Postgraduate Ambassadors provide a crucial link between the BSHS and their respective institutions, making sure that PG-relevant HSTM news reaches the postgraduate communities at their universities. We are currently looking to expand our pool of Postgraduate Ambassadors so if you would like to put yourself forward for the role, please get in touch with Kelly Swaby (Postgraduate Rep) for more information by e-mailing: postgradrep@bshs.org.uk.

Postgraduate Officer

Current Ambassadors

Kelly Swaby
Kelly SwabyUniversity of Manchester
Kelly is a PhD student at the University of Manchester. Her research, funded by the Wellcome Trust, focuses on the development of the nurse practitioner role in the late twentieth century, using it as a lens to explore the broader political and social context of the National Health Service during the period.
Sergei Zotov
Sergei ZotovWarwick University
Sergei Zotov is a Ph.D. candidate in the Centre for the Study of the Renaissance at the Warwick University. His research focuses on the analysis and conceptualization of alchemical allegorical images from European, mainly German and English treatises, such as 15th c. Ripley’s Scroll, Buch der Heiligen Dreifaltigkeit, Aurora consurgens, Donum dei, and 16th c. Splendor solis, Rosarium philosophorum, Book of Lamspring, Crowning of Nature, and many others. Sergei holds his MA in Cultural Studies from the University of Moscow. He worked previously on the project on alchemical iconography at the Herzog August Bibliothek in Wolfenbüttel, Germany, and was a guest researcher at Humboldt University, Berlin, and at Forschungsbibliothek Gotha. Sergei is an author of three non-fiction books on topics of iconography, history, and history of alchemy. One of them took the Russian “Prosvetitel” prize in 2018.
L. Joanne Green
L. Joanne GreenUniversity of Cambridge
Joanne is a PhD student in the HPS department at Cambridge. Her research looks at natural history in Britain during the long 19th century, and specifically the connections between gender, class, and empire within the British entomological community. She obtained her MA at Tel Aviv University, where she began her research into the British entomological community by focusing on the life of Margaret Fountaine, a travelling lepidopterist. By looking closely at the life of one woman of science she reconstructed her scientific networks, practices, and her interactions with local people and knowledge throughout her travels. In her PhD Joanne continues to investigate hierarchies within the entomological community, reactions to local people and knowledge, and emotions surrounding the killing and collection of insects.
Georgia Haire
Georgia HaireUniversity of Kent
Georgia Haire is a PhD candidate in the Centre for the History of Medicine, Ethics and Medical Humanities at the University of Kent. Her thesis project examines false teeth and oral health in Britain during the mid-twentieth century, exploring the material and spatial histories associated with dentures during this period, as well as their use as prostheses and technologies by patients, dentists, and dental technicians. Georgia holds a BA in History from the University of Manchester and an MSc in the History and Philosophy of Science from UCL.
Kristin Hay
Kristin HayUniversity of Strathclyde
Kristin is a PhD student at the Centre for the Social History of Health and Healthcare and the Scottish Oral History Centre at the University of Strathclyde. She obtained her MSc in Health History at the University of Strathclyde where she explored the role of feminist activism in pro-choice abortion campaigning in Scotland, c. 1970-1990. Her thesis focuses on birth control practices in Scotland following the emergence of the contraceptive pill and legal abortion, c. 1970-2000. She will use oral history alongside archival research to examine how this “contraceptive revolution” impacted the lives of men and women in both urban and rural Scotland, and explore their role in changing gender dynamics during this time. Kristin is the recipient of the Neil Rafeek Oral History Prize (2017) and the Women’s History Scotland Runner-up Prize (2018)”
James Inglis
James InglisUniversity of St Andrews & National Museums Scotland
My research on Typewriters and Commerce in Scotland (1870s-1920s) utilises the extensive typewriter collections held by National Museums Scotland and Glasgow Museum Resource Centre; and is supported by Scottish archival sources relating to the marketing, retail and use of writing machines during the first fifty years of commercialisation.

I graduated from the University of Westminster with a BA in Modern History in 2015, followed by an MA in Public History in 2016. During my undergraduate and masters research I maintained a keen interest in the public history of science and technology, working on various projects at the Royal Institution of Great Britain and the Tower Bridge Exhibition.

Since starting my PhD in September 2017, I have presented at numerous science and technology events, including the BSHS Postgraduate Conference in April 2018.

