New face at SMC

The Science Media Centre is pleased to welcome their newest media advisor, John Kerr, to the organisation.

John comes fresh from Otago University where he recently finished his Master of Science Communication Degree, specialising in non-fiction writing. Calling on his background in neuroscience (his first degree), John’s thesis focused on a very kiwi phenomenon, BZP party pills. In addition researching the scientific and medical literature, John examined the media’s portrayal of the drug and interviewed several high profile politicians and researchers to gain a complete insight into the issue.

John previously worked in London as an editor for the online publishing company BioMed Central, where he managed the peer-review of research manuscripts and produced web content for research journals in the BMC Series . He has also held a number of academic research positions and written for student magazines.

He is passionate about science and excited to be part of the SMC team, working to strengthen the links between science and the public.