Meet the judging panel of Science-me a Story

We are very proud of the judging panel that they make the contest possible. We are very grateful for their professionalism, commitment and support. They are all enthusiasts of Science communication and they show it in their work. We can only say THANK YOU!

The judges of the stories in English

Izzie Clarke is a science journalist and experienced podcast producer making creative series for a range of brands and scientific associations. A proud space nerd, Izzie hosts and produces the popular space podcast The Supermassive Podcast for The Royal Astronomical Society. She is also the senior producer making a range of podcasts (that will totally change the world) including Call of the Wild for WWF-UK, Ocean Matters for The Bertarelli Foundation (and hosts their bonus episodes) as well as The Robot Podcast for ABB  izzieclarke.com/podcasts and twitter.com/izzieclarke. She has been every year in the judging panel!

Greg Lynall is a Chair in English at the University of Liverpool, president of the British Society for Literature and Science and co-director of the Literature and Science Hub of the University of Liverpool. He is been with Science-me a Story since its beginning!

Claire Culliford studied French and Hispanic Studies and went on to complete a Masters in Medical, Scientific and Technical Translation with Translation Technology. Over the past 20 years she has translated for global organisations such as the United Nations, and taught at Imperial College, London Metropolitan, Westminster and Leeds Universities. She has edited scientific and academic papers on topics ranging from environmental science and sustainability to medicine, physics and genetics. With a passion for the creative industries and audiovisual translation, she has worked across a variety of media, from animation to songwriting. She writes and edits children’s books, novels and screenplays. Her prize-winning book series, “The Little Helpers”, written to support the United Nation’s Sustainable Development goals, educates and inspires children to solve real world environmental and social issues in innovative ways. She is now starting to work on a TV animation of the series.” She was a member of the judgning panel in 2020 and 2021.

Viktoria Korzhova has a PhD in Neuroscience from LMU Munich and is active in science communication since her university years. She has over eight years of experince in writing , editing and serving as a jury in competitions of science communication articles, as well as organizing and coaching speakers for multiple outreach events (Pint of Science, Soapbox Science, 15×4 Munich). She was part of the judging panel of Science-me a Story in 2020.

Jules Pottle loves using stories to teach science! She is a Primary Science Specialist Teacher at a village school in Oxfordshire and was awarded PSTT Primary Science Teacher of the Year 2015 for her work, teaching science through stories. She also works with Storytelling Schools as a Literacy and Science Specialist and has published several books including ‘Science Through Stories’ (Smith and Pottle, Hawthorn, 2015) and ‘The Molliebird – an evolution story‘ (PSTT, 2019). She was member of the judging panel in 2019 and 2021.

David A. Kirby  is Professor of Science Communication Studies at the University of Manchester. He is the author of the book Lab Coats in Hollywood: Science, Scientists, and Cinema that explores the interactions between the scientific community and the entertainment industry.” He was part of the judging panel of Science-me a Story in 2018 and 2019.

Eva Amsen is a writer and science communicator, focused on the common ground between science and the arts. She runs a quarterly newsletter highlighting collaborations and overlap between scientists and musicians. Eva has written about science in culture and society for NautilusThe ScientistSpacing Magazine and other places — including the science blog she has maintained since her days as a PhD student in Toronto. Eva also runs Share Your Sci and helps researchers communicate their work. She was part of the judging panel of Science-me a Story in 2018.

Danielle Thibodeau is an Innovation and Education Manager in the Queen Mary Academy at Queen Mary, University of London. She is an educator with over fifteen years of experience in innovative programme creation with a focus on issues of access and equity in higher education. Danielle’s experience spans a range of ages and subjects, including science engagement projects like in2scienceUK and 1001 Inventions. She joined the judging panel for Science-me a Story in 2021.

Adam Feinstein is a writer, translator, poet, biographer of Pablo Neruda, autism specialist and film critic. Adam published in 2004 the acclaimed biography of Pablo Neruda “Pablo Neruda: A Passion for Life” and in 2013, “A History of Autism: Conversations with Pioneers”. Adam is also the founder of the magazines Looking Up, an international magazine on Autism and Cantalao, dedicated to the life and work of Pablo Neruda. The poems and translations of Adam have been published in magazines all over the world. Adam was part of the judging panel of Science-me a Story in 2021.

The judges of the stories in Spanish

Salvador Macip i Maresma is a doctor, writer and researcher. He worked for 10 years at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, studying the molecular base of cancer and ageing. Since 2008, he has his own research group at the University of Leicester. He has published stories, novels and children books for which he has received several awards. He has also published the Science books “Inmortales y perfectos”, “Las grandes plagas modernas” and “Qué es el cáncer (y por qué no hay que tenerle miedo”. He has been part of the judging panel of Science-me a Story on 2019, 2020 and 2021.

