Programme Speakers
Professor Mary Bownes
Vice Principal and Convenor of the Senatus Postgraduate Studies Committee, University of Edinburgh.
Professor Bownes studied for her degree and D.Phil. at the University of Sussex and undertook postdoctoral research in Germany and California before taking a lectureship in Genetics and Developmental Biology at the University of Essex. She moved to the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology at the University of Edinburgh in 1979 to set up a group investigating the genetic and molecular basis of ovarian development in Drosophila.
Mary Bownes is now Vice Principal (Pro-VC) at the University of Edinburgh with responsibility in postgraduate affairs, widening participation, recruitment, admission, scholarships, community relations and sustainability. She is a Professor of Developmental Biology and Director of the Scottish Institute for Biotechnology Education. Mary has published over 100 papers in peer-reviewed journals and supervised the training of more than 27 PhD students.
Science communication is a particular interest of Mary’s, especially the development of materials for use in schools and at science festivals to encourage people to take an active interest in biotechnology and how it affects everyday life. She is also very active in encouraging and enabling researchers to engage with the public about their research.
She runs the Researchers in Residence scheme on behalf of RCUK and the Wellcome Trust and has just led a team from Edinburgh to become a Beacon of Public Engagement.
Mary is a Fellow of the Institute of Biology, the Royal Entomological Society and of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. She is on the Board of Highlands & Islands Enterprise and is a member of the BBSRC Appointment Committee.
