Hey, I’m Jack. My scientific interests are primarily in functional genetics and genomics and their intersections with a broad range of overlapping topics, including entomology, microbiology, evolution, molecular biology, ecology, endocrinology, physiology and toxicology.

I’m also passionate about data visualisation and finding better ways of communicating and exploring information graphically, both within and outside the research community. 

I am a Research Scientist at Agriculture Victoria, developing bioinformatic pipelines to improve surveillance of agricultural pests. Previously, I was a Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Mycology Lab at The University of Melbourne, working on fungal phytopathology genetics and genomics. I did my PhD research in the Specifly Lab at The University of Melbourne, investigating the function and evolution of a uncharacterised gene family in insects.

I also do science communication, which involves taking science—weird, complex stuff, a lot of the time—and making it seem less weird and complex. Here are a bunch of things I’ve done and things I’ve written.

I am the founding editor of Lateral Magazine, an online publication that explores the relationship between science and society, while supporting new and emerging science writers and illustrators, and my own writing has also appeared in COSMOS Online, SBS Science, Australasian Science and Pursuit.

I’m also a member of the Melbourne band Sunset Nevers.

If you’d like to get in touch about a project or work, or if you’re simply interested in wasps, chuck me a line on Twitter, Mastodon or via email.

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