Dr Emma Yhnell PhD, FLSW, NTF, PFHEA.

Publishing academic research is often seen as the ‘bread and butter’ of academic life. Many academics are judged on their research output by the articles that they publish and the journals that they publish their work in. In this post, by articles I mean research articles which are original pieces of research and by journals…

The rise in the availability and accessibility of ‘Commercial Genetic testing’ (genetic tests offered by commercial organisations that are often completed at home and then sent back to the company) has sparked a lot of debate recently. After reading a BBC New Story – Genetic tests: Experts urge caution over home testing. I wanted to…

It can be all too easy to accidentally miss emails and in June of last year I nearly missed quite an important one! DK (formerly known as Dorling Kindersley) emailed me to invite me to contribute to a new book they were writing, it was called ‘How The Brain Works’. I don’t make any secret…

I have worked in Huntington’s disease research for many years, so I followed with interest and a certain amount of apprehension the news in November 2019 that a woman who had inherited Huntington’s disease was suing the NHS. The story was reported widely across the media including the BBC, the original news article is available…

By now  I think we have all established that I love to chat! As a scientist I have spoken about my research at a number of different events, to a range of different audiences. I will talk about science and research with anyone and anywhere! I was lucky to be invited to a recent event…

I grew up in Gloucestershire, but I am ashamed to admit that despite this, I had never been to Cheltenham Science Festival (I know, it makes me cringe just saying this!). Winning the FameLab Welsh National Final meant that I received an invite to take part in the UK Final of the competition, which nicely coincided with…

If you haven’t heard of FameLab… why not?! FameLab is a science communication competition designed to engage and entertain. Sounds great right? I am an advocate for all things involving science communication! The FameLab competition has some very simple yet vital rules. You have only three minutes to present on a topic of your choice…

When I saw the #WhyWeDoResearch campaign on Twitter back in 2016 it looked like a really interesting initiative. So, I was quick to drop the lead Claire Whitehouse (ClaireW_UK) an email and volunteer to take part in and host a Tweetchat. The campaign uses social media (specifically Twitter) to raise awareness, understanding and opportunities about…

As 2018 draws to a close and I write my final blog post of the year, I wanted to use this as an opportunity to reflect on the year. Whilst it would be easy to focus on all of the positives (as social media often does), I think it is important to say that my…

As a scientist, it can be all too easy to get caught up in the world of academia, but the truth is that for our research to make a real difference, we need to be engaging with policymakers. The Royal Society’s Pairing Scheme ‘gives policymakers and research scientists an opportunity to experience each other’s worlds’,…