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I am a Senior Lecturer in Digital Media and Communications in the iSchool, teaching digital storytelling, social networking and digital culture on the BSc Digital Media & Communications degree. My transdisciplinary research is concerned with inventing immersive and interactive life forms, working with artists, scientists, technologists and audiences, to develop new cultural literacies in order to thrive in a warming world.
Currently I am on research leave until July 2022 setting up #OpenLight, a climate and culture platform for collaborative inquiry emerging from knowledge exchange with culturally diverse artists and cultural entrepreneurs, experimenting with emerging technologies for Worldmaking. I am also digital storytelling and open data lead on Engaging Environments.
I've contributed to several books, focused on digital methods, digital innovation, and digital participation. I regularly advise industry and cultural organisations who value research and knowledge exchange with academia.
Prior to joining MMU I was Lecturer in Science Communication and Future Media at The University of Salford, developing and showcasing immersive experiences before becoming a Senior Digital Society Research Fellow at the University of Reading. My interest in storytelling, and my career in the entertainment industry, began working behind the scenes on The Royal Institution Christmas lectures, with my PhD supervisor, Professor Nancy Rothwell, and later as executive producer working in the film industry at B3 Media film executive, Marc Boothe.
The stories, technologies and digital cultures we create together can innovate how content is created and shared, and how communities can invent the future together. My ambition is to pass on the my enthusiam and excitement for how the stories we make can shape society, as well as imagine new ways of living, thriving and taking collective action in light of the climate and biodiversity crises.
I love to create collaborative environments in which students, staff and industry partners can learn together. Here's some experiments in collaborative learning that I've co-designed with researchers, artists, students and audiences
I was lucky enough to be supported to follow my passions and interests, across technology, art and science, here's some words from folks that continue to inspire me in music, politics and the arts
'without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible' Frank Zappa
'this moment... is a moment of possibility' Angela Davis
“There is only one way to look at things, until someone shows us how to look at them with different eyes.” Pablo Picasso
'Technology can help us do amazing things, but if there’s not a diversity of experiences amongst its designers, it will always cause problem.' Jess Thom aka Tourette's Superhero
'I'm joining BFI's urgent call to #PressReset in the screen industries, will you? Riz Ahmed
'When music comes in, everything drowns out... the future is here' Lewis Hamilton
Teaching is a two way street, for me it begins with creating an inclusive and safe space in which everyone can feel they can contribute, express themselves authentically and discover ways to learn and create knowledge that work for you. We can then build on creating that environment together as a community that wants to keep on learning, beyond academia, as professionals working within industry and engaging a wider community.
Consider your time with us as a rehearsal space, to try, test, and learn new ways to tell stories and build community using digital media.
University is a great playground, to develop life long friendships and experience the cities many cultural offerings. Manchester is a great city in which to make the most of its cultural offer, whether sports, arts or local parks. Go play, without forgetting that planning and getting rest, are also your friends. As, are assistive technologies, such as voice to text apps.
PGCERT Academic Practice, University of Salford
PGCERT AudioVisual Production, EAVE
PhD Applied Neuroscience, University of Manchester
BSc Applied Neuroscience, University of Manchester
Senior Research Fellow, University of Reading
Lecturer, Science Communication and Future Media, University of Salford
Social Responsibility Fellow, University of Manchester
MMU, Steering Group, Race and Racism super network
University of Reading, KEF Advisory Input
University of Salford, Industrial Strategy Zone Group
University of Salford, Open Research Strategy
University of Manchester, Chair BAME Network
Danish
BSL Level 1
My transdisciplinary research is concerned with inventing immersive and interactive life forms, working with artists, scientists, technologists and the public, to develop new cultural literacies to thrive in a warming world.
This work seeks to decolonise neuroscience and biology en route, drawing on queer and black feminist epistemologies to examine perception and collective consciousness.
2015 – 2020
Critical Friend, Creative Scene, A Creative People and Places programme, Arts Council England
2008 - 2012
Director, Manchester Beacon for Public Engagement
NG. Sales, MB. McKenzie, J. Drake, LR. Harper, SS. Browett, et al. I. Coscia, OS. Wangensteen, C. Baillie, E. Bryce, DA. Dawson, E. Ochu, B. Hänfling, L. Lawson Handley, S. Mariani, X. Lambin, C. Sutherland, AD. McDevitt. (2020). Fishing for mammals: Landscape-level monitoring of terrestrial and semi-aquatic communities using eDNA from riverine systems. Journal of Applied Ecology. 57(4), pp.707-716.
