SEB Annual Conference Antwerp 2025

Dr Sarah Rayment

Nottingham Trent University

Dr Sarah Rayment is a senior lecturer and course leader for bioscience courses with an integrated foundation year in the School of Science and Technology at Nottingham Trent University and Bioscience Scholarship Research Centre director for the university. After her first Ph.D., at Aston University in Birmingham, she spent a number of years as a post-doctoral researcher, first at Aston University and then at the University of Nottingham. She joined Nottingham Trent University in 2014 where she has completed a pedagogic Ph.D. on laboratory education alongside teaching across the bioscience provision. Sarah has a keen research interest in the development of professional skills in bioscience education and has published in the area of authentic teaching and learning predominantly in terms of the laboratory as a professional learning space. She holds a Postgraduate Certificate in Academic practice and is a Senior fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Dr. Nicholas Freestone

School of Life Sciences, Pharmacy and Chemistry, Kingston University, London

Nick Freestone is an Associate Professor in Physiology and Pharmacology and Course Leader for a suite of undergraduate degrees in Pharmaceutical Science at Kingston University in south west London.  He is co-Chair of the Royal Society of Biology’s “Bridging Awarding Gaps in the Biosciences” Network and a member of the British Pharmacological Society’s Inclusive Pharmacology Education Steering Group. He was also, until recently, an Education Theme Lead for The Physiological Society. In 2014 he was the UK’s Higher Education Bioscience Teacher of the Year as awarded by Oxford University Press and the Higher Education Academy and is now Chair of the panel of judges for this award for the Royal Society of Biology. In 2021 he was awarded a National Teaching Fellowship for his work in addressing awarding gaps both in his local teaching environment and also nationally.

 

Professor Susanne Voelkel

Dean of School of Life Sciences, University of Liverpool

Professor Susanne Voelkel is Dean of the School of Life Sciences at the University of Liverpool. After her PhD in Animal Physiology at the Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf she spent four years working as a Post-Doctoral Researcher at the Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany. In 2001 she joined the University of Liverpool where she teaches in the areas of Zoology and Biochemistry. Susanne has a keen interest in educational research and has published in the areas of student engagement, assessment and feedback. She holds a Postgraduate Masters in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, and she is a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a National Teaching Fellow.

Amanda Rasmussen

University of Nottingham

Amanda is an Associate Professor (Research and Teaching) at the University of Nottingham. Her educational research is mostly around training students in team (group work) skills and exploring digital and gamification strategies to make learning fun and engaging. Her science research is in plant physiology. Educational resources (and more information about my science) can be found on my webpage: https://www.arlab.co.uk/.

Email: [email protected]

: @razda5

Jordon Millward

Imperial College London

Jordon is a PhD researcher at Imperial College London, researching how interactions influence life science students' professional identity and career trajectory. He started his career in agriculture following his readings of Animal Behaviour and Welfare at Harper Adams University, where he became a British Poultry scholar. Working within the livestock sector, he developed his passion for teaching by wanting to support the sector, which gave him his start. Continuing to ensure that he has ties to the land-based sector, Jordon is an active beekeeper when not researching or teaching. Capitalising on this passion for the land-based sector, he still maintains an active role in teaching by working alongside organisations like the Brilliant Club whilst ensuring that he maintains his focus on his research, which was motivated by the barriers he saw for his college students and now wanting to find solutions to help students in the higher education sector. He continues looking at different ways to develop his research and teaching skills and how he can enhance representation in the science community, something he has been working on as a member of the SEB OED working group and nomination task force.

 

Prof Claire Garden

Associate Professor, Edinburgh Napier University

Dr Claire Garden (she/her) SFHEA MRSB is an Associate Professor and Head of Learning and Teaching in the School of Applied Science at Edinburgh Napier University.

Claire was appointed as a lecturer at Edinburgh Napier University in 2007. She was promoted to Senior Lecturer and Subject Group Leader in Biomedical Sciences & Microbiology in 2013 and in 2017-8 became Head of Life Sciences with strategic responsibility for over 50 academic staff and in the region of 700 students, alongside teaching and research. Claire became the School's Head of Learning and Teaching in March 2020 and led the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. She has adopted a student engagement focussed LTA strategy for her school and is responsible for its planning and implementation.

Claire trained in molecular neuroscience and now focuses on pedagogical research. She researches inclusion, student voice and student engagement, is a member of the RAISE committee, and has published research on novel teaching methods such as gamification and Lego Serious Play. She is also interested in barriers to the inclusion of industry-relevant skills in life sciences curricula and regularly collaborates with external stakeholders on upskilling initiatives. Claire is an active member of SULSA’s Skills Committee and recently led the Catapult-funded Advanced Therapies Skills Training Network upskilling project at Edinburgh Napier University.

Claire has taught and led a wide variety of Biomedical Sciences modules both in Edinburgh and with international partners, she also has experience of programme leadership and external examining. Claire has expertise in curriculum design, development and enhancement, and accreditation and quality assurance. She was awarded Senior Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy in 2016, when she also became a Member of the Royal Society of Biology. She is a proud advocate for equality and inclusion.

Declan Perry

Declan Perry is a fourth year PhD student at Royal Holloway University of London. His research focuses on the governing genetic factors responsible for regulating the population of chloroplasts within plant photosynthetic cells. He was diagnosed at the age of 10 with profound Dyslexia and atypical autism. His learning difficulties have had a substantial effect on his education, with significant weaknesses within reading, spelling and handwriting. Despite these difficulties Declan’s strong attention to detail, obsessive passion for Plant Biology and the support of his family and mentors has allowed him to overcome many obstacles he has faced within education.

