Heather Walmsley Visiting Doctoral Fellow, W. Maurice Young Centre for Applied Ethics, University of British Columbia ESRC-funded PhD candidate, Genetics and Society, CESAGen (Centre for Economic and Social Aspects of Genomics) and Department of Sociology, Lancaster University, UK Cell: 604 374 2667; Email: walmsleh@interchange.ubc.ca

Research interests:

My research interests centre around the intersection of science, culture and society, ethics, public engagement and media. Specific examples include:  

• Deliberative democracy and the ‘difference theorists’ – using narrative and the Internet to facilitate ‘inclusive’ public deliberation about a proposed BC BioLibrary
• Experimental ethnography – the potential of digital storytelling, visual and fictional narrative techniques for developing collaborative ethnographic research relationships, and for thinking and writing about emerging technological objects
• Citizen journalism, democracy and the public sphere
• Imagined genomic futures – understanding the hopes, fears, promises and expectations that influence research and policy design, and media and public discussion of biobanking

Selected papers and book chapters:

• Heather Walmsley (2009) Biobanking, public consultation and the discursive logics of deliberation: five lessons from British Columbia. Public Understanding of Science.
• Heather Walmsley (2009) Mad scientists bend the 'frame' of biobanking governance in British Columbia. Journal of Public Deliberation Vol. 5, No. 1, Article 6
• Walmsley, H, Burgess, M, Brinkman, J. Hegele, R, Wilson-McManus, J & McManus, B (2009) Ethics of Biomarkers: What are the borders of investigative research, informed consent and patient protection? In M. Bleavins et al (eds) Biomarkers in Drug Development: A Handbook of Practise, Application and Strategy. Wiley.
• Walmsley, H and Hinton R (1997) A Performative Dimension to Participatory Techniques: Implications for PRA and Anthropology, Anthropology in Action, Vol. 4, No. 2.
  

Conference presentations and posters:

• Burgess, M and Walmsley, H (2008) Democratic Deficit and the Ethics of Biotechnology. Panel presentation, Translating ELSI: Ethical, Legal and Social Implications of Genomics, May 2008, Case Western University, Cleveland, US

• Walmsley, H (2007) Difference, Deliberation and Biobanking in British Columbia: Integrating Perspectives from Anthropology, STS and Political Science. CESAGen Lunch Seminar, December 2007, Institute for Advanced Studies, Lancaster University, UK

• Hartell, D and Walmsley, H (2007) Poster presentation, Canadian Conference on Dialogue and Deliberation, November 2007,Vancouver, BC.
• Walmsley, H (2007) Biobanking in British Columbia: A Deliberative Public Consultation. Oral presentation, HUGO's 12th International Human Genome Meeting, May 2007, Montreal, Quebec.
• Walmsley, H, Burgess, M, Badalescu, D, Davidson, H. Hartell, D, Longstaff, H, Maclean, S, Preto, N, Secko, D, Wilcox, L (2007) What Interests and Values Should Guide Biobanking in BC? A Deliberative Public Consultation. Poster presentation, HUGO's 12th International Human Genome Meeting, May 2007, Montreal, Quebec.
• Walmsley, H and Wilcox, E (2006) Information for Inclusive (not Coercive) Deliberation. Invited presentation, Deliberative Democracy and Biobanks Workshop, November 2006, Vancouver, BC. 

Media Experience:

Before embarking on a PhD, Heather worked full-time in new media and journalism in the UK – as a web editor for Schoolsnet.com, then as the website editor for Greenpeace.co.uk, staff writer for Internet Magazine, and freelance feature writer for The Independent and Independent on Sunday. Increasingly interested in research communications and knowledge translation, Heather has written Society and Ethics content for a Genome Canada education website and has been a consultant writer and editor for the international development communications portal www.Id21.org since January 2005.

• Walmsley, H. 'The public has to be involved in the debate on biobanking', Vancouver Sun, 9th October 2007
• Walmsley, H. 'Worms, DVDs and SARS: new models for intellectual property in genomics?', GenomeBC.ca, 2007
• 'Walmsley. H. Screening Embryos for Genetic Disease', GenomicsEducation.ca, 2006
• Walmsley, H. 'My Dad is a Stem Cell', GenomicsEducation.ca, 2006

Research Experience:

• Research Assistant, GE³LS Arch Deliberative Democracy and Biobanks project, September 2006 to July 2007

Teaching Experience:

• Guest Lecturer, Social and Ethical Issues Surrounding DNA Testing in Aboriginal Populations (March 2008) Molecular Biotechnology undergraduate course, Simon Fraser University, March 2008 

• Guest Speaker, Digital Storytelling, Genetics and Participatory Research Methods (Feb 2006) Genetics and Ethics graduate seminar, University of British Columbia, Feb 2006

• Lecturer in Online Journalism (2004-2005) EdgeHill University, UK

I designed, taught and assessed a 12-week lecture- and workshop-based core course for 50 second year undergraduates on the NCTJ-accredited BA in Journalism. 

Academic Qualifications:

MA in Social Anthropology with First Class Honours, Edinburgh University (1997)

MA in English Literature (Critical Theory), British Academy Scholarship, Sussex University (1999)

Postgraduate Diploma in Journalism, Emap Peter Bolt Scholarship, PMA Editorial with Emap Consumer Media (2001)

MA in Environment, Culture and Society (with Distinction), ESRC Studentship, CESAGen, Institute for Environment, Philosophy and Public Policy, Lancaster University (2004)