Rebecka Klette
Rebecka KletteBirkbeck, University of London
Rebecka Klette has recently completed an MA in Victorian Studies at Birkbeck, University of London, and is currently finalising her phd research proposal to be submitted to Birkbeck in 2016, concerning the reception and incorporation of degeneration theory into Scandinavian racial biology, literature, cultural debate, and satire, 1870-1922.
Alexander Longworth-Dunbar
Alexander Longworth-DunbarCHSTM, University of Manchester
Alexander is a PhD student in the Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine at the University of Manchester following the completion of his MSc at the department in 2018. His thesis project is a cultural history of the Internet in the United Kingdom from the 1980s through to the present, with a special emphasis on the interplay between popular representation and regulation. He is also an editor of Manchester-based student science magazine Planet Bee, and is currently developing a history of technology podcast with support from the BSHS.
Ellen Packham
Ellen PackhamUniversity of Aberdeen
Ellen Packham is a PhD student at the Centre for the History and Philosophy of Science, Technology and Medicine in the University of Aberdeen. Her research explores the literary habits of British professional engineers in the period between 1750 and 1900 considering the genres of writing adopted, adapted and created by engineers, their transformation over time, and their placing within broader literary, scientific and practical cultures. Ellen has a first degree in chemistry and completed an MLitt at the University of Aberdeen in 2017, thanks to the support of a BSHS Master’s Degree Bursary.
Johanna Parker
Johanna ParkerAustralian National University
Johanna is a PhD candidate at the National Centre for Indigenous Studies at the Australian National University. Johanna holds a Master of Arts in Museum Studies (International Scholarship) from the University of Leicester, UK, and a Master of Arts in Public History from the University of Technology, Sydney, Australia. Johanna has worked as a social history curator at the National Museum of Australia, the National Archives of Australia and the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House from 1999 to 2009. In 2009, Johanna began her career in the Australian Government where she has held various positions including managing the Museums and Repatriation Section, and serving a term as the Departmental Liaison Officer at Australia’s Parliament House. In 2015, Johanna was awarded the Secretary’s Award for Academic Achievement, Attorney-General’s Department, “for dedication to the creation of world leading policy advice in the areas of museum collections and repatriation of Indigenous human remains”. Johanna’s research interests are museological legislation and ethics, interpretation, private collectors of cultural material and human remains and British and Australian medical professionals of the 19th century.
Sofia Viegas
Sofia ViegasUniversity of Lisbon
Sofia Viegas is a PhD student at the Center for the History of Science and Technology (CIUHCT), University of Lisbon. She graduated in Biology at the University of Lisbon and holds a MSc in Environmental Sciences and Technology from the University of Porto. Sofia’s research focuses on the colonial botanical collections of the Herbarium of the University of Porto, collected during the 19th and 20th centuries in the former Portuguese African colonies, currently devoid of historical and scientific contextualization. Having CIUHCT and the Museum of Natural History and Science of the University of Porto as host institutions, her doctoral project aims to clarify the role of the academic community of Porto in the construction of botanical knowledge of the Portuguese colonies in the 19th and 20th centuries. At the same time as clarifying the circumstances that led to the present invisibility of these collections, both at a national and international level. Prior to that for 6 years she worked in Science Communication themed on Biodiversity, under a protocol between a research centre on Biodiversity (CIBIO-InBIO) and a cultural institution of Contemporary Art, Architecture, and Landscape (Fundação de Serralves).
Kim Walker
Kim WalkerRoyal Holloway & Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Kim researches the nineteenth century development of the antimalarial cinchona tree and its constituent quinine alkaloids. Controlling empire meant controlling tropical diseases and quinine was central to this. She studies the analytical, botanical and chemical practices involved in transferring the cinchona tree from South America to cultivation in imperial plantations, particularly through the work of ‘quinologist’ John Eliot Howard (1807-1883).
Amie Bolissian
Amie BolissianUniversity of Reading
Amie is a Wellcome Trust-funded, PhD student at the University of Reading, researching ‘The Aged Patient in Early Modern England, c.1570-1730’. Drawing on sources such as published medical texts, personal diaries, letters, and doctors’ casebooks, her study investigates how physicians and laypeople understood and treated the infirmities of older adults, as well as the impact of these conditions on the lives and emotions of ageing patients and their families. Amie has presented her research widely, including at conferences for the Society for the Social History of Medicine, and European Association for the History of Medicine and Health. She is also the Postgraduate Rep and Social Media Manager for the Centre for Health Humanities at The University of Reading, a convener of the IHR Life-cycles seminar series, and was the recipient of the Royal Historical Society’s Rees Davies Award for Outstanding UK Master’s Thesis 2018.
Samuel Hollins
Samuel HollinsLancaster University
Samuel Hollins is a second-year PhD candidate within Lancaster University’s History Department. He holds a first-class bachelor’s degree from Lancaster University in History and International Relations, and a master’s degree in Conflict, Security, and Development from the University of Exeter (distinction). His PhD, which is AHRC funded and in collaboration with the Royal Air Force Museum, explores the political, strategic, and economic rationale of Britain in the 1960s and 1970s. His research revolves around the commission and development of the Panavia Tornado, and its collaborative parentage. Samuel is also the Coordinating Editor for EPOCH, a postgraduate produced history magazine, and has worked for the UK MOD, contributing to the incoming seventh edition of its Global Strategic Trends publication. Samuel holds memberships of the Centre for War and Diplomacy, and the Royal Air Force Historical Society.
Alexander M. Aizenman
Alexander M. AizenmanUniversity of Oxford
Alexander is a DPhil student working in the history of science, medicine, and technology department at Oxford. His research seeks to untangle the contested origins of the English expert witness during the tail end of the eighteenth century. More specifically, by blending the traditional scope of intellectual history and practice-oriented history of science Alexander’s project aims to examine the interplay between judicial and scientific standards of truth, both as formerly conceived of, and as pressured by, the realities of day-to-day courtroom conduct. Alexander holds a BA in history from QMUL, an MA in Political Thought and Intellectual History jointly taught at QMUL and UCL, and an MPhil in History and Philosophy of Science and Medicine from Cambridge.
Stefan Bernhardt-Radu
Stefan Bernhardt-RaduUniversity of Leeds
Stefan is a 2nd year PhD student in the Centre for the History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Leeds. His research questions the impact of genetics upon the development of biology in the early 20 th -century Britain, with a focus on the communication of knowledge between different individuals and cultural groups. He obtained an MA in the History of Medicine at the
University of Warwick.
Scott Keir
Scott KeirUniversity College London
Scott Keir is a PhD student in the department of Science and Technology Studies at UCL, funded by a Royal Institution Philip Freer Studentship. He is interested in the history of science communication, with his PhD research focusing on the development of science centres and museums in the UK from the 1980s onwards. He previously had a career in science communication and education policy, including at the Royal Society, the Royal Statistical Society, and for Maths Year 2000 Scotland, and holds a master’s degree in science and society from the Open University and a BSc in computer science from the University of Edinburgh.