About Storyology
Storyology is what happens when you collide science and storytelling. It’s the culmination of a decade of development by Dr Anna Ploszajski.
Our Story
In 2020, our founder, Dr Anna Ploszajski was working as an in-house science writer for a large scientific research group. The job involved writing multi-million pound research grants, proof-reading the scientists’ research papers and establishing a public engagement programme. Being involved across the whole pipeline of science communication - from funding to reporting to public dissemination - showed her that although the group was producing world-class research, many of the researchers were struggling to communicate it well.
Prior to this point, Anna had spent seven years studying and applying storytelling in science communication, through stand-up comedy, podcasting and writing. She had also used storytelling techniques in her own career as a scientist to win awards at conferences and pass her PhD viva with no corrections. So, in consultation with the researchers from the group, she developed them a training course in storytelling to help them communicate their science better.
After some refining, she began to offer the course online to small groups. Once the lockdowns lifted, she was asked to deliver the course in-person and online for research institutes across the UK, Europe and North America. As demand increased, she took the business full-time, and founded Storyology Ltd. to deliver training courses and online materials on storytelling to scientists, engineers, researchers and technical people across the world.
About Anna
Dr Anna Ploszajski is a materials scientist, storyteller, author, podcaster, speaker, presenter, trainer, trumpeter, English Channel swimmer, feminist, knitter, walker and border collie dog mum, originally from Bedford, now settled in Walthamstow, East London.
She started out her career as an award-winning materials science researcher, and honed her craft as a storyteller through stand-up comedy, podcasting, and writing; her debut popular science book, Handmade: A Scientist’s Search for Meaning Through Making was published by Bloomsbury Sigma in 2021. Anna’s professional mission is to engage underserved communities with science and engineering through storytelling. She does this through community engagement projects such as Bedtime Stories for Very Young Engineers and Welsh Engineering: Past, Present and Future, as well as founding a collective of experimental science writers called Absolute Zero.
Recognising the benefit of storytelling in her own research and engagement work, Storyology was founded to help others to do the same. To formalise her expertise as a storyteller, she embarked on a part-time research project as a Story Associate at University of the Arts London, in association with StoryArcs, a research programme at Bath Spa University.
Her current practice brings together these years of hands-on storytelling practice, with a deep knowledge of the systems of science into a communication approach that is inclusive, creative and unconventional.
Oh, and it’s pronounced “Por-shy-ski”.
