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University of Oxford
School of Geography and the Environment

 School of Geography and the Environment

Rob St.John

Academic Profile

Rob is the Communications and Project co-ordinator within BioFresh - an EU funded project which aims to improve capacity to protect and manage freshwater biodiversity in the face of ongoing changes to global climate and socioeconomics - at Oxford University. He holds an MSc in Biodiversity, Conservation and Management from the University of Oxford and a BSc in Geography from Edinburgh University. His current research interests lie in science communication and public understanding of the environment: currently focussed on experimenting with novel and innovative means of communicating complex and uncertain concepts.

Current Projects and Research

Rob's current research interests lie in science communication and public understanding of the environment. He is currently focussed on experimenting with novel and innovative means of communicating complex and uncertain concepts, and evaluating the use of new technologies, citizen science initiatives and the creative arts in engaging the public with science and the environment.

BioFresh Blog - editor and writer

The blog provides a platform to discuss environmental issues, often focussed on - but not limited to - freshwater systems. It seeks to use the potential of web-based media to better explain and democratise information on the science and policy that influences environmental decision making, actively engaging readers to submit comments, questions and ideas.

Cabinet of Freshwater Curiosities - editor and writer

The Cabinet of Freshwater Curiosities responds to the observation that the new media is (perhaps ironically) giving rise to a resurgence of old ways of engaging with nature in new guises. The Cabinet is a modern adaptation of the "Cabinet of Curiosity" concept, popular in Renaissance Europe, where collections of unusual and exotic objects from the natural world were assembled to induce wonder and curiosity in their audience. By evoking this same spirit, The Cabinet of Freshwater Curiosities seeks to provide a productive, fun and engaging alternative to 'doom and gloom', extinction-based biodiversity conservation messages.

BioFresh's Rob St.John at the University of Oxford explains the Cabinet of Freshwater Curiosities.

Publications and Communications Media

Conference Presentations
  • Conference chair "Field Music: birdsong, sound and conservation" at the New Networks for Nature conference, Stamford Linconshire, Nov. 2011
  • February 2011: BioFresh Montserrat Conference - "Dissemination: engagement of the wider publics."