Biography:

Dr Joan Leach (BA hons, BSc, MA, PhD) convenes the Science Communication Program at the University of Queensland and is Associate Professor of rhetoric and Deputy Head of School in the School of English, Media Studies and Art History. Joan is also the President of the Australian Science Communicators. Her research centers on public engagement with science, medicine and technology and she has been active in the Australian government’s recent initiatives toward “Inspiring Australia”. She is currently researching the role of popular science in the globalisation of science since the 1960s, a project funded by the Australian Research Council. She has published extensively about science communication, including a 2012 book Rhetorical Questions of Health and Medicine, and was editor of the International journal, Social Epistemology from 1997-2010 and is now an executive editor at the journal. She held academic posts at the University of Pittsburgh (USA) and Imperial College London before moving to Brisbane in 2004.  Joan has won numerous academic awards for her research and community engagement, including being a Science Journalism Laureate at Purdue University (USA). While remaining transfixed by science, she advocates for better science communication which critically examines the social impacts of science, technology and biomedicine.

Presentations:

• The Idiot, the Disengaged, The Counterpublic: Rethinking Audiences for Science Communication
• Developing the evidence base: Inspiring Australia supported research
• Speed networking