Ben

My love of teaching and communicating science has been the driver of my career from the start. I am genuinely excited by breaking down concepts to their core components, and seeing the delight and fascination grow as others begin to see and understand new ideas and scientific principles.

I started out teaching as a student associate at Altrincham Grammar School for Boys during my bachelors degree, and have since taught at university level, both graduate and post-graduate, and professionally within the phrmaceutical industry in a career now spanning 14 years. Every role, whether academic or professional, has always had a teaching, training, and communicating element, and has allowed me to develop a broad set of skills in science communication from a variety of perspectives.

Watching my two children grow up with autism has given me a deep respect for the difficulties SEND students face in education, and it has inspired me to pursue a greater understanding of how learning works for students who face these difficulties. I will always keep my teaching style dynamic and flexible, so I can give the best learning experience for every student, and actively pursue new learning opportunities for myself to grow in this area.

In recent years, I have set up an exotic animal rescue and rehabilitation project, which allows me to actively engage with public outreach and education projects outside of my professional career, about subjects very close to me, and environments where my communication needs to be more dynamic and flexible to be accessible to people of any level of understanding.

Tutoring Experience

I have combined 6 years academic teaching experience as a lecturer for both the University of Glasgow, and the Open University, teaching Biology and Chemistry with a focus on microbiology, parasitology, infectious disease, epidemiology, drug design, and pathology.
In this capacity, my passion for teaching and science communication led me to engage with heavily with school and public outreach and communication projects, allowing me to make science exciting and accessible for everyone!

Outside of academic teaching, for the past 9 years I have been a professional trainer and technical specialist in the pharmaceutical industry, where I was responsible for training scientists in the use of new diagnostic tools for infectious diseases, and latterly biophysical tools for development of new drugs. This has granted me a unique understanding of how science is used for practical applications, which in turn allows me to teach using different perspectives, and give my students a broader understanding of the scientific world!

Tutoring Approach

I like to keep my teaching approach as open and dynamic as possible, first working out the areas of focus, and then tailoring to an individual student's learning style and specific needs.
Helping students with special educational needs is something very close to my heart, as a parent of two autistic children, so I utilise a flexible approach to teaching that focuses on a students idividual learning needs. I regularly, and actively, engage with training to expand my knowledge of new and effective teaching strategies for SEND, to make sure I can support any student, with any level of need.