The short version
I am a Full Professor of Creative Pedagogies at Edinburgh Napier University in Edinburgh. I started in atmospheric physics, measuring greenhouse gases from satellites. After my PhD I spent two years in Japan as a Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation scholar, studying science and theatre. Then I moved into science communication. Now I work at the intersection of AI, education, and critical thinking.
I founded Slow AI, a newsletter and curriculum that helps people develop the judgement to know when AI is useful and when it is not. Not productivity tips. Critical faculties.
I am also a poet. My work has been performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company, at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and at Green Man festival. I wrote and presented for the BBC.
Credentials
Academic
- PhD in Atmospheric Physics, University of Leicester
- MPhys Physics with Space Science (First Class, 87%)
- MA in Higher Education
- Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (the highest teaching excellence recognition in UK higher education)
By the numbers
- 100+ peer-reviewed publications
- 10 books
- 2,500+ citations (h-index 25)
- £450,000+ in research funding secured
- 4 completed PhD supervisions, current doctoral candidates at Edinburgh Napier
Current roles
- Full Professor of Creative Pedagogies, Edinburgh Napier University
- Visiting Professor, University College Dublin
- Member of REF 2029 Sub-panel 23: Education
- Expert Witness for the Council of Europe on AI Literacy
- Member of Scottish Universities Working Group on Generative AI in Curriculum and Assessment
- Member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh's Education Committee
- Chief Executive Editor, Geoscience Communication (Copernicus)
- Editorial Board, Humanities and Social Sciences Communications (Nature Portfolio)
- Founder of Consilience, an interdisciplinary journal with 86 volunteers across 6 continents
- Fellow of the Young Academy of Scotland
- Advance HE Teaching Excellence Award Lead (TEAL), Edinburgh Napier
- UKRI, AHRC, and Swiss National Science Foundation grant reviewer
Selected books
- Effective Science Communication, 3rd edition (IOP Publishing, 2024). Global best-seller: used in 523 institutions across 66 countries, 250,000+ downloads
- Poetry and Pedagogy in Higher Education (Policy Press, 2024)
- A Sonnet to Science: Scientists and Their Poetry (Manchester University Press, 2019)
- Bridging Scholarship and Practice in Higher Education (Routledge, 2025)
- Generative AI in Higher Education (Bloomsbury, 2026)
Awards and recognition
- Katia and Maurice Krafft Award (2023), European Geosciences Union, for innovative engagement methods in geosciences
- Principal Fellow of Advance HE (PFHEA, 2022)
- LSE Higher Education Blog Fellow (2024), one of six globally
- Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation Scholar, two years studying science and theatre in Japan
- Substack Bestseller badge for Slow AI
- Expert witness for the Council of Europe, European Commission, and Westminster Education Forum
- Written evidence to House of Lords Select Committee; work cited in UK Government policy papers
- Chaired Science Foundation Ireland grant panel (overseeing £24M+ in funding allocation)
- 400 million media reach over the past two years (Edinburgh Napier University Press Office)
- Featured by BBC, NPR, Wired, Buzzfeed, Nature, Scientific American, The Conversation, Times Higher Education, Channel News Asia
For media and event organisers
Everything you need to feature or introduce me. Download the files below or contact me directly.
I can comment on
AI literacy policy, AI in education, synthetic empathy and AI attachment, AI-generated content detection, science communication, the ethics of AI agents, creative pedagogies, and the gap between what organisations say about AI and what they actually do.
