Tristan is the NSERC PermafrostNet Director of Operations. He holds degrees in Experimental Pathology (BSc St. Andrews University), Clinical Pharmacology (MSc Aberdeen University), Biochemistry (PhD Edinburgh University) and Science education (PGCE Durham University). He is a former molecular neuropathologist who studied prion diseases during his PhD and post-doctoral research which highlighted the importance of public understanding of science and led to a post-graduate degree in science education. In 2009, following a few years teaching and lecturing he joined the Norwich BioScience Institutes where he ran the public engagement and education programs. He was then promoted to carry out this role across the UK on behalf of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council. In 2014, he moved to the USA, where he consulted for Cornell University while establishing I’m a Scientist USA and the non-profit program Keep on Questioning. Tristan has a wide range of science communication, public engagement and education experience in academia, museums, schools and the community, including producing a play about the history of women in science, that was performed at the Royal Institution in London, an experiential immersive theatre production that used a zombie apocalypse to communicate science and went on to win the award for the best STEM event in the UK, a citizen science project to track invasive slugs as well as large national programs on bioenergy and Food Security. In 2017 he moved with his family to Ottawa, Ontario. Prior to joining the NSERC PermafrostNet, Tristan was with Evidence for Democracy where he produced a report on the funding of climate science in Canada.