 

Dr Ellen Bell

University of East Anglia

Email: [email protected]

Dr Becky Lewis

University of East Anglia

Dr Becky Lewis is an Associate Professor in Evolutionary Biology at the University of East Anglia. Her research has been on thermal adaptation, using experimental evolution in a model system (Triboloum castaneum) but Becky's current role focuses primarily on teaching. Alongside Evolutionary Biology, she focuses on innovations to improve students' transferable skills development and to facilitate the sharing of best practices in this area through her Skills Community of Practice. Becky also works on improving the student transition into university through pre-arrival resources and stretching the student transition.

Dr Colin McClure

Queens University Belfast

Colin is a teaching-focused lecturer in the School of Biological Sciences at Queen's University Belfast, specialising in molecular genetics. While his biological research focuses on the genetics of ageing using Drosophila as a model, his educational work focuses on facilitating authentic learning and assessment within the Biosciences, both in and out of the classroom, and utilising technology to assist in this. You can find more of his activities/interests on his pure page: https://pure.qub.ac.uk/en/persons/colin-mcclure

Dr Kelly Edmunds

Associate Professor, University of East Anglia

Kelly began her career as a disease ecologist and has since made the transition to focus on teaching, now specialising on strategies to enhance the student experience. She is an award-winning Associate Professor and the Deputy Teaching Director in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of East Anglia where her teaching is mostly focused around the first year experience. She has led multiple projects around the student experience from those focusing on the pre-arrival period through to innovations in assessment and currently leads an international Community of Practice focused on Student Belonging. Kelly publishes her work across a range of specialist and non-specialist outlets and is currently co-editing a book on developing student belonging that is due out in summer 2025.

Dr Liz Alvey

Senior Lecturer, University of Sheffield

Liz Alvey is a Senior Lecturer in Bioscience Education at the University of Sheffield, UK. Her approach focuses on enhancing student engagement and confidence by emphasizing the value of their learning, particularly through the innovative use of generative AI in both classroom and laboratory settings. Her biological research interests lie in plant genetics, specifically investigating how environmental factors influence plant development through epigenetic mechanisms.  

Dr Peter R Moult

Lecturer in Neuroscience & Level 3 Neuroscience Coordinator, University of Glasgow

No bio provided

Dr Sarune Savickaite

University of Glasgow

No bio provided

Prof Enrique Lopez-Juez

Royal Holloway, University of London

Enrique is a reader in Plant Development at the Department of Biological Sciences at Royal Holloway, Univ. London. His lab uses genetics, cell and molecular techniques to study chloroplast biogenesis. No mean feat for plants, self-building solar panels which build their own solar cells. He teaches extensively in cell and plant-related modules, and is keen on developing engaging practicals which use and allow learning modern techniques: on Biology as an experimental science.

email: [email protected]

Prof. Sheila Amici-Dargan

University of Bristol, School of Life Sciences

University of Bristol, School of Biological Sciences 

Sheila Amici-Dargan is an Professor in Life Sciences Education in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Bristol. She is also the outreach, education, and diversity (OED) trustee for the Society of Experimental Biology. Her scientific research career started with a PhD in Biophysics at the University of East Anglia, followed by postdoctoral research positions in Neuroscience at the University of California Irvine and MRC Centre for Synaptic Plasticity in Bristol. Sheila then chose to swap to a teaching focused pathway in higher education, working for 10 years at Cardiff University’s School of Biosciences before taking up her current post at the University of Bristol in 2020 where she teaches animal physiology and neuroethology. She is also currently seconded 1 day a week, as a senior academic developer in the University of Bristol’s Curriculum Enhancement Project team leading university wide student partnership projects to enhance feedback and student agency. 

Dr. Emma Yhnell

Cardiff University

Dr Emma Yhnell is an internationally multi-award-winning educator and science communicator, based at Cardiff University, Wales, United Kingdom. She is Associate Dean of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, and a Reader in Neuroscience. Emma obtained a BSc degree in Biochemistry before completing a PhD in Huntington’s disease. She then undertook a clinical research fellowship which demonstrated the need to provide accessible and engaging information and inspired her future work in science communication. She is a sought-after public speaker, having hosted a BBC radio series and contributed to DK books. Emma now teaches the next generation of scientists, as a National Teaching Fellow and Senior Fellow of AdvanceHE, she delivers memorable and interactive teaching with passion and infectious enthusiasm. As a first generation academic with expertise in equity, diversity and inclusion, Emma is changing the typical image of academia by making science more open, honest and fun. 

 

Dr. Shane Austin

Lecturer in Biochemistry, The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus

Shane Austin is currently a Lecturer in biochemistry at The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus in Barbados. Shane joined The UWI as an assistant lecturer in 2017 and has taught biology, biochemistry and scientific writing courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Shane currently supervises undergraduate and postgraduate research in several areas, particularly the metabolism of organisms in extreme conditions, uterine fibroids in Caribbean women and active learning to improve biochemistry education. Shane is passionate about active learning and has piloted several initiatives in his classrooms in this area. In 2018 he joined the Promoting Active Learning through Mentorship (PALM) network. His work as part of the PALM network increased his involvement in the active learning and education communities. Shane has presented several professional development workshops on active learning strategies and published on the topic. Shane is a member of several societies, including the Society of Experimental Biology, the Malacology Society of London and the American Chemical Society. Recently, Shane has been working with the SEB to improve diversity in the society’s awards through his work with the outreach, education and diversity working group and the SEB Awards Nomination taskforce. Shane is excited to share his experiences and knowledge with colleagues in higher education.