Marie is Public Engagement Manager for the University of Leicester and since 2017 has been developing engagement and relationships between the university and the local community. 

She first came to Leicester to study for a PhD in Genetics at the University in 2011 and got involved in many outreach opportunities through the Department of Genetics. She then went on to gain experience in science communication and business engagement in industry, before coming back to the University to take the new role of Public Engagement Manager, where she founded the U.matter community partner project thanks to generous funding from the Edith Murphy Foundation.  

‘Through U.matter, we have learnt a lot about how to effectively work in collaboration with community partners and artists and we are now taking that learning and putting it into a new scheme we are developing using Wellcome Trust funding, that aims to provide Fellowship opportunities for artists and community partners to cocreate new ways of thinking about, and doing, engagement with research. I’m very excited to see how this evolves through the Attenborough Arts Centre, so we can provide high quality skills and development opportunities to early career researchers and developing artists, as well as drive innovative approaches to equitable community engagement.’ 

Attenborough Arts Centre contact page