DR KERRYN WARREN
Dissertation coach, Science communicator, Education enthusiast
We are all scientists and researchers. My calling is to help you feel that.
BIO
I am not an academic. I am also not a "non-academic". Since my PhD, I have won or placed in a handful of local science communication competitions, and have communicated or liaised with government, teachers, school children, pub-goers and young academics in fields as diverse as bioenergy and human evolution. I like to think of myself as an expert in the fringes of research, and lover of creating a series of social experiments in science communication, many of which fail. I think other academics should do the same. As a dissertation coach, I believe anyone has the potential to learn how to do excellent research and wish more people believed in themselves enough to pursue it.
MY EDUCATION AND CAREER
A brief synopsis
DISSERTATION COACH AT GRAD COACH INTERNATIONAL
April 2020 - Present
Coaching and guiding others in their academic journey. I have helped hundreds of Masters and PhD students through either a small sticking point in their research journey or throughout the entire process. From topic ideation to a final review of their thesis.
POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP (UCT)
Nov, 2018 - Nov 2020
The Evolution Education Project, funded by the Centre of Excellence in Palaeosciences, DST) aims to understand whether small additions to the CAPS High School Life Sciences Curriculum could facilitate understanding and acceptance of evolution among learners.
RISING STAR UNDERGROUND ASTRONAUT
Nov, 2018 - Feb 2020
I am privileged to now belong to an exclusive team of excavators involved in excavating out, and understanding the context of, the remains of Homo naledi. These enigmatic, small-brained hominins, found in the Rising Star Cave System are of immense interest to scientists and the broader public alike!
DATA SCIENTIST AND STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT (SAEON)
Dec, 2017 - Aug, 2018
My time at the South African Environmental Observation Network involved creating and updating databases and reports for the BioEnergy Atlas. Here, working closely with government and researchers alike, for the purpose of producing informative tools to aid in policy-making, I was able to understand the nuances of using research and data science to help with public decision-making.
LECTURING AND COURSE CONVENING
Jun, 2017 - Dec, 2018
I have several years of course convening, lecturing and tutor-administrative experience at the University of Cape Town. With this experience, my lecturing philosophies have largely aligned with the spirit of transformation of the discipline of archaeology and an attempt to decolonise curricula.
PHD IN ARCHAEOLOGY
Feb, 2013Â - Feb, 2017
Under the Hybrid Mouse Research Project, my PhD research looked at how hybridization between various mouse species and subspecies effects the morphology of hybrids to inform on a mammalian model of hybridization. In my thesis and subsequent publications, I proposed that these models may be used to identify hybridization in the hominin fossil record.
MASTERSÂ IN ARCHAEOLOGY
Feb, 2011Â - Feb, 2013
My Masters Thesis, on population variation in the Iron Age of southern Africa (and subsequent publications), was instrumental in the beginnings of my research career. Here, I used dental anthropology and 3D modeling of human crania to highlight comparisons among population groups within the Iron Age.
IN THE NEWS AND POPULAR MEDIA
May 15, 2018
May 21, 2019
April 18, 2017
Jan 30, 2019
CONTACT ME
Thanks for your interest in my research. Get in touch with any questions or comments regarding my work and publications. I’d love to hear from you.