Dr Hermione Cockburn, OBE

Hermione Cockburn is an Earth scientist and engagement specialist with over 20 years’ experience working at the interface of scientific research and a wide range of stakeholders and public audiences. She is currently an engagement consultant with Mara Consultants Ltd.

She began her career in academic research, working on landscape evolution in Southern Africa, Australia, and Antarctica. She went on to present television and radio programmes for the BBC on subjects including bacteria, lasers, lead pollution and Scottish wildlife. In 2008, she presented an 8-part television series, Fossil Detectives, for which she wrote an accompanying book on British palaeontology.

From 2014 to 2024 she was the Scientific Director of Edinburgh’s science centre and planetarium, Dynamic Earth, and she is a former trustee of the Association of Science and Discovery Centres. 

She is passionate about empowering people with understanding and empathy for the Earth and enabling life-long learning. She was an associate lecturer with the Open University teaching environmental science for many years and continues to work with a number of organisations to support learning programmes and science engagement for a range of audiences.

Hermione is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, and a Fellow of the Geological Society. She was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science degree from the University of the West of Scotland in 2024 and an OBE for services to public engagement in science in 2020.

Hermione became a Trustee of National Museums Scotland in October 2024 and her term of appointment runs until September 2028.