Nick Russell studied for degress in botany, the history of technology, and the early history of agricultural science. His career has been in vocational education, initially in applied biology, then in post-16 science education with the Nuffield Foundation, and latterly in science communication at Birkbeck College London, and Imperial College London. In the late 1980s and early 90s he was active as a freelance journalist, writing on science, science education, and the history of science and technology for national newspapers, and the science and science education trade press. From 1995 to 2008 he was Director of the Science Communication Group and from 2005 to 2008 Head of the Department of Humanities at Imperial College.
His latest book is Communicating Science: Professional, popular, literary, Cambridge University Press, October 2009 (www.cambridge.org/9780521131728)
For a brief discussion about the book see Imperial College Reporter magazine at http://www.imperial.ac.uk/reporter, Issue 213 December 2009, page 12.
For an audio interview about the book see Imperial College Podcast at http://www.imperial.ac.uk/interact , Podcast January 2010, between 25.54 mins and 33.53 mins.
Research interests:
Nick is working on the representation of science in British fiction and drama and on new ways of writing about science in a fictional context. He is supervising two PhD students, Andreia Azevedo-Soares (www.imperial.ac.uk/people/a.azevedo-soares07) who is looking at genetics in modern British fiction, and Sean Fitzgerald who is writing short stories with science themes for a research project by practice.
Nick has an ongoing fiction project, a set of short and shortish stories provisionally titled, Scenes of Biological Life, as yet without a publisher. If you click onto the title you can read the draft story 'Scientists three. reporters one'.
Recent articles and features include
Russell, Nicholas (September 2009), The New Men: scientists at work in popular British fiction between the early 1930s and late 1960s. Science Communication, 31(1), 29-56.
Russell, Nicholas (April 2007), Science and scientists in Victorian and Edwardian literary novels:insights into the emergence of a new profession. Public Understadning of Science, 16(2), 205-222.
Russell, Nicholas (18 February 2006), Thomas Hardy, Richard Proctor and the dialogue of the deaf. How scientists evolved to be resistant to public accountability. LabLit.com the culture of science in fiction and art.
Russell, Nicholas (9 April 2006). Henrik Ibsen and public science policy. Taking STEPS to enhance PEST. LabLit.com the culture of science in fiction and art.
