Wendy has written for many outlets and institutions including Nature, New Scientist, the Times Higher, the Royal Society, European Commission and Grantham Institute for Climate Change. Her book, The Plague Makers, is an introduction to biological warfare.
She has contributed to decades of science programming on BBC and ABC radio. She has made many audio and video podcasts for the British Journal of Surgery, the Royal Society and the British Psychological Society.
She has taught for 15 years on Imperial College London’s MSc in Science Communication.
From 2001-2014 she was Editor of the British Science Association’s magazine People & Science, also editing its Festival news website.
Wendy has media-trained hundreds of scientists in organisations including the Biotechnological and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), the National Trust and the British Psychological Society. She has served as an adviser to the BBSRC as a member of its Bioscience in Society panel, and on the BBSRC’s Institute Assessment panel.
From 1993-5 Wendy chaired the Association of British Science Writers (ABSW). She is a seasoned judge of the ABSW’s annual awards for science journalism. She is a member of the ABSW and the Authors’ Licensing and Collection Society, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
In 2021 she accepted a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association of British Science Writers.
Wendy’s early education was in Australia, after which she joined the Australian diplomatic service. She and her family still enjoy visiting their patch of Australian bush.