Professor Alice Roberts is a UK science presenter and author, with a background in anatomy, osteoarchaeology and paleopathology. She is currently Professor of public engagement in science at the University of Birmingham.
Alice first studied medicine and anatomy at university. She then worked part time towards a PhD in the field of paleopathology (the study of disease in ancient human remains) on the topic of an evolutionary perspective of shoulder pathology, receiving the degree in 2008. As a Senior Teaching Fellow at the University of Bristol, Alice spent several years teaching topics such as clinical anatomy, embryology, and anthropology, all the while maintaining her research in osteoarchaeology and paleopathology. She took up her post as first Professor of Public Engagement in Science in 2012 at the University of Birmingham, and currently works as the Director of Anatomy for the the NHS Severn Deanery School of Surgery, where she runs anatomy courses for trainee surgeons. She is newly the president of the Association for Science Education, an honorary fellow of both the British Science Association and the Society of Biology, and a member of the advisory board for the Cheltenham Science Festival.
Alice also holds a long-standing interest in encouraging dialogue between scientific research and the wider public, and has combined her research career with a passion for science communication. Alice began her presenting career in an episode of Time Team Live, where she worked on Anglo-Saxon Burials. She then served as a bone specialist in several other of the show’s episodes, and has since become a familiar face across a body of programmes. To name just a few, Alice wrote and directed anatomy and health series Don’t Die Young, and more recently has featured in Horizon series Are We Still Evolving?, Prehistorical Autopsy, and last year’s BBC 2 series Ice Age Giants. She has authored four books, two of which accompanied the health documentary series Don’t Die Young, and Incredible Human Journey, on the topic of the ancient colonisation of the world. Alice co-presents the BBC geographical series Coast, and is a regular science blogger over at the Guardian, where she covers everything from topics such as childbirth, genetics and palaeontology, to creationism myths in the classroom.
Follow Alice’s science writing over at the Guardian blog here.