Dr Deborah McNeill


        Head and shoulder photo of SAMS trustee Dr Deborah McNeill

Trustee and Chair of Education Committee

Dr Deborah McNeill is Director of the Glasgow Science Festival (GSF), which she co‐founded in 2006. This award winning annual festival runs throughout June, with an exciting programme of events designed to showcase the outstanding contribution Glasgow and Glasgow Researchers make to the fields of science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine (STEMM). We work with hundreds of partners from academia, third sector and industry to create an exciting programme of events across the City. GSF has a strong focus on adult and community engagement, reaching over 50,000 participants annually.

Deborah is also head of the Public Engagement Group in STEMM hosted by the University of Glasgow. This involves delivering a wide range of projects throughout the year, working with local community groups, schools and wide range of publics, promoting informal science education linked with cutting edge research in the West of Scotland. Our project portfolio includes: West of Scotland contract holder for the STEM Ambassador scheme, Dumfries & Galloway Science Festival, Creating Engineers primary competition and a suite of public engagement training options.

Deborah is also a marine biology researcher at the University of Glasgow, with an interest in fish population assemblages and distributions, habitat associations and connectivity within shallow and mesophotic ecosystems. She focuses on practical conservation management, working effectively with local stakeholders to develop and deliver projects. She has extensive expeditionary experience, sits on the University of Glasgow Exploration Council and is staff lead/ supervisor on various tropical marine biology expeditions, field courses and PhD/ Masters projects, primarily in Sri Lanka and Egypt. She is a scientific and technical diver, research dive supervisor, senior dive instructor and instructor trainer.

Deborah sits on the Glasgow City of Science and Innovation strategic programme board and is Chair of the Scottish Youth Film Festival.

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