E. Ochu Not submitted. Sociology.
J. Swinton, E. Ochu, . MSI Turing's Sunflower Consortium (2016). Novel fibonacci and non-fibonacci structure in the sunflower: Results of a citizen science experiment. Royal Society Open Science. 3(5),
EE. Ochu, NJ. Rothwell, CM. Waters (1998). Caspases mediate 6-hydroxydopamine-induced apoptosis but not necrosis in PC12 cells. J Neurochem. 70(6), pp.2637-2640.
T. Priestley, E. Ochu, AJ. Macaulay (1996). Time-dependent changes in NMDA receptor expression in neurones cultured from rat brain. Brain Res Mol Brain Res. 40(2), pp.271-274.
T. Priestley, E. Ochu, JA. Kemp (1994). Subtypes of NMDA receptor in neurones cultured from rat brain. Neuroreport. 5(14), pp.1763-1765.
E. Ochu (2018). In search of lost purpose: The dream life of digital. In: Doing Research in and on the Digital: Research Methods Across Fields of Enquiry. pp.177-188.
Keynotes
Oct 2021: Collective Moments of Truth: Emerging from the ruins of Empire, York St Johns Uni, Eat, Sleep, Research, Repeat PGR Annual Conference
Jan 2020: Keynote, Making Sense of Green Data, Green Data Conference, IET, London
April 2019: Above the Neon: how do we live with uncertainty? Afrotech Fest, RichMix, London
Mar 2019: Climate Lab, Metal Liverpool, Edge Hill
Feb 2019: Re-thinking BAME: connecting people and places, University of Bristol
Jan 2019: Bringing a Cultural perspective to Public Engagement Strategy, Wellcome Centres Symposium, University of Manchester
Dec 2018: Coming out of the Blue, INIVA, Chelsea School of Art, London
Nov 2018: Immersive open science, Figshare Fest, London
Oct 2018: Coming out of the Blue, BlackSTEAM, Thinktank, Birmingham
Oct 2018: The Promise of Citizen Science, Using Environmental Data Responsibly Conference,
Glasgow
Jun 2016: The Social Life of Data. Repository Fringe Conference, John McIntyre Centre, Edinburgh
Dec 2015: Citizen science for community development. National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh
Panels
Nov 2021 Joy in Blackness, Contact Mcr, as part of Black Gold Festival
Nov 2020 APPG Panel hosted by Caroline Lucas: mobilising digital stories ahead of COP26 – AHRC-NERC
Sept 2020 Science in Society, UKRI & RORI: Legacy and Lessons for a postCOVID world, opened by Amanda Solloway MP, Minister for Science, Research and Innovation, and response by Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser, CEO of UKRI.
Dec 2019: Care as Power, panel presentation at Forms of Activism: The Bern Junior Design Assembly, Switzerland, curated and organised by Common Interest at Hochschule der Kunste Bern
Feb 2019: The post-truth interview? Sociology Seminar series, University of Sheffield
Sep 2018: Finding Truth, Panel, British Science Festival, Hull
Jul 2018: Images of Tomorrow, Panel, South Bank Centre, London
Jun 2018: Becoming ‘We’ in the Anthropocene, Under Her Eye, British Library, London
July 2014: Citizen-led perspectives: bridging the gap. Alpach Forum, Austria
Podcasts
Instagram Live
Trae, Metal Climate Common Ground artists lab, Instagram
June 2021 Advisory Council, Future of Science Communication: Research & Practice, Germany, supported by the European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities representing more than 50 academies from over 40 countries in Europe in conjunction with the Germany Ministry.
2015-2020 Guest curator, DocFest Exchange, Sheffield International Documentary Festival. Five year programme funded by Wellcome, including a series of talks, events and artist commissions focused on planetary health.
