Elected: 2019
Discipline: Public Engagement and Understanding
Dr Hermione Cockburn
Scientific Director, Our Dynamic Earth
Hermione began her career at the University of Edinburgh researching landscape change in Africa and Antarctica. After a post-doc at the University of Melbourne, and for the past 20 years, she has worked exclusively in science communication. For the BBC, she presented television series like Coast, Rough Science and The Nature of Britain, and Radio 4 documentaries on subjects ranging from lead pollution to lasers and an award-winning series on bacteria. She presented and wrote the book for the BBC2 series Fossil Detectives: Discovering Prehistoric Britain. She taught environmental science for the Open University for many years and is passionate about life-long learning. Her current role as the Scientific Director at Dynamic Earth – the UK’s only science centre entirely focused on the Earth’s story – is all about empowering people with understanding and empathy for the planet. Recently, she has led a major ocean literacy project about Scotland’s deep sea, collaborating closely with marine scientists from across the UK. In 2020, she was awarded an OBE for services to public engagement in science. She is a Trustee of the Association of Science and Discovery Centres and an honorary fellow of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society.