Dr Henry Dixson

Dr Henry Dixson focuses on what people think about transformative science and technology, and how this can inform decision making. His background is in social and behavioural science: this includes cross-cultural cognitive and behavioural research, ethnographic methods, and qualitative analysis of focus groups and interviews. This mixed background informs his overall approach. As such, he often collaborates with researchers across disciplines. His current research is split between two fellowships. They focus on issues at the three-way interface between academia, industry, and the public sector. The first, with ANU and CSIRO (via the Responsible Innovation Future Science Platform, Director Dr. Justine Lacey) looks at public views regarding the emerging field of synthetic biology and its various applications. This is part of a multi-year CSIRO-ANU Responsible Innovation Collaboration. The team includes Professor’s Catherine Waldby, Sujatha Raman, and Adrian Mackenzie at ANU, and Senior Research Scientist Dr. Lucy Carter at CSIRO. The second fellowship is at the Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology’s node at WSU’s Institute for Culture and Society. This project closely overlaps, focusing on public views on synthetic biology applications for environmental purposes, including large-scale emissions reduction.