Member

I am a historian of science and technology, with a PhD in the history of medical light technologies from the University of Leeds. I have since worked in various academic roles, involving teaching and research in a range of areas of history of science and technology. I explored historical and current understandings of hearing risk and hearing protection in relation to the music and sound industries, working with industry, educators and academic researchers to raise awareness of these issues and of the solutions available. I have presented my research to the Audio Engineering Society and at the First European Hearing Conservation Conference, and have also been featured in TPI and PSNEurope. I have presented educational seminars on hearing protection for sound professionals for the British Association for Performing Arts Medicine, and at trade shows such as PLASA and BPM/PRO.rnrnAs Curator of Sound Technologies at the National Science and Media Museum, I have introduced the history of sound technologies into our collections and exhibitions, and I research the history of these technologies and foster collaborations with academics and industry professionals. I am especially interested in (though not limited to) the history of live music production, and in developing ways to effectively engage our audiences with sound objects on gallery. Current research projects include the AHRC-funded ‘Sonic Futures’ (with James Mansell, University of Nottingham) in which we work with artists, makers and audiences to create prototype interactives to represent sound-related objects from our collections, and the XR Stories-funded R&D project ‘Responsive Interpretive Storytelling’ (with Bright White and DC Labs) to develop responsive, mixed-reality interpretation for one of our iconic Marconi microphones.rn