2019 Parasitology, University of Manchester
2019 Science in Public, Manchester Metropolitan University
2019 IMMERSE at Festival of Research and Science in Public, University of Salford, Media City see: https://salford.figshare.com/articles/IMMERSE_Science_in_Public/8846024
2020 Co-Chair UKRI Citizen Science Call, supporting multidisciplinary research collaborations that spread citizen science methods into new fields of research and involve citizens to address societally-relevant issue
2019 Panellist UKRI Citizen Science Call
2018 Grant Reviewer and Panellist, The Hub, Wellcome
2015 - 2016 Grant Reviewer: Impact Awards, ESRC
2015 - 2018 Grant Reviewer: Society Awards, Wellcome
2014 Grant Reviewer and Panellist Digital Economies+, EPSRC
2013 Grant Reviewer: Crowdsourcing Biology, BBSRC
You can explore a range of initiatives, I've been involved in, via my profile on linktree.
This work covers filmmaking, curatoring on festival programmes and art exhibits.
2015 – 2020 Curator, DocFest Exchange, Sheffield International Documentary Festival
2019 MicroBiHome, advisor, Royal Society Summer Exhibition & Cheltenham Science Festival
2019 IMMERSE Festival of Research in partnership with Science in Public, Media City
2018 UnEqual Presence, The Royal College of Art
2017 Purring Chamber, Wellcome Collection
2016 – 2019 GameLab, Scicomm Space, Media City as part of Manchester Science Festival
2016 FarmLab at the Allotment of the Future, European City of Science
2016 Nature’s Switch Live! Shuffle Festival
2014 Souvenir of a City, Brighton Digital Festival, commissioned by Short Circuit
2012 Somewhere in the Middle, as part of 3 Days Without Water exhibition
2012 Cote D’Azur, Abandon Normal Devices Festival, Cultural Olympiad Big Screens, Sounds of The Other City (Video Jam) and Branchage Festival. Commissioned by BBC
2011 Oxford Road, Walking Artist Exhibition. Commissioned by Accentuate, Arts Council England
2021 Advisory Committee, Centre for Researching Race and Racism, MMU
2020 to date Advisory board, Performing Leadership Differently: Co-Creating Collective Strategies for Change (AHRC COVID19 Rapid Response Grant)
2020 to date non-executive Board Member, Brigantia
2019 to date NERC public engagement strategic advisory board
2019 - Scifoo, Google, Palo Alto, USA
2019 - Chair, Royal Society and Royal Academy of Arts, Art-Science Panel
2018 - 2019 Trustee, Invisible Dust
2018 – Global Ambassador, Figshare
2018 – Volunteer, Friends of Grenfell United
2018 – 2020 Interim Chair, BBSRC BioScience in Society panel
2014 – 2017 Member, BBSRC BioScience in Society panel
2017 - Chair, WHO, Migration and Health panel
2017 – Manchester international Festival/ Jerwood Fellow
For the past six years, I've been a guest curator at Sheffield International Documentary Festival, programming the Exchange, a series of public talks and events, inspired by documentary film, research and social concerns around what makes a healthy planet. I am involved in supporting a range of platforms supporting young people to stay connected, learn skills and get their voices heard, including NeuroLove and BlastFest. I trained originally as neuroscientist before working in the film and entertainment industry. I am also co-founder of cultural enterprise, Squirrel Nation, which acts as my studio.
I work with a range of cultural, community partners and artists across my grants. These include:
My co-design of concepts for immersive experiences, has been covered by a range of media outlets. Often my part in conceptualising the story happens behind the scenes, in the design of the art works, story and creating shareable content.
2018 Broadcast Award, Can a Robot replace Ed Sheeran?
2016 HEFCE Social Entrepreneur Award, Outstanding Innovation
2015 MBE, Public Engagement with Science, Technology and Engineering
2020 Co-Chair UKRI Citizen Science Call, supporting multidisciplinary research collaborations that spread citizen science methods into new fields of research and involve citizens to address societally-relevant issues
2019 Panellist UKRI Citizen Science Call
2018 Grant Reviewer and Panellist, The Hub, Wellcome
2015 - 2016 Grant Reviewer: Impact Awards, ESRC
2015 - 2018 Grant Reviewer: Society Awards, Wellcome
2014 Grant Reviewer and Panellist Digital Economies+, EPSRC
2013 Grant Reviewer: Crowdsourcing Biology, BBSRC
2020 - 2021 Racial Justice, Visiting Fellow, Ada Lovelace Institute
2020 Associate Editor, Humanities & Social Sciences Communications
2020 MeCCSA, Media, Communication and Cultural Studies Association
2020 Cognitive Science Society
2020 European Citizen Science Association
2019 British Ecological Society