Francisco Vega Narváez is a Lab specialist Technician on the department of Applied Physics I at the University of Seville. He is the promoter and co-writer of the scientific theatre plays “Women scientists: Past, Present and Future” and “La Reina Dido”. He has written several Science communication stories that have been published in Jot Down website and, with other authors, the books “El dilema Turing y otros textos científicos” and “Cañones de Wolframio”. He has participated in several editions of the European Night of Research and Science Week. For “Women Scientists: Past, Present and Future”, he and all the team from the play have received the following awards: Equit@t 2017 by the Open University of Catalonia, Science in Action International Contest (theatre modality) 2018, Science Engagement Award from the University of Seville 2018, Special mention Award “Premios Al Sur” 2019, Educational Institution mention Award “Premios Pioneras_IT” 2020 from the Oficial Guild of Telecomunication Engineers and Meridiana Award 2020 from the Andalusian Government. He has been a member of the judging panel since 2019.

Maruxa Martínez-Campos studied biology at the University of Barcelona. Later, she moved to the United Kingdom to do her PhD about the fruit fly at the University of Cambridge. After realising that she enjoyed writing about Science more than actually researching, she changed her career to Science Publishing and started working at the open access journal Genome Biology in London. She moved back home to start working at the communications department of the Biomedical Research Park of Barcelona (PRBB). There, she is in charge of the El·lipse website in which you can read everything about the fascinating Science that is being done at the six institutions of the biomedical Park. She was part of the judging panel in 2020 and 2021.

Daniel Ramón Vidal has a PhD in Biological Sciences from the University of Valencia. He was a Professor of Food Technology at the same university and professor of Research at the Agrochemical and Food Technology Institute (IATA) of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC). In 2003, he founded the Biotechnology company Biopolis S.L. that specialises in microbial biotechnology, and in 2008 Lifesequencing S.L., that specialises in massive genome sequencing. Both companies were acquired in 2017 by Archer Daniels Midland Co (ADM), an American muntinational company. Currently, he is the vicepresident of R and D in Health and Wellbeing at ADM. He has received several awards including the recognition from the Spanish Microbiology Society, the award to a Scientific career by the Danone Insititute, the European Award for Science Engagement, the Spanish National Research Award “Juan de la Cierva”, the International Hipocrates Award, the Medal to Innovation from the García Cabrerizo Fundation and the International Nutrachampion Award. He has written, among others, the novels “Maná” and “El síndrome de Herodes”. He has been part of judging panel since 2020.

Camila Monasterio has a PhD in Animal Biology. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher on Evolutionary Biology and Biodiversity. She is also a singer and a writer and created “Un cuento propio: Historias para escuchar y leer, heroínas por descubrir”. She was part of the judging panel in 2018 and 2019.

David Blanco Laserna is a Physicist and a writer. He has published more than 10 Science communication books for adults about black holes, the discovery of gravitational waves, the Higgs Boson, the Physics of Stephen Hawking or the theory of Evolution. He is also the author of several books for children and young adults in both fiction and popular Science. He likes to explore the field of Science dissemination through diverse formats. In his children’s books, he experiments combining Science and fiction, looking for a way for the reader to stablish an emotional link with Physics, Biology or Mathematics. He was part of the judging panel of Science-me a Story in 2019.

Pablo Barrecheguren has a PhD in Biomedicine, specifically, Neurobiology. He is part of “Big Van, Científicos sobre ruedas”, a Science Engagement team. In 2015, he was a finalist of Famelab Spain and, since then, he does Scientific monologues with Big Van. As part of Big Van, he has also participated in other Science Engagement projects as “LocosxCiencia2016”, “Science Slam Paragua 2016” or writing the book “Si venimos del mono, ¿por qué somos tan cerdos” (Big Van, Esfera de los Libros). He also likes Humanities and that is why he studied at the “Writing School of the Barcelona Ateneum” for two years. Since then, he writes fiction and Science communication texts. He was part of the judging panel of Science-me a Story in 2018.

Enrique Royuela Casamayor has a PhD in Microbiology, Physiology and Genetics. He is co-founder, director and editor-in-chief of the Science communication magazines Principia and Principia Kids, as well as their online format. He was part of the Science-me a Story contest in 2018.

Javier Feijoo Morote studied Spanish Filology and he has been a secondary school teacher for over 10 years. He has taught in several schools of the Valencian Community and Andalusia, where he developed different projects on creative writing for kids and young adults. Currently, he is finishing a PhD in comparative literature and the work of Ramiro Pinilla at the University of the Basque Country. He was part of the judging panel of Science-me a Story in 2018.

Susana P. Gaytán is a Professor of Physiology at the Department of Biology of the University of Seville. She has made Science Engagement a core part of her research and she is very active on promoting women into Science being part of the AMIT association. She also runs the podcast Ciencia Clandestina from the University of Seville. She was part of the Science-me a Story panel in 2021.

José Pío Beltrán is a Professor at the Institute of Molecular and Plant Cellular Biology of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) in Valencia where he studies the genetics of flowers and fruits. He has three patents on the reproduction of plants and he founded “la Casa de la Ciencia del CSIC” of Valencia in 2018. He is passionate about Science engagment and communication to general public. He was a member of the judging panel of Ciencia-me un Cuento in 2021.