Who Are We?

Dave Ansell is the Naked Scientists' Kitchen Science specialist and web monkey. He spent several years nominally as a post-grad physics student at Cambridge University, but spent most of his time AWOL during which he was usually discovered planning and organising science events for kids with student society Cambridge Hands-On Science.

Some time after the grant ran out he took a sideways jump into full-time-and-a-bit public understanding of science. When not at work he... well, he mainly organises science outreach, actually. But sometimes he goes folk dancing.

Kat Arney works as a science information officer for the charity Cancer Research UK in London, when she's not off playing the harp and the spoons. She completed her degree and PhD at Cambridge University, and did time in a lab next to Wormwood Scrubs prison before finally leaving research. Kat writes science articles for the Naked Scientists website and helps to present the Naked Scientists science Radio Show and podcast. She also presents and produces the Cancer Research UK podcast and writes for the charity’s Science Update blog. She also writes occasionally for online science magazine Lablit , plays in several bands, is a keen knitter, and apparently never sleeps! Read about her exploits on her aptly titled blog, "You Do Too Much.”

Tom started burying himself in archaeology in his home town of Cambridge when he was 16. Since then, he has taken part in fieldwork at different sites from different periods in different places. Tom has enjoyed Gravettian period sites in the Czech Republic, helping reconsolidate a Scottish broch, wandering along valleys in Pre-Hispanic Peru, digging deep into a Neolithic Tell site in Turkey, uncovering Roman cisterns and Etruscan cuniculi in Italy, as well as trundling around prehistoric and medieval sites in England. He will dig at almost every opportunity.

Tom is the ‘backyard archaeologist’ for Naked Archaeology, where he contributes on a variety of different things related to archaeology (except when he is away digging!). Other than eating with his fork and knife the wrong way round, Tom likes to campaign for real ale, except when it’s a hot summer’s day and he betrays his morals for a crisp lager.

Sarah studied Zoology for her degree, so although a 'squishy scientist' by trade, she still likes to delve into a bit of harder science now and again, particularly general relativity. A chance meeting with the Naked Scientists set her off down the road of science journalism, and she's never looked back.

She writes and presents the This Week in Science History feed, telling the world about important events in the history of science. When not spreading the good word of science, Sarah enjoys the rather more domestic pursuits of knitting and serious cake baking.

Duncan is a doctoral researcher in archaeology at Cambridge. His research interests include Aegean and Cypriot prehistory, underwater archaeology, pre-classical seafaring, and maritime cultural landscapes. To date, he has directed five seasons of underwater survey along the western and southern coastlines of Cyprus. His PhD thesis focuses on how maritime trade and exchange affected the socio-political and economic establishment of southwest Cyprus during the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age.

Duncan got involved with Naked Archaeology in April 2009 when he gave an interview on his current research in Cyprus. Since then he has finished a project with Dr. Albert Ammerman on the earliest seafaring in the Mediterranean, which should appear on your televisions shortly! After the PhD Duncan is returning to the eastern Mediterranean to start an experimental archaeology project that aims to recreate the journey of the first seafarers from the Levant to Cyprus in the epi-Palaeolithic c. 12,000 years ago.

Sue Marchant is a BBC radio presenter for the eastern region. She hosts the Sue Marchant Show on weekday evenings across the eastern counties, and teams up with the Naked Scientists each Thursday to produce "Ask! The Naked Scientists", our interactive and wild science phone-in show and podcast. Sue's weaknesses, apart from an attraction to bottles of brightly-coloured hair dye, are furry creatures and fine wines. That said, we're still waiting for her to turn up to the studio with something for us to drink. We live (thirstily) in hope...

Diana trained as an archaeologist at Cambridge University, capitalising on the sponsored trips to exotic places like Argentina and er…Peterborough. But feeling the inevitable tug of science, and because she got to study cool mummies, she took on a Masters in bioarchaeology - a qualification which came in handy in her next role, organising the lives of various Cambridge virologists. Through this she met the Naked Scientists and became the host of Question of the Week.

Diana produces TNS, Naked Archaeology and Sporran; she contributes to obesity in chaffinches; eats lots of cake and burns it all off in the gym. She has also been seen shooting arrows, riding horses, climbing big hills and putting computers back together – usually with a screw and a cable or two left over. She is currently a doctoral researcher at Magdalene College.

Helen is a marine biologist based in Cambridge. She’s the one who talks about fish and the oceans a lot on the show – seems she has a thing about them. In her book, Poseidon’s Steed (published August 2009) she explores the lives of some of her most favourite fish, the ever-enchanting seahorses.

She studied for a PhD at Cambridge and has lived and dived in various corners of the tropics, researching rare coral reef fish. She is now a consultant working with conservation organizations on the international wildlife trade – fish especially – something she’s published scientific papers on. She also writes articles for the Naked Scientists website, Geographical magazine and National Geographic News. And when she’s not behind the microphone or working to save the world’s dwindling fish stocks, you might even spot her on the Argentine Tango dance floor. If you want to find out more visit her website HelenScales.com.

Meera joined the team in 2007, having caught the radio bug during her Masters. She spent 2007 travelling the length of the country convincing teenagers that science is great! Although a biologist by nature, she likes to get her teeth into all aspects of science and enjoys making listeners aware of some of the more exciting research being done in labs across the world.

Chris Smith is a doctor and a clinical lecturer in virology at Cambridge University. Deciding that medicine wasn't soaking up enough of his free time, Chris started the Naked Scientists radio show, podcast and website.

He presents the Naked Scientists and also makes weekly appearances on ABC Radio National, Australia, and on BBC Radio Five Live; he also fronts the Royal Society of Chemistry's Chemistry World podcast, and presents the Nature Podcast for the journal Nature. Now and then he also pops up on telly, usually when the feathers hit the fan during a bird flu outbreak.

In 2006 he published his first book, Naked Science, and also produced his first child, but not necessarily in that order! Now he's reaping the rewards that fatherhood brings - countless near death experiences triggered by daily viral infections generously donated by his daughter...