Mhairi Stewart

Dr Mhairi Stewart is Acting Head of the Public Engagement and Impact Unit in the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin. Through her work she supports national and international policy and research, undertaking interdisciplinary research on the boundaries of current engagement theory and practice, evidencing the value of engagement to institutions and research individuals as well as audiences. Formerly, she was Head of Public Engagement at the University of St Andrews, and the Chairperson of the Scottish Public Engagement Network.

Mhairi is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and a member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh’s Young Academy of Scotland. Mhairi has significant recognition for producing and directing engagement programmes and activities, especially in co-production between external partners and researchers from multiple disciplines.

In 2015 Mhairi received the Royal Society of Edinburgh medal for innovation in public engagement and is a recipient of a 2017 Wellcome Image Award. Her projects driving institutional culture change have themselves gained recognition. For example, Cell Block Science, bringing informal science learning to Scottish Prisons was awarded the Herald Higher Education Award for Partnership in 2018 and also was selected a winner at Falling Walls Engage 2020.