Public engagement with science and technology

Science Dialogue

Science and Technology Studies

Dialogue and Deliberation

Democratic Theory

Transdisciplinarity

Dr Wendy Russell is a transdisciplinary pracademic.

She began her professional life studying science, majoring in biochemistry, and completed a PhD in Photosynthesis Research at the University of Queensland.

Wendy then took a position as lecturer in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Wollongong, where she taught Biology. During her 10 years at UoW, she shifted her research from photosynthesis to social aspects of biotechnology, transdisciplinary inquiry, and technology assessment (the latter as Chief Investigator on an ARC Discovery project with Prof Frank Vanclay).

After leaving UoW, Wendy worked in the Commonwealth Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education for several years, managing the award-winning Science & Technology Engagement Pathways (STEP) program. It was during this time she developed an interest and skills in the practices of facilitation, dialogue and deliberation.

Wendy went freelance in 2014, forming Double Arrow Consulting, a Canberra business specialising in two-way engagement. She has been a visiting fellow and sessional academic at the Centre for the Public Awareness of Science at ANU for some years, and convenes a course on Science Dialogue Theory and Practice there. She is also an associate of the Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance at the University of Canberra.

Wendy continues to combine research and practice, in her work at CPAS, and in other projects through Double Arrow.

Responsible Research and Innovation

Wendy is working with Sujatha Raman and others at CPAS, across ANU and beyond to build a framework for responsible research and innovation tailored to the Australian context. Her particular focus will be on integrating public dialogue approaches with other tools for RRI.