Sharon Ann has a doctorate in experimental physics from the University of Sussex in the UK, where she was a Visiting Fellow in Physics and Astronomy for nine years, and is a Chartered Scientist and Chartered Physicist. She has worked for twenty six years as a freelance science writer and broadcaster, with broadcast credits including presenting on the BBC World Service and BBC Radio 4, presenting video podcasts for medical research charity the Myrovlytis Trust and appearing on a ‘Boffins Special’ of The Weakest Link. She is also a Science Communications Trainer for both students and academics, including being a Guest Educator on a Science Communications module for physics students at King’s College London between 2019 and 2022.
Her articles have appeared in Science, Science Careers, New Scientist, The Times Higher Education Supplement, The Times Literary Supplement, E&T, Flipside, Focus, Physics World, Interactions, Materials World, Scope, Modern Astronomer, and Astronomy Now, while her first book The Way Science Works (a children’s popular science book co-authored with Robin Kerrod) was shortlisted for the Aventis Prizes for Science Books Junior Prize. She was a contributor to the popular science books 30-Second Quantum Theory and 30-Second Energy, and the second edition of her undergraduate textbook Understanding Solid State Physics is currently in use as a core text in universities around the world. Sharon Ann has written three books for her Outside the Research Lab series; Volume 1: Physics in the arts, architecture and design, Volume 2: Physics in Vintage and Modern Transport, and Volume 3: Physics in Sport. Her first solo popular science book Nuclear Fusion: The Race to Build a Mini-Sun on Earth was published in 2022, and her latest book Communicating Science Clearly came out in 2023.
She has also written careers material, case studies, and press releases for the Institute of Physics and careers material and brochures for The Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine, and given talks at venues including the Science Museum in London.
Sharon Ann is the 2022 recipient of the William Thomson, Lord Kelvin Medal and Prize from the Institute of Physics for public engagement in physics, was the Institute of Physics Young Professional Physicist of the Year for 2006, won a Merit Award in the 1994 Daily Telegraph Young Science Writer of the Year competition, and was shortlisted for the radio programme category of the Association of British Science Writers’ Awards in 2005. Outside of work she collects contemporary ceramics, is a regular visitor to art galleries and museums, enjoys learning about fashion history and steam locomotives, is a fan of the British Touring Car Championship, and keeps an ever-increasing variety of cacti and succulents.
You can follow Sharon Ann on her Instagram feed @everydaysciencethings