Christine Ottery

My latest feature. It’s a look at GE’s...

Fri, 27 Jul 2012 09:35:03 +0100

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.

New story on antiretroviral drug resistance in SciDev.net

Wed, 25 Jul 2012 11:50:56 +0100

New story on antiretroviral drug resistance in SciDev.net

I wrote a story for the Guardian about a rapper coming to the...

Tue, 17 Jul 2012 17:59:00 +0100

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!

Dutch artist Berndnaut Smilde makes sculptures out of clouds. I...

Wed, 13 Jun 2012 12:01:00 +0100

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

Another review for the New Scientist. This time about the...

Fri, 08 Jun 2012 16:55:06 +0100

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

I wrote a review of the Philharmonia’s...

Thu, 07 Jun 2012 13:08:43 +0100

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

"We are drowning in information, while starving for wisdom. The world henceforth will be run by..."

Fri, 04 May 2012 10:21:54 +0100

““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)

A job I want

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 18:10:00 +0100

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)

Scoop for the Guardian: Natural England drops peatland bog-burning inquiry

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 11:38:37 +0000

Scoop for the Guardian: Natural England drops peatland bog-burning inquiry

I wrote a story on how global climate models are sometimes good,...

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 09:48:00 +0000

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

Wow! I think (at least some of) the Journalism undergrads at...

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 09:47:34 +0000

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.

Yay! My new feature for the Dana Foundation has gone up....

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 12:31:01 +0000

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

"It is a compelling dream — to harness the abundant sunshine in an energy-deprived continent to fuel..."

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 12:01:15 +0000

“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

I wrote a blogpost for the Huffington Post on the Christmas...

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 12:44:43 +0000

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.

My latest story for SciDev.net, about a cool low-tech/high-tech...

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 13:13:00 +0000

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”.

Ever heard of a kind of snake that when it bites you, releases a...

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 17:45:57 +0000

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.

This is shameless self-promotion. But it is really nice to...

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 10:59:52 +0000

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.

I published a new Creatology blogpost on Scientific American...

Thu, 24 Nov 2011 10:20:00 +0000

I published a new Creatology blogpost on Scientific American with a long audio piece, which is a conversation with ‘Wild’ author Jay Griffiths, interspersed with readings from her amazing book. Yes, it’s almost half an hour long. Is this longform journalism? I’m feeling a bit anxious that people might not have half an hour in their busy lives to sit down and listen to the thing. But all of the readings, and Jay’s answers to my questions were engrossing, and I didn’t just find it hard to cut - I didn’t want to. I wanted to leave the conversation pretty much whole and unedited.

If you’ve read ‘Wild’, and you’re a mad fan like me, you’ll get it. I’m not alone: KT Tunstall, Radiohead and The Strokes are all into the ‘Wild’ phenomenon. There’s something deeply moving and - dare I say - healing about reading the book. It’s not a book to take lightly - instead absorb it, let it grow roots inside you. If you feel lost, let it find you.

That’s all I have to say about ‘Wild’.

Will we be eating meat grown in a lab in the future? Will it be...

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 17:42:08 +0000

Will we be eating meat grown in a lab in the future? Will it be the ethical choice? I consider the ins and outs of in vitro meat in a new Creatology blogpost on Scientific American.

Story for SciDev.net: new target for malaria vaccine

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 11:20:00 +0000

Story for SciDev.net: new target for malaria vaccine:

Tidbits from the cutting room floor:

Malaria causes about one million deaths a year globally, most of which are children in Africa. Plasmodium falciparum is the most dangerous malaria parasite, causing almost all malaria deaths.

People have been hunting for a malaria vaccine for more than 50 years. It has proved an incredibly tough nut to crack - but this new research gives hope for an efficient vaccine. Scientists from the developing world have a key role to play.

“Some of the proteins we have tested in this paper have been in collaboration with scientists in Senegal, and these are parasites freshly isolated from people’s arms,” said Julian Rayner from the Wellcome Sanger Institute. This is important because parasites replicated in the lab for decades might be different to current strains.

Partnerships with researchers around the developing world will be continue to be important while working on the vaccine, including work on malaria parasite genome sequencing, he added.

“It is only by understanding what is happening in the field in terms of the diversity of the parasite, in terms of the different mechanisms that the field parasites use to invade, we will know whether we have a vaccine that has a real chance of being applied or not,” he said.