Outreach and public engagement

I am passionate about sharing the wonders of science with others and thrive on the challenge of getting people excited about it. As a researcher, I believe it is my duty to not only lead scientific discovery but also to share that knowledge with the public. Throughout my career, I have been actively involved in outreach efforts, including designing and delivering presentations and demonstrations to schoolchildren through programs like the University of Manchester Pivots of Change and the Pint of Science international outreach program. I have delivered talks everywhere from the House of Lords, to pubs in Dunedin, to schools across Canterbury, and across the state of Tasmania as part of the Island of Ideas seminar tour. I have also created two websites, one for scientific audiences and one for the general public, and worked with my university’s social media team to create videos and other online content. My outreach videos alone have been viewed over 400,000 times.

If you’d like, you can explore a selection of my outreach talks, videos, and resources here, and I’d love to help bring science to life for your audience.

Presentations

Below are some examples of talks I have given. I genuinely love public speaking, especially when I can bring a room along with humour, stories, and solid science. For me, science is not just content, it is a way of seeing. The world becomes even more fascinating when you view it through a scientific lens.

Plastic Inside and Out: Island of Ideas Seminar Tour

Delivered a public lecture for Island of Ideas, presented across Tasmania, using a highly visual narrative to connect environmental plastic pollution with what’s happening inside bodies, and what individuals, workplaces, and communities can realistically change.

House of Lords Presentation on Dementia

Invited speaker at House of Lords in England, presenting Alzheimer’s-related research in a policy-facing setting, with an emphasis on clear science communication for non-specialist decision-makers.

University of Manchester Stories Event

In this talk, I speak to 400 PhD students at UoMStories in Whitworth Hall. I explain the importance of outreach, science and how to navigate a research career.

Educational Videos on Youtube

An example of some of the cool animated educational videos I have made with the outreach team at the University of Manchester.

Selected speaking, podcast, and outreach highlights

• Featured guest on The Empowering Neurologist Podcast with David Perlmutter, discussing how microplastics can interact with inflammation pathways and why chronic inflammation matters for brain health, ageing trajectories, and dementia risk. Listen here
• Interviewee on The Lentil Intervention Podcast (also released via Planet Pulse Pacific), unpacking the immune and inflammatory mechanisms underpinning microplastic exposure, then extending that discussion to fibrosis and longer-term tissue damage. Listen here and here
• Two-part feature on Ocean Protect Podcast, translating the science of microplastics, inflammation, and Alzheimer’s risk into a plain-language conversation designed for a general audience, with clear takeaways for everyday behaviour change and broader systems responses. Listen here and here
• Interview on The Science Show (ABC Radio National) focused on plastics in wildlife as an early warning signal, connecting seabird impacts to wider ecosystem health and the implications for human exposure. Listen here
• Presenter for British Science Association event series Science at the Movies, tackling popular neuroscience myths (for example, the “10% of the brain” claim) and exploring what the evidence does and does not support about cognitive enhancement.
• Regular public-facing science communicator through Pint of Science style talks, bringing ageing and Alzheimer’s biology into informal pub settings, and similarly taking science outreach into local pub audiences in Dunedin.
• Speaker and experiment demonstrator with The University of Manchester outreach programme Pivots of Change, delivering classroom and assembly sessions on the history and future of science at St. Luke RC Primary School and St. Ambrose Barlow RC High School, and continuing school outreach in Canterbury.
• Seminar speaker at University of Otago (Christchurch seminar series) on cannabinoids and brain injury, plus broader media engagement on cannabinoid research through Critic Magazine (interviewed by Rebecca Rutherford) and Radio One 91FM.
• Ongoing online science communication through Dr Jack Auty YouTube, plus maintaining jackauty.com and mereconjecture.com as hubs for public-facing explainers, talk summaries, and outreach materials, alongside my academic profile at University of Canterbury.