Chemical Sciences Division Director, Berkeley Lab
Polly was one of the original Co-Is on the Evidence Base: Growing the Big Grant Club project. In September 2019, she took on the role of Chemical Sciences Division Director of Berkeley Lab. The Evidence Base team are sad to see her leave Edinburgh and the eBase Co-I group but she will remain a close friend to the project and a great link to the sphere of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in the USA.
Polly is an active advocate for inclusion and diversity in STEM. Since her production of ‘A Chemical Imbalance’ supported by the Rosalind Franklin award from the Royal Society in 2012, she has lectured all over the world, worked with the Scottish Government, and appears regularly on TV, radio, and in print media including BBC, the i, and Sunday Times, to discuss the importance and benefits of diversity in the STEM workforce.
She has chaired the Inclusion and Diversity Board of the Royal Society of Chemistry, representing 50k members across education, industry, and academia, launched a new network for senior female women in STEM in Scotland earlier this year, and was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s birthday honours for her contributions to chemistry and women in STEM.
Evidence Base 