Wendy Sadler is a British science communicator and lecturer at Cardiff University. She is the founding director of Science Made Simple which focuses on engaging audiences with the physical sciences. Her areas of interest include inspiring the next generation of scientists, engineers and communicators; women in STEM; and making STEM subjects accessible to diverse audiences.
Early life
Sadler was born in 1972 and grew up in Wombourne, England, attending Ounsdale High School. She attended Cardiff University and gained a BSc in Physics and Music in 1994.
Career
Sadler considered a career as an acoustic engineer before becoming a manager at Techniquest. She has since completed an MSc in Science Communication at the Open University. Her dissertation assessed the long-term impact of science demonstration shows. She created the non-verbal theatre show called The Experimentrics, which mixed physical theatre and live science demonstrations to create "a world of wordless mystery and fun". Sadler is a LAMDA accredited public speaker and fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts. She regularly appears on television and radio discussing the importance of STEM education. Sadler is a Lecturer and Schools' Liaison Officer at Cardiff University. She is concerned about the state of science education in Wales.
Public engagement
Sadler is a physics communicator who has published 19 books for children. She has contributed to ITV Wales, BBC Radio and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. In 2010 Sadler gave a TEDxCardiff talk entitled "Music and the Machine".
Science Made Simple
Sadler set up Science Made Simple in 2002 with the mission to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers. At the time, Sadler was the IOP Schools Lecturer. SMS develop and present interactive performances that travel to schools and festivals across the world, reaching 28 countries to date. They have produced shows, contributed to science television, radio programmes, and children's books, trained scientists and acted as consultants on UK research councils. In 2013, she received national media coverage for their tour of UK primary schools following a sell-out run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. SMS has reached more than 750,000 people. SMS is part of a multimillion-pound EU project investigating the use of performance as a tool to engage young people with science and society issues.
Sadler Chaired and co-authored the Task and Finish report on STEM engagement in Wales for the National Science Academy and was involved in the writing of the Talented Women for a Successful Wales report.
