Jeremy Baskin is undertaking a second PhD ... brave or foolish or inexplicable, you decide! He is a candidate at the Centre for the Public Awareness of Science at The Australian National University in Canberra.

His research examines Expertise and the Covid-19 pandemic. Fascinated by claims to be 'following the science', he wants to understand the role of expertise in relation to making coronavirus policy: how expertise has shaped the pandemic and how the pandemic has shaped expertise. In particular, he will be looking at expertise and policymaking in Victoria (Australia), in South Africa, and in relation to the Gates Foundation. This work builds on a long-standing interest in the legitimacy, reliability and accountability of knowledge experts in public policymaking.

Jeremy has spent most of his life in South Africa. He has had a varied career as social movement organiser and anti-apartheid activist, senior public servant and policy advisor, research manager and designer of executive leadership programs, and a scholar. Most recently he has taught into academic programs ranging from environmental politics to law, and into MBA and similar programs in both Melbourne and Cambridge.

Jeremy's most recent previous research focussed on a controversial aspect of climate policy, solar geoengineering, as well as on the notion of the Anthropocene and sustainable development.

He tweets (irregularly) @jeremybaskin