Charlotte Payne is looking forward to joining the team behind the STEM+ Leadership Week 2018. She is a PhD candidate in Zoology at the University of Cambridge. Her research focuses on the potential of edible insects to address problems in the global food system that range from socio-economic inequality to environmental degradation. Her current research focuses on Burkina Faso, West Africa, but since 2008 she has also worked on research projects on edible insects in Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Japan, Zimbabwe, Mexico and Madagascar. She is passionate about the importance of science communication: she volunteers for the Cambridge Science Festival, has done several invited talks and presentations at schools and social clubs, writes a regular blog about her research, and has also written several commissioned pieces for media outlets.
Charlotte aims to balance academic research with a passion for social justice, education and empowerment, which has led to several non-academic projects and pursuits, including 6 months working in India for the Deshpande Foundation, an organisation that works to educate and empower social entrepreneurs. Most recently this has included co-direction and production of a physical theatre show, A Luta Continua (“the struggle continues”), about the treatment of women by the UK justice system; she also produced the dance show 2 Sides of the Moon, celebrating the role of women in King’s College Chapel, a traditionally male-dominated space.
She hopes to bring her combined enthusiasm for STEM, social justice and physical theatre to the Inclusive Business Lab.