Dr Melanie Smallman

Lecturer

Dept of Science & Technology Studies

Faculty of Maths & Physical Sciences

Joined UCL: 1st Nov 2013

Research summary

Melanie's research looks at how the public form views around new and emerging science and technology, the impact of these views on public policy and how expert advice is conceived and used in policymaking. Her Phd thesis examined the impact on policy of ten years of public dialogue on science and technology.

Melanie is also interested in the role of science and innovation in increasing economic inequality, how this is affecting perceptions of science and technology and what alternative innovation models are available for more inclusive growth.

Teaching summary

In 2018-19 Academic year Melanie will be teaching "Nanosciences and Society" (Term1), "Investigating Contemporary Science" (Term 2) and "Science in Government" (Term 2), as well as convening the MSc "Social Research Methods and Data Analysis" module (Term 1).

Education

University College London: FHEA, Teaching and Learning in Higher Education | 2018
University College London: PhD, Science and Technology | 2015
Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine: MSc DIC, Science Communication | 1993
University of Warwick: BSc Hons, Virology | 1992

Biography

Dr Melanie Smallman is a Lecturer in Science and Technology Studies and Deputy Director of UCL's Responsible Research and Innovation Hub.

Melanie is also founder and Director of the UK's first science communication consultancy, Think-Lab, and has led a number of innovative science communication and science policy projects. For 8 years she was a communications advisor to Defra's Chief Scientific Adviser, tasked with rebuilding public confidence in Defra's use of science in the aftermath of BSE and foot and mouth disease. At Defra, she led and managed a small team of communication professionals who developed and implemented a communications strategy that aimed to change the media backdrop against which Defra crises took place, to improve the way in which crises were dealt with and to communicate those changes more widely. Melanie was also Project Director of SmallTalk, organising a series of public dialogue events on nanotechnology, and was a Dialogue and engagement specialist for ScienceWise, specialising in using mainstream and digital media to encourage debate. She was a member of the Nanotechnology engagement group which provided advice to the UK government and has also advised the OECD and the European commission on nanotechnology policy.

Melanie is also Chair of environmental campaign SERA and is committed to engaging the public in issues around air quality. Through this role, she has worked closely with politicians on environmental policy development both in government and opposition. She has co-written a book on community energy with former shadow energy minister Caroline Flint MP and is a member of Labour's National Policy Forum. She was a Councillor in London for 10 years and a parliamentary candidate in 2005.

Melanie has a PhD in Science and Technology Studies from UCL, an MSc in Science Communication from Imperial College London and a BSc(hons) in Microbiology and Virology from the University of Warwick. She is a former Fellow for the Science, Technology and Society Programme at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and was appointed a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) in 2016.

Publications