ORIGINAL
RESEARCH

“My research explores senior Christian leaders’ attitudes toward science and science engaged theology. Building on work that has already been undertaken in this area within previous iterations of the ECLAS project, I will be conducting interviews with senior church leaders in the UK, which will be complemented by a large scale survey study. I am also currently conducting responsive research to begin to gain an understanding of how COVID-19 and the pandemic has impacted church leaders’ engagement with science more broadly.”

“Our research is multi-pronged. Our work with the AI hub in the Faith and Public Life team is fundamental. There, we reflect and work together with church advisors, facilitating training and knowledge exchange and the advising of bishops. We are also following and analyzing the unfolding Church of England response to COVID-19, via its public statements, as members of the Church of England’s Bronze COVID-19 Public Policy Group, and through interviews with advisors and church leaders to understand how their work impacts the Church of England’s public policy response. Additionally we are reviewing literature on the Church of England’s engagement with Parliament in recent years.

Another prong is active expansion of professional networks of scientists, ethicists and science-theologians by involving them as consultants, in events or to engage with the Faith and Public Life AI hub. We are arranging a number of cutting-edge science and technology themed events for Church advisors and bishops. These include an AI Symposium for advisors and leading bishops, and a day conference for approximately 50 bishops and senior church leaders with internationally leading researchers in AI technology, and social and ethical thought.”

Sarah works with Dr. Amanda Rees on the Narratives of Science and Theology project. She is a historian of science and religion working on transnational and local perspectives of various scientific disciplines during the long nineteenth century. Her research specialties and teaching interests include the history of science and religion, British Imperialism in the long nineteenth century, science and colonialism, South Asian studies, the relationship of science and Islam, and the history of evolutionary biology.

She completed her MA and PhD at the University of Toronto’s Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology (IHPST). She has worked as a postdoctoral researcher in Germany at the University of Regensburg (Wissenschaftsgeschichte).

Amanda Rees is a historian of science based at York University’s Department of Sociology. She specialises in the history of field sciences, especially ethology and ecology, in the history of human-animal relationships, and in the history of future. She has spent the past five years researching the way that different narratives of science have been used to create different versions of the human future, and on the crucial role that religion has played in both the history of science and science fiction.

Currently, she edits the British Journal for the History of Science, and is one of the co-editors of History of the Human Sciences. Her latest book is 'Human', co-written with Charlotte Sleigh and published by Reaktion Books in 2020.

Sam works with Dr Amanda Rees on the Narratives of Science and Theology project. He is a historian of Cold War science and technology with a particular focus on oceans history, as well as broader interests in the history of science diplomacy and past futures.

Following a MA degree in History from the University of Aberdeen, he completed a PhD in History of Science and Technology at the Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine at the University of Manchester. Along with Post-Doctoral Fellowships at the Universities of York (Sociology), Aberystwyth (History), Manchester (CHSTM), and Southampton (SMMI) he has held teaching lectureships at the University of Kent (History) and the University of Cambridge (History and Philosophy of Science).

Revd Professor Charlotte Sleigh is a scholar and practitioner in the science humanities, focusing on the connections that science makes with history, literature, art and theology. She has taught at the universities of Cambridge, UCLA, Kent and UCL, where she is presently a professor in the Department of Science and Technology Studies. She is a former president of the British Society for the History of Science, and is currently a self-supporting curate in the parish of St Martin and St Paul, Canterbury. She is the author of eight books including Human (Reaktion, 2020, with Amanda Rees) and God's Green Book (SPCK, 2010, with Bryony Webb).

David is a professor in the Department of Theology and Religion at Durham University and has PhDs in astrophysics and systematic theology.

He is a regular contributor to Radio 4’s ‘Thought for the Day’ and has lectured and written widely on the relationship between science and religion.

His most recent book, 'God, Stephen Hawking and the Multiverse: What Hawking Said and Why it Matters' (SPCK, 2020) is widely available.

Tom McLeish was Professor of Natural Philosophy in the Department of Physics at the University of York, England. He was also a member of York’s Centre for Medieval Studies and Humanities Research Centre. His research in ‘soft matter and biological physics’ draws on interdisciplinary collaborations to understand how material properties emerge from molecular structure and dynamics. He led the UK ‘Physics of Life’ network, and held a five-year research fellowship on protein physics and evolution. His OUP Very Short Introduction to Soft Matter appeared in 2020. In 2021, Tom was appointed Canon Scientist at St Alban's Cathedral.

