Audrey Cameron OBE is a Chancellor's Fellow working at the University of Edinburgh. She is Deaf and uses British Sign Language.
Cameron gained her degree in chemistry from the University of West of Scotland before achieving a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Strathclyde with a thesis on hydrogel polymer membranes. She then carried out her postdoctoral research at both Strathclyde and Durham Universities, before completing a PGCE course in Secondary Education (Chemistry with Science) at the Moray House School of Education and Sport in 2004, after which she spent some time teaching Chemistry and Science in mainstream schools. [1]
Currently, she is a Chancellor's Fellow in Science Education and BSL. She teaches on the PGDE Secondary Education (Chemistry/ General Science) course and she delivers science workshops for the PGDE Primary Education course. She also delivers the Deaf Studies module as part of the MSc Inclusive Education team. [2] In 2020 she was awarded a five-year Chancellor’s Fellowship, focusing on research on science education and BSL.
Cameron also manages the Scottish Sensory Centre's STEM in BSL Glossary project. [3] This project, which has been active since 2007, aims at developing a glossary of British signs and definitions to cover STEM disciplines and support teaching of such subjects to Deaf pupils. The glossary has nearly 4,500 signs with BSL definitions and examples. Each sign and definition is developed by a team of Deaf scientists, mathematicians, teachers working with deaf children, and BSL sign linguists, in order to be correct both linguistically and scientifically, and to be effective in conveying a concept. [4]
In 2016, Cameron was selected to be part of the exhibition "175 Faces of Chemistry", which showcased the diversity of the chemistry profession through 175 stories of individuals working in chemistry and organised by the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) in the lead up of the 175th anniversary of its foundation. [5]
In 2022, Cameron was admitted as an Honorary Fellow of the RSC, which is its most senior category of membership reserved for those who are distinguished in the science or profession of chemistry. [6]
Cameron was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2023 Birthday Honours for services to chemical sciences and inclusion in science communications. [7]
In 2024, Cameron was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of the West of Scotland. [8]
British Sign Language (BSL) is a sign language used in the United Kingdom and is the first or preferred language among the deaf community in the UK. While private correspondence from William Stokoe hinted at a formal name for the language in 1960, the first usage of the term "British Sign Language" in an academic publication was likely by Aaron Cicourel. Based on the percentage of people who reported 'using British Sign Language at home' on the 2011 Scottish Census, the British Deaf Association estimates there are 151,000 BSL users in the UK, of whom 87,000 are Deaf. By contrast, in the 2011 England and Wales Census 15,000 people living in England and Wales reported themselves using BSL as their main language. People who are not deaf may also use BSL, as hearing relatives of deaf people, sign language interpreters or as a result of other contact with the British Deaf community. The language makes use of space and involves movement of the hands, body, face and head.
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Karen Jane Faulds is a Scottish academic and Professor of Analytical Chemistry at the University of Strathclyde. She develops surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) for bioanalysis, and has won several awards for her research, including the Coblentz Society Craver Award.
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Clark Denmark is a British activist, lecturer and interpreter. He is deaf and a British Sign Language (BSL) user, and he is widely recognised within the Deaf community for his role in advancing the recognition and wider understanding of BSL.
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John "Jock" Young (1926–2005) was a British deaf rights campaigner. He was deaf and a British Sign Language user.