This story is part of a Spotlight series on Banbury staff. To maintain a consistent style and tone across the series, in this installment, Hannah Stewart was “interviewed” by Hannah Stewart. Stay tuned for more profiles on the rest of our team.
The newest member of the Banbury Center’s office staff, Hannah Stewart, has stepped into the role of Communications/Special Projects Coordinator. As such, she writes articles (like this one!), manages Banbury’s social media accounts, and helps to organize future meetings. If you’re coming to Banbury for a conference, keep an eye out for emails from Hannah!
“Working at Banbury has been an incredible experience. There is so much history and cutting-edge science here and I’m looking forward to writing about it,” she said.
After work in the evenings, Hannah takes online classes to work towards her master’s degree in science writing through Johns Hopkins University. “I started working at Banbury within a week of starting my first semester of grad school; it’s been a very busy fall with a lot to learn and get used to. I am proud that I’ve already incorporated some of my class lessons into my Banbury writing, though. The lessons on good interviewing techniques have been particularly handy,” she laughed.
Born and raised on Long Island, Hannah attended Brandeis University in Massachusetts for her undergraduate degree, where she double-majored in Environmental Studies and “Health: Science, Society, and Policy,” with a minor in English. “It’s taken me a few years to figure out exactly what I’m passionate about,” she explained. “I’ve always loved science, particularly the environmental sciences, but bench science didn’t feel like a good fit. I enjoyed writing but didn’t know how to combine those skills outside of stuffy, formal grant writing or writing articles for peer-reviewed journals. Science writing is the best of both worlds because it means that I get to constantly learn about new science while also writing for audiences of all backgrounds.”
In the lead-up to Banbury’s 2022 roster of meetings, Hannah has been preparing and sending out conference invitations; interviewing her coworkers for their Spotlight profiles; and writing the stories of the published outcomes of older Banbury meetings. Once guests return to Banbury, Hannah plans to resume the “Humans of Banbury” series that features the work and experiences of Banbury attendees.
On the social media side, check out the recent content that Hannah published on the Banbury Center’s Instagram, Twitter, and brand-new LinkedIn accounts. If you’re tired of the cold and missing the sun, check out the photos that Hannah took during Danny Miller’s Nature Walk tour of the estate in late summer. Twitter is the place to look for more of Banbury’s scientific content, most of which will resume once the meeting season starts up again. As the newest platform to join the Banbury roster, LinkedIn will be the place to look for updates from meetings and to connect with past, present, and future Banbury attendees.
“I joined the Banbury team in mid-September and hit the ground running. Despite the lack of in-person meetings, we’ve been busy behind the scenes, working to get ready for new conferences while still keeping everyone safe. I have so many ideas for fun content and I’m looking forward to sharing them.”