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Associate professor and co-ordinator of professional development GRS, James Cook University

Liz Tynan is associate professor and co-ordinator of the professional development program at the JCU Graduate Research School. She teaches academic writing and critical thinking skills to postgraduates. She also has an adjunct associate professor appointment at the College of Arts, Society and Education.

Her PhD in science communication from the Australian National University examined aspects of the British nuclear tests in Australia in the 1950s and 1960s. Her book Atomic Thunder: The Maralinga Story was published by NewSouth Publishing in 2016 and won the Council for Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences Australia Prize for a Book and the Prime Minister's Literary Award (Australian History) in 2017.

Her latest book, The Secret of Emu Field: Britain's Forgotten Atomic Tests in Australia, is the first book-length examination on the pre-Maralinga atomic tests held at the South Australian test site, Emu Field.

She is a former journalism academic with a background in both print and electronic media, specialising in science writing and editing. She worked for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) as a reporter and subeditor, and was later Sydney correspondent for New Scientist.

She is co-author of the Oxford University Press textbook Media and Journalism: New Approaches to Theory and Practice, now in its third edition. She is also co-author and co-ordinating editor of the OUP text, Communication for Business, released in October 2013. This textbook won best Tertiary (Wholly Australian): Teaching and Learning Resource in the Australian Publishing Association Educational Awards in September 2014.

Experience

  • –present
    Senior Lecturer and Co-ordinator Research Student Academic Support, James Cook University

Education

  • 2011 
    Australian National Unviersity, PhD