Head of Public and Parliamentary Scrutiny, Covid Response, Government Office for Science

Policy Fellow, Centre for Science and Policy

Dr Amy Ash is on loan to Government Office for Science from the Environment Agency for 18 months to support their Covid Response. In her role as Head of Public and Parliamentary Scrutiny Amy leads a small team responding to questions from the public, parliamentarians and others related to Covid science advice provided to HM Government. This often involves 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 has led the Integrated Assessment and Evaluation team for the last 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.