Dr Martin Coath

Biography

I am an associate lecturer for the Doctoral College in Plymouth, Senior Researcher at the University of Lapland (Arctic Centre), and Academic Adviser for education projects at Canterbury Christ Church University.

My original research interests addressed the building of computer models of sensory systems in a field that could broadly be called computational neuroscience. Now I am involved in climate change and educational research.

For more about me click here.

A list of my publications can be found if you click here.

Qualifications

B.Sc. (Hons, Chemistry)

M.Sc. (Distinction, Computational Intelligence)

Ph.D. (Neuroscience)

Professional membership

MBCS

Research

Research interests

Climate change, public engagement theory and practice, auditory neuroscience, bio-inspired computation, the perception of music, and science communication.

Grants & contracts

ALAVLSI EU FET 2001-2005
EmCAP EU FET 2005-2008
COLAMN EPSRC 2008
SCANDLE 2009-2011

Creative practice & artistic projects

I am scientific adviser and songwriter for a project by Timandra Harkness called Brainsex. This is a Wellcome trust funded project to create a comedy musical event which has received wide critical acclaim! It delves in to the complexities of what it is to be male or female at a neural level. It has already enjoyed success on the road in Oxford, London, Brighton, Bath, Cheltenham and Zurich (as part of the Denkfest)

I am currently working on a performance piece in collaboration with piano player and composer Lola Perrin called A2B2A. This ambitious project aims to combine a scientific discourse with a closely related musical performance in an integrated setting. The aim is to explore the degree to which the self referential nature of learning and experience can be abstracted in neuroscientific patterns.

Publications

Journals

A fairly comprehensive list of publications can be found here.

Personal

Conferences organised

Music, Science, and the Brain. Symposium. UoP, Sept. 08.

Other academic activities

I have a long standing commitment to transdisciplinary outreach and something usually called 'public engagement with science' - although I see no clear distinction between the two.

In the last few years I have helped measure the acceleration due to gravity with the help of under 10s in a public park, given the pre-concert talk at the last night of the Cheltenham Music Festival (about science and the violin), and helped out with a maths exploration day at a primary school in Cornwall. I have been to Eastern Europe, South America, Asia, and an island in the Indian Ocean to run workshops with academics, doctors and teachers. The aim of these sessions is to develop communication skills and transdisciplinary approaches to research, engagement and teaching.

I also teach Public Engagement skills and \LaTeX as part of the Doctoral College programme of post-graduate skills development at Plymouth University and elsewhere. \LaTeX is a cult dedicated to the overthrow of wordprocessors.

I am easy to google because 'Martin Coath' is not such a common name. There is just one other in Plymouth (much younger than me) and one other who is a ornithologist in Kent who has quite a few hits so beware!

Links

My own personal space on the web is here, my publications are here and you can find out more or less everything by following these links if you go far enough.

Profiles

Associate Lecturer

Doctoral College