Dr Heather Doran

Heather Doran is the Public Engagement Manager at the Leverhulme Research Centre for Forensic Science, University of Dundee. She joined the Centre soon after it was established and led the creation of the Public Engagement Strategy. The Centre was recognised in 2019 with a Gold Award from the National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement. The Centre engages with multiple audiences including members of the public, schools and all parts of the justice system through a variety of methods including publications, virtual games, experiences and classroom sessions. The Centre has contributed to science festivals around the UK and publishes a popular podcast (Inside Forensic Science).

Heather is an elected member of the international Public Communication of Science and Technology (PCST) committee and is the Programme Chair for the PCST Network 2025 which will take place in the UK for the first time. In 2015/2016 she was awarded a Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Travel Fellowship on the communication of science travelling to the USA, Japan and China to explore how major research institutes and individual researchers help foster online engagement through social media. Previously she was the Science Editor for The Biochemist. Heather began her involvement in public engagement during her PhD in molecular pharmacology at the University of Aberdeen when she was Editor and co-founder of Au Science Magazine.