Susan Nelson (born 5 June 1961) is a science writer and broadcaster. She is a former BBC science correspondent.

Early life and education

Nelson studied physics at

University College Cardiff , latin_name = , image_name = Shield of the University of Cardiff.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms of Cardiff University , motto = cy, Gwirionedd, Undod a Chytgord , mottoeng = Truth, Unity and Concord , established = 1 ...

. She won a

Knight-Wallace Fellowship The Knight-Wallace Fellowship (previously known as the NEH Journalism Fellowship and the Michigan Journalism Fellowship) is an award given to accomplished journalists at the University of Michigan. Knight-Wallace Fellowships are awarded to reporte ...

at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

in 2004.

Career

Nelson was presenter of ''

Formula Five ''Formula Five'' was a British science magazine programme on BBC Radio 5 (former), BBC Radio 5 aimed at listeners in their late teens. It ran from 1990 to 1994, when the network closed. Sue Nelson presented the program for most of its time on air ...

'' on BBC Radio 5 from 1990 to 1994. In 1997 she presented ''Right Stuff, Wrong Sex : Female Astronauts''. From 1997 to 2005 she was a science and technology correspondent for

BBC News 24 BBC News (also known as the BBC News Channel) is a British free-to-air public broadcast television news channel for BBC News. It was launched as BBC News 24 on 9 November 1997 at 5:30 pm as part of the BBC's foray into digital domestic telev ...

and the science correspondent for the

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 193 ...

News. She was a presenter of '' The Material World'' on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

. Nelson has also presented a number of science series on Radio 4, including ''Britain's Modern Brunels'' and ''Citizen Scientist'' in 2006. She produced ''Women with the Right Stuff'' on the

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is an international broadcasting, international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC, with funding from the Government of the United Kingdom, British Government through the Foreign Secretary, Foreign Secretary's o ...

. She began to present the

Planet Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surface ...

podcasts in 2008. In 2010 she was made editor of The Biologist. Nelson makes films for the

European Space Agency , owners = , headquarters = Paris, Île-de-France, France , coordinates = , spaceport = Guiana Space Centre , seal = File:ESA emblem seal.png , seal_size = 130px , image = Views in the Main Control Room (1205 ...

. She hosts the podcast ''Space Boffins'' through her media company ''Boffin Media'', which has welcomed guests such as

Buzz Aldrin Buzz Aldrin (; born Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr.; January 20, 1930) is an American former astronaut, engineer and fighter pilot. He made three spacewalks as pilot of the 1966 Gemini 12 mission. As the Lunar Module ''Eagle'' pilot on the 1969 A ...

Eileen Collins Eileen Marie Collins (born 19 November 1956) is a retired NASA astronaut and United States Air Force (USAF) colonel. A former flight instructor and test pilot, Collins was the first woman to pilot the Space Shuttle and the first to command a ...

Helen Sharman Helen Patricia Sharman, CMG, OBE, HonFRSC (born 30 May 1963) is a British chemist and cosmonaut who became the first British person, first Western European woman and first privately funded woman in space, as well as the first woman to visit ...

and

Tim Peake Major Timothy Nigel Peake (born 7 April 1972) is a British Army Air Corps officer, European Space Agency astronaut and a former International Space Station (ISS) crew member. He is the first British ESA astronaut, the second astronaut to bear ...

. She presented the 2017

documentary ''Before I Go.'' In 2018 she was taken to

SAI International School SAI International School is a CBSE cum IGCSE affiliated, day-cum boarding, co-educational school in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. It was founded by Late Dr. Bijaya Kumar Sahoo in 2008, and is affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education, New D ...

with the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...

Books

In 2004 she wrote '' How to Clone the Perfect Blonde.'' In 2011 she published ''How to Live Forever: Lives Less Ordinary''. The rights to Nelson's third book,''Wally Funk's Race for Space: On the Road with a Forgotten Pioneer of Aviation,'' were acquired by The Westbourne Press in November 2017.

Wally Funk Mary Wallace Funk (born February 1, 1939) is an American aviator, commercial astronaut, and Goodwill Ambassador. She was the first female air safety investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board, the first female civilian flight in ...

was one of the

Mercury 13 The Mercury 13 were thirteen American women who took part in a privately funded program run by William Randolph Lovelace II aiming to test and screen women for spaceflight. The participants—First Lady Astronaut Trainees (or FLATs) as Jerrie C ...

. It will be released in October 2018.

Personal life

At age 60 Nelson was diagnosed with autism.

Awards

* Association of British Science Writer’s Award * BT Technology Journalist Award for Robo Sapiens * Glaxo Wellcome Science Writers' Award *New York Festival International Radio Program Award 2018

References

External links

Her website

Britain's Modern Brunels

Citizen Scientist

The Material World
1961 births Living people British radio personalities British science journalists People educated at Wirral Grammar School for Girls Mass media people from Bournemouth BBC Radio 4 presenters {{UK-radio-bio-stub