of We The Curious, she is likely to be found immersed in arts and crafts or dressed as a unicorn, covered in glitter and hanging upside down from a trapeze.
Image credit: Lee Pullen
Paul has worked as a cartoonist, a support worker, a music and dance therapist, a teacher, a stand up comedian, and a singer in a goth band, but he most enjoys working in science centres as it allows him to indulge his twin passions for working with kids and being the centre of attention. As a result he has been working in science communication for over ten years.
He is a Welsh speaker and spends his spare time reading comics, blogging about comics, and generally bothering people about comics.
Image: Lee Pullen
Rose recently graduated from the University of Edinburgh with a MSc in Science Communication. She previously studied for a degree in Chemistry at the University of Sheffield and can often be found loitering near the magnetic sand exhibit hoping to explain magnetism to anyone who will listen.
Image credit: Lee Pullen
Hannah joined the team in July 2016 after finishing her master’s degree in Biology, where she was studying how carnivorous plants are able to catch their unsuspecting insect-prey. Previously, Hannah has spent a lot of time coordinating Science Festivals; working with researchers from the University of Bristol and turning their research into fun, public engagement activities. She loves plants and will defy anyone who calls them boring, and is most likely to be found in the greenhouse feeding visitors electric daisies. When she is not working, Hannah loves exploring Bristol and all the quirky things it has to offer.
Photo credit: Lee Pullen
Antonia has a Masters degree in Zoology, and published her research on ant colony decision-making. She is fascinated by brains, behaviour, bias, and learning. In recent years she worked on video games and in zoos, before landing her dream job on the Live Science Team. In her spare time, she loves reading, learning languages and drawing.
Image credit: Lee Pullen
Tom joined the team in 2015 after completing a MSci in physics. He's fascinated by all kinds of waves and during his masters used sound waves to levitate a water droplet! In his spare time, Tom plays the drums and guitar and is never happier than when he has a group of friends, a board game and a rich selection of cheeses. Tom loves a good pun but has never made a joke about Uranus.
Image credit: Lee Pullen
