SCI COMM WITH SCARLETT PARR-REID

Science Writing Portfolio

"Scarlett’s talented writing skills and outside the box thinking have enabled us to reach out to our wider MND community, the MND family, including our national association’s Thumbprint magazine" ~ Elizabeth Cargill, Motor Neurone Disease Association Exeter and East Devon Branch Chair

"Scarlett is very well motivated and committed to a career in scientific writing, communications and media" ~ Dr. Sebastian Oltean, Senior Lecturer in Experimental Medicine and Therapeutics, University of Exeter

Home: Welcome

ABOUT SCARLETT

Scarlett is a Medical Writer at the world's leading healthcare communications agency, Havas Lynx Group. Here, she has been lead writer on several projects across a range of therapy areas, including a support website for men living with Haemophilia A and a training module for healthcare practitioners on respiratory syncytial virus in infants. She most enjoys writing disease awareness content to prevent people from having to experience severe illness. She is a Blogger and Podcaster, with a BSc (Hons) in Medical Sciences from the University of Exeter and an MSc in Science Communication from Imperial College London. Scarlett is passionate about neuroscience, mental health and writing, and writes poetry and Volunteers with Beat eating disorders charity in her free time.

Alongside her BSc, she was the Regional Newsletter Editor for the Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Association in Exeter and East Devon, curating 5 newsletters, addressing 200 delegates at the charity's national conference and interviewing the Director of Research Development, and running an awareness stall at the University of Exeter, which gained a student volunteer, she widened the charity's outreach. She won the 2019-20 University of Exeter Medical Citizenship Prize for her work with the charity.

Whilst at university, Scarlett was a Science Print Editor and student journalist for the University of Exeter's Exeposé student newspaper, where she wrote over 30 science and lifestyle news, feature and review articles.

Scarlett was nominated for the 2019 Best Science/ Technology Story and Best Science Section awards by the Student Publication Association.

Home: About Me

SCARLETT'S SKILLS

Professional Experience

Home: CV

Copywriting

March 2018 - Present

Scarlett has several years of experience as a copywriter, having written 28 articles for the Warner Brother's Discovery Channel series 'How It's Made', covering a range of science, technology and everyday topics for a range of audiences. She has also written for the science and art blog Lifeology, the Educational platform Bespoke Tuition, Imperial College London's flagship magazine I, Science, the University of Exeter's student newspaper, Exeposé. She blogs in her free time about mental health and eating disorders, which she is passionate about and motivated by lived experiences. You can find these on her blog here.

Marketing and fundraising

Oct 2019 - May 2020

Scarlett is skilled in curating marketing and awareness flyers using RightMarket, Chorus and Dotmailer. She has used this to create top quality flyers for MND Association fundraising events and newsletters.

Empathy and listening

Feb 2019 - Present

She has developed researching and listening skills through interviewing some of the biggest names in the world of MND and Science Communication. Some of these names include Oxford University fellow and MND Association Director of Research Development Dr.Brian Dickie, Roboticist, Hi-Tech collaborator and Author Dr. Peter Scott Morgan and Journalist, Presenter and science Author Will Gater. She practices empathy and peer listening skills through her role as peer supporter for Beat charity, supporting those living with eating disorders through signposting and active listening.

Public speaking

July 2019 - Present

Scarlett produced a collaborative performance poem during her MSc about success and failure in science, for which she received a distinction, 77%. Scarlett spoke at the MND Association National Conference in 2019 about her experience of being a volunteer for the charity, the impact and value of giving back to her local community. This was well-received and led to networking with the charity's Director of Care Improvement Nick Goldup.

Social media management

March 2018 - Present

Scarlett is competent in running social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. She ran the Exeposé Science Facebook page, posting article content-calls, updates on science-related and society-based events. This enabled her to build a good rapport with contributors, incorporating their feedback in upcoming issues and events. She also ran the Facebook and LinkedIn pages for the SciComm Stories podcast, organically building and nurturing a vibrant community of science communicators.

Public Engagement

March 2018 - Present

Scarlett has worked on public engagement projects as a Science Communicator for the Francis Crick Institute, the Royal Society, Imperial College London and Edinburgh Science. A highlight of her time was working on the Royal Society's summer Science Exhibition 2022, where she welcomed over 40,000 visitors across 3 days, supporting signposting, queue management and providing information about the exhibits. She also loved her time travelling across 5 cities in Scotland in 2022, running several exhibits as part of the Edinburgh Science 'Consumed' climate change exhibition. Scarlett also ran an MND stall at the Undergraduate Medical School Student Conference in 2019, engaging with staff and students to create awareness about MND. She also collaborated with university staff to organise a translational seminar on MND for medical students, which received fantastic feedback.

Editing copy and audio

March 2018 - Present

Scarlett is trained in editing copy using Adobe InDesign and images using Photoshop. Her experience as Science Print Editor for the Exeposé student newspaper has enabled her to efficiently meet tight editorial deadlines with professional rigour. She has written and edited blogs on Wordpress and has media law training to accompany best use of these platforms. Scarlett has experience in sound editing and production usin Adobe Audition, as former Co-Host for the science communication podcast, SciComm Stories Podcast.