Acting Deputy Director, Inquiry and Transparency, Government Office for Science

Policy Fellow, Centre for Science and Policy

Dr Amy Ash is currently the Acting Deputy Director, Inquiry and Transparency, at the Government Office for Science. Before taking in this role, as Head of Public and Parliamentary Scrutiny, Amy led a small team responding to questions from the public, parliamentarians and others related to Covid science advice provided to HM Government. This often involved close liaison with colleagues across Whitehall, and managing the various challenges inherent in such a rapidly developing and changing science and policy landscape.

At the Environment Agency, Amy led the Integrated Assessment and Evaluation team for four years. This is a team of around 20 analysts who work across the Environment Agency’s remit to provide a range of products including Horizon Scanning, Evaluation and State of the Environment reports.

The interactions between science, policy-makers and the public, and the inevitable tensions that result, have been a recurring area of focus and interest for Amy through her career. How this is changing through the pandemic is a subject she seeks to explore through this fellowship, including the role of social media and its impact on collective understanding, experience and narrative.

Amy read Geography as an undergraduate at Oxford University then completed her PhD in Glaciology at University of Bristol.