Jessamyn Fairfield
Program Facilitator HB9
Visible Impact Facilitator HB8
Visibility Facilitator HB7
Jessamyn Fairfield is a lecturer in the School of Natural Sciences at the University of Galway who specialises in science/art engagement projects, from both the performing arts side and the science communication side. Her research focuses on comedy, dance, and other performing arts in partnership with science, to explore technically and emotionally challenging topics. Her laboratory background is in nanomaterials for novel electronics, and she loves to look at interdisciplinary questions that require many different ways of knowing.
Right now, Jessamyn is the director of We Built This City on Rock and Coal, which uses improvised theatre to make space for discussions about the climate crisis in coastal and island communities in rural Ireland. She has created two science/dance shows with choreographer Deidre Cavazzi, NanoDance and CONDUIT, after they met at the Arctic Circle art/science residency programme. She is also an award-winning science communicator, and the founding director of Bright Club Ireland, a platform for communicating academic research with stand-up comedy. Listen to Jessamyn talk about using comedy for the greater good in her TEDx talk ‘Laugh, Think, Cry, Laugh Again.’
Jessamyn was part of the fourth cohort of Homeward Bound, and found it to be a critical resource and community that came at an inflection point in her career. Previously, she has upskilled women in STEMM in partnership with organisations like Soapbox Science and the Mawazo Institute. She has been part of the faculty of Homeward Bound since 2022, focusing on science communication, visibility, and impact.
Visit her website here.
