LGBTQ+ Advocacy

Supporting LGBTQ+ people and raising awareness of the issues we face

A photo of several people against a grey-white background. The people have their arms around each others shoulders, most are wearing white shirts that say "Pride in STEM" and "Sci-curious" and they are all waving rainbow-coloured pride flags. An actual trans flag is flying in the background, and one person is holding a placard that says "Pride in STEM".

Pride in STEM

I am one of 10 trustees for the UK charity Pride in STEM, running events and activities together with our extensive network of volunteers. We were nominated for the Gay Times Honours in 2017 and are one of the groups that run the annual International Day of LGBTQIA+ People in STEM (#LGBTSTEMDay) on the 18th of November.

Pride in STEM website

A wide photo of several people sat at a long table draped in grey fabric. The people are smiling at the camera

Speaking Up at Scientific Conferences

I was an invited panellist for the ‘100 Years of LGBTQ+ Geoscientists’ town hall at the American Geophysical Union in December 2019. At the same conference I also presented a poster on improving inclusivity for LGBT+ people in STEM.

A colourful poster entitled "How to be an LGBT+ ally" made by Joby. The poster depicts two flying flags, one in the rainbow colours of the pride flag, one in the pastel colours of the trans flag. On the flags' colour bars there is text with different suggestion for how to support and look out for LGBT+ people in science

Articles & Blogs

I have written articles on the issues and experiences of being LGBTQ+ in STEM, including a two-part article for Digital Science and one guest article for the Royal Society’s In Verba blog (republished in 2022).

Beginner’s Guide to Being an LGBT+ Ally

In Verba: Out and Proud in STEM

A photo of several brightly coloured flyers that say "LGBT+ role models in science" and have profiles of different LGBT+ scientists and engineers, including Lynn Conway, David Smith, Nergis Mavalvala, Sally Ride, and Alan Turing.

LGBTQ+ Materials

I have designed several posters and flyers for schools and universities that raise awareness of LGBTQ+ role models in STEM, and provide advice on how to be a better ally to LGBTQ+ students/staff. These materials are available to download on Google Drive.

Files available here

A photo of three circular stickers on a cream-coloured surface. Each sticker has "Proud to be a scientist" written on it in a ring around a 3-oval atom symbol, and are coloured according to the trans, non-binary, and asexual flag colours. All the stickers are shiny and are reflecting different colours of light depending on angle.

Pride Stickers

My Etsy store includes a range of Pride stickers with different LGBTQ+ identity flags. £1 from each sticker sold goes to Pride in STEM.

Etsy Store