Christine Ottery

freelance science journalist

[christineottery]

My latest feature. It's a look at GE's 'ecomagination' environment strategy seven down the line for The Environmentalist magazine. Email me if you want a PDF as it's subs only.

[christineottery]

[christineottery]

I wrote a story for the Guardian about a rapper coming to the defence of the shark in a video about shark finning - you can watch the video above.

Don't forget to check out the RapGenius.com comments on the video lyrics - if anything more entertaining than the video itself! 

[christineottery]

Dutch artist Berndnaut Smilde makes sculptures out of clouds. I wrote about it for New Scientist. 

[christineottery]

Another review for the New Scientist. This time about the incredible film Coral: Rekindling Venus by artist Lynette Wallworth.

[christineottery]

I wrote a review of the Philharmonia's wonderful installation at the Science Museum for New Scientist's CultureLab.

[christineottery]

"We are drowning in information, while starving for wisdom. The world henceforth will be run by synthesizers, people able to put together the right information at the right time, think critically about it, and make important choices wisely."

 E. O. Wilson (via @caspertk)

[christineottery]

A job I want

I'm looking for a job. Frustrated by the fact that most jobs are acquired through contacts rather than job ads, I decided to make my own job ad - but I turned it around so it is aimed at potential employers. Plus, this heartfelt spoof also has the bonus of showing I know what I want and what my strengths are.

Click below to check it out.

And for more info about me and to see recommendations for my work look on my LinkedIn page or my testimonials page.

JobIwant (2)

[christineottery]

[christineottery]

I wrote a story on how global climate models are sometimes good, sometimes bad at predicting what will happen to people in areas vulnerable to the effects of climate change, and especially how this will affect their agriculture. Read more on SciDev.net.

Pic: Monsoon clouds in Calcutta, Wikimedia Commons

[christineottery]

Wow! I think (at least some of) the Journalism undergrads at City University London enjoyed my talk on blogging. Frankly as 'digital natives' they probably know more about blogging and tweeting than I do, but I was happy to share my experiences with them and discuss how to blog as if you are already a professional journalist. 

Forgot how much I loved teaching. Next stop (18-22 March): Bangladesh to speak with Environment Journalism MA students at Dhaka University about the future of environment journalism and getting their voices heard internationally.

[christineottery]

Yay! My new feature for the Dana Foundation has gone up. It's about using nanotechnology to treat brain cancer.  

[christineottery]

It is a compelling dream — to harness the abundant sunshine in an energy-deprived continent to fuel a better future for everyone. But African solar power researchers face many challenges.

Feature on African solar research published on SciDev.net

[christineottery]

I wrote a blogpost for the Huffington Post on the Christmas "giving season". It's not a new idea (see the above image from 1902), but there are now more ways we can all get involved in giving - from mobile apps to giving circles. Philanthropy is no longer just for the super-rich of this world. 

[christineottery]

My latest story for SciDev.net, about a cool low-tech/high-tech fusion for future rapid diagnostics: multiplex test 'chips' made out of woven silk. Or as an interviewee suggested: "sari-nostics".

[christineottery]

Ever heard of a kind of snake that when it bites you, releases a neurotoxin so potent that it basically digests your nerve endings? Welcome to the Krait. I thought this was fascinating when I was doing my research for my latest news story for SciDev.net, about a new kind of rapid diagnosis dipstick test to identify the venom from different snakes if you have been bitten - the test for krait venom is under development. 

Another fascinating fact is that 60-90 per cent of snake bites (dependant on region) don't result in injection with venom. Not all snakes are venomous, of course, and even those that are can choose whether or not to release their venom - they might prefer to save their venom for a tasty morstel of mouse or rat. 

[christineottery]

This is shameless self-promotion. But it is really nice to receive feedback on your work, beyond what the click rate stats are. Are Storifies the future of science storytelling? It probably depends on the story you want to tell. It would be ace if the platform could source from journal papers - If only more of them were open access! But I suppose you can at least post up some cheeky PDFs at the risk of incurring some wrath from the gods of academic publishing. 

Here is the tar sands Storify I pulled together.