Science journalist, author and communicator

About Me

I’m an award-winning science journalist, editor, author and communicator. Welcome to my website!

My new book Beyond Belief: How Evidence Shows What Really Works is now out!

You can order it on Amazon or Bookshop.org. If you like it, please write me a good review on Amazon!

I’ll be speaking about and signing the book at these events: 

See my News & Events page for other events.

I’ve been a journalist and editor for Nature, the world’s leading science journal, for over 20 years, including five years leading the team as Chief Magazine Editor. I was named European Science Journalist of the Year in 2025, and Editor of the Year at the Association of British Science Writers awards in 2022. I currently write and edit content across the magazine. I’m also an Honorary Professor of Practice at University College London, where I teach science writing. In 2026, I won a Knight Science Journalism Fellowship at MIT and I’ll be in Boston from August 2026-May 2027.

Please browse my site and feel free to get in touch!

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Beyond Belief: How Evidence Shows What Really Works

Beyond Belief: How Evidence Shows What Really Works

Beyond Belief: How Evidence Shows What Really Works

The remarkable story of the global movement championing the idea that evidence, not opinions, should guide our decisions. Today, more and more people around the globe are using scientific evidence to figure out what works—in health, government and business as well as conservation, schools and parenting. This wasn’t always the…

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The Life Project

The Life Project

The Life Project

The Life Project is about a remarkable series of scientific studies that have tracked generations of children growing up in Britain over the last 70 years. I spent about five years of my spare time researching and writing the book about these amazing studies, called the British birth cohorts. Today,…

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My TED talk: Lessons from the longest study on human development

Reviews

“A captivating account of the struggle to move medicine and policy from flimsy hunches to hard evidence. Full of astonishing stories and remarkable insights across all aspects of life, from clinical care to crime and climate change, Beyond Belief will change your outlook on what it means for something to be effective.”

Adam Kucharski, author of Proof: The Art and Science of Certainty

“Truly fascinating… a highly readable and informative look at the way these areas that affect all our lives have traditionally ignored properly obtained evidence and relied on anecdote.”

Brian Clegg, popular science writer