Steph Bryant
Youth and Schools Programme Co-Director
Together with Lizzie Henderson, Steph Bryant coordinates the three main strands of the Youth and Schools Programme: workshops for children and young people; training for teachers and influencers; and book and resource production (each supported by and feeding into educational research). This work is supported by a number of grants on which Steph and Lizzie are PIs.
Steph holds a degree in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University specialising in Conservation Science, Ecology, Physiology, and Evolutionary and Behavioural Biology. She has been involved various conservation and communication projects since graduating, from studying wolves in Bulgaria, to frogs and salmon in Canada, and working with local communities and landowners to reduce human-wildlife conflict.
Steph is fascinated by the interactions of science and faith, and previously worked to coordinate the God and the Big Bang project, a Church of England schools’ science and faith communication project. She enjoys working with young people from a wide range of backgrounds, worldviews and ages and is particularly passionate about encouraging consideration of the roles and responsibilities that faith groups have in caring for the natural world.
Lizzie Henderson
Youth and Schools Programme Co-Director
Together with Steph Bryant, Lizzie Henderson coordinates the three main strands of the Youth and Schools Programme: workshops for children and young people; training for teachers and influencers; and book and resource production (each supported by and feeding into educational research). This work is supported by a number of grants on which Steph and Lizzie are PIs.
Lizzie holds a degree in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge, specialising in Evolutionary and Behavioural Biology, Geology and the History and Philosophy of Science. She has long held a strong interest in the communication and public understanding of the interactions of science and faith and has also worked with children and young people in a variety of contexts for many years.
Lizzie has been building the Faraday Institute’s Youth and Schools Programme since 2013 and has seen many thousands of students respond enthusiastically to the combination of hands-on science with honest, dynamic and thought-provoking discussion about science, faith and their interactions. She also consults and advises on several collaborative projects working to develop new, inter-disciplinary approaches to education.
Cathy Priest
Youth and Schools Programme Training Officer
Cathy Priest is responsible for the ongoing development of the training programmes offered by the Youth and Schools team to support and equip teachers, church youth workers, early-career scientists and other parties interested in exploring science-faith interactions with children and young people.
Cathy holds a degree in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge, specialising in Pathology. While at university she also helped lead the Christian Union. She then decided to use her passion for science to teach and has taught in secondary schools in the UK and abroad for 20 years, including leading Biology and Physics departments. In 2011 she completed a Master's degree in Educational Research, from the University of Cambridge, exploring factors affecting teacher wellbeing. She now divides her time between her work with the Faraday Institute which she joined in 2020, her role as a teacher trainer for Cambridge Assessment and her family.
As a wholehearted Christian with a love for science and teaching, Cathy is keen to help those who work with young people to feel equipped and excited to explore these big important topics with their young people.
Cara Parrett
Youth and Schools Programme Officer and Researcher
Cara Parrett supports the main strands of the programme’s work - workshops for children and young people; training for teachers and influencers; and book and resource production – while conducting educational research to inform this work and contribute to wider discussions about science, faith and education.
Cara grew up in South Africa, spent a gap year working in the UK and Madagascar, then earned an honours degree in marine biology and oceanography from the University of Cape Town. After contributing to research and conservation projects across several different countries she came to the UK to work at The Faraday Institute alongside Ruth Bancewicz (Church Engagement Director) from 2015-2018. Cara has also held research and science communication roles within the University of Cambridge Zoology and Engineering departments.
Cara returned to The Faraday Institute in 2020, motivated by her desire to create inspiring opportunities for students of all ages to pause, think and discuss their big questions about science and religion.
Ana Jones
Resource Development Assistant
Ana supports the main strands of the programme’s work - workshops for children and young people; training for teachers and influencers; and book and resource production – while assisting in educational research to inform this work and contribute to wider discussions about science, faith and education.
Ana grew up in Portugal where she studied Developmental and Evolutionary Biology for her undergraduate degree. She then came to the UK and did a Master’s degree in Neuroscience at Kings College London, followed by a PhD in Biomedical Science at Sheffield University. During her time in Sheffield, Ana assisted with and led different science communication activities with children and youth. She was also involved in various conservation projects with the Wild Life Trust during summer of 2019.
Ana loves exploring challenging questions about how science fits with faith perspectives of God creating the world. This motivated her to join the Faraday Institute in 2023 with the hope of sharing her passion for science and faith with young people.
Felicity Parker
Events Co-ordinator
Felicity grew up in rural Worcestershire and attended secondary school in Birmingham, where she studied Maths, Chemistry, Physics and Latin at A level before going on to study Classics (Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome) at the University of Cambridge. She is particularly interested in the history of science and after finishing her Classics degree stayed on in Cambridge to study History and Philosophy of Science, with particular specialism in the mathematics of early modern shipbuilding.
Raised in a Christian household, Felicity's relationship with and understanding of religion in general, and Christianity in particular, has ebbed and flowed over the years, but she now works in church youth ministry with the hope of enabling young people to experience life in all its fullness.
Felicity loves being in the open air, appreciating the breathtaking splendour of the natural world. Her greatest passion is for boats, closely followed by gardening, but on rainy days she turns her hands to any number of crafts including dressmaking.
