Louise has a PhD in cell biology from the University of Cape Town and a PhD in sociology from the University of Exeter. Her work combines these two skill sets to conduct empirical research on responsible research in science laboratories. In particular, it examines how scientists in low-resources settings (particularly Africa) shepherd their resources and shape their practices to create states of responsibility in daily research that are distinct from the Western norm. It also examines how these groups of scientists contribute data and interact online as part of the global scientific community.
Louise’s research interests are broadly centred on data sharing issues within the life sciences. In particular, she is interested in how the data produced during scientific experimentation enters into circulation, and how it is valued by potential downstream users. Her work involves a strong empirical component, including a number of ethnographic studies in laboratories in the UK, USA, Kenya, Uganda and South Africa.
In addition to her work at InSIS, Louise remains an honorary lecturer at the Steve Biko Centre for Bioethics at the University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa) and is active in various initiatives advocating for better education on Open Data for scientists.