Tom was passionate about radical interdisciplinary thinking, contributing to several national reports on interdisciplinary research. He also worked on the framing of science within theology, sociology, history, education and philosophy, leading to the books Faith and Wisdom in Science (OUP 2014) and The Poetry and Music of Science (OUP 2019). His co-edited book 'Eclipse and Revelation: Total Solar Eclipses in Science, History, Literature, and the Arts' was published by Oxford University Press in February 2024. He co-led the Ordered Universe project, a large interdisciplinary study of 13th century science. From 2008 to 2014 he served as Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research at Durham University and was from 2015-2020 Chair of the Royal Society’s Education Committee.

Tom passed away on 27th February 2023. He will be greatly missed as a colleague and friend.

Rebecca was a researcher at the pilot stage of the ECLAS project, 2012-14, interviewing senior UK Christian leaders about their relationship to science, as well as organising the first series of ECLAS conferences. Rebecca holds a BA in Russian & Politics and a PhD in Politics, both from Durham University. Her PhD research explored the role of messianism in Russian statecraft, geopolitics and identity, with particular focus on Putin’s first two terms as President. She has taught international relations at the School of Government and International Affairs. As an interdisciplinary researcher and Higher Education professional, she is interested in areas where discourse, politics and identity meet. Rebecca is currently Vice Principal at St John’s College, Durham. Her ECLAS research-related articles include: Bouveng, Rebecca. ‘What Bishops Really Think about Science: Views on Science and Religion Among Senior Christian Leaders in the UK’ (2014). International Journal of Science in Society, 5:3, 1-11. and Bouveng, Rebecca and Wilkinson David (2016). ‘Going beyond the How and Why of Science-Religion? Senior Christian Leaders on Science and Personal Faith’, Science & Christian Belief, 27, 100–115.

Lydia was a post-doctoral researcher on the ECLAS project between 2015-2019. Her research was focused on church leaders’ views on science. The first and largest piece of research she completed was a survey of over 1,000 church leaders and interviews with 20 senior church leaders. The second comprised of interviews with 12 theological educators on their views towards ministerial training and science. She has written several papers on her ECLAS research: (2019) ‘Researching Clergy Attitudes towards Science: A Reflective Account of Key Methodological Challenges’ in Science, Belief and Society (book); (2021) ‘Building Enthusiasm and Overcoming Fear: Engaging with Christian Leaders in an Age of Science’, Zygon (journal); and has a forthcoming paper (2024) ‘Beyond Conflict: An Exploration of how UK Church Leaders View the Relationship Between Science and Religion’, Journal of Contemporary Religion.

Alex completed his PhD in the Department of Theology & Religion at Durham University. His research explored the historical, sociological and psychological factors that shape the attitudes that male clergy hold towards women’s ordination within the Church of England. Findings from this study have been disseminated in journal articles and Alex is currently writing a book based on this research, which is under contract with Routledge. Since finishing the PhD Alex has held the William Leech Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at St. John’s College, Durham where he explored the well-being of those belonging to Christian communities in some of the country’s most deprived areas. Alex has also taught a module on artificial intelligence at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Alex is a Lecturer in the Sociology of Health and Illness at Bournemouth University. He was with the ECLAS team as a Post-doctoral Research Associate from 2020-22.

Fran is a researcher in Science Communication, the History of Science, and Literature, and an active science communicator with an interest in the socio-psychological history of what narratives make science communication effective. She holds degrees in Communication & Media Science, English, and Comparative Literature from the Universities of Leipzig and Sheffield, and completed her doctorate on Dreams and Visions in Victorian Psychology and Fantastic Literature at the University of Oxford.

Fran is a Leverhulme Fellow at the University of Leeds and was with the ECLAS team as a Post-doctoral Research Associate from 2020-22.

Hannah researches Church public policy-related discourse in AI Ethics and other current science-related policy matters. Hannah is an interdisciplinary researcher, with a background in Psychology (MA) and Practical Theology (Ph.D.). She completed her Ph.D. at the University of Aberdeen where she researched the lived experience of stigma in Christians with a clinical diagnosis of bipolar disorder. Before coming to work for the ECLAS project she was a Science and Religion Researcher at Theos Think Tank focusing on disambiguating and understanding the relationship between science and religion in the UK. Hannah worked with the ECLAS team from December 2022 to June 2023.