News / Bristol
Breakfast with Bristol24/7: Anna Starkey
Anna Starkey has exciting news to share as she settles down to a bacon and egg bap at Brunel’s Buttery – but, more pressingly, she is locked in a battle of wills with a very persistent wasp.
“I really hate wasps,” admits the creative director of We The Curious, as she gamely tries to keep her cool and save her breakfast from the buzzing airborne pest.
She may have inadvertently revealed her kryptonite, but Anna is the sort of person who takes most things in her stride, as she turns her hand from science to arts and back, all the while exuding an effortless cool. ‘
is needed now More than ever
“Before Brian Cox was invented, it was kind of embarrassing to say at a party that you’re a physicist and nowadays people actually want to talk to you, which is quite nice,” she says, taking a sip of mint tea. “I would have been way cooler as a student if that was the case then.”
Things could have turned out quite differently for Anna, who was advised to pursue a job as a fish farmer by a school careers advisor and had a stint as a stand-up comic, before the late nights and a love of sleep brought that ambition to an end.
After studying physics at Warwick University, she went on to do a masters in science communication at Imperial College London, because she was more interested in getting others involved in science than sitting in a lab.
Her career took off with BBC Horizon on the Parallel Universes documentary, before she worked in children’s animation and then secured a spot as a researcher for the Proms.
“I thought the job sounded cool and I went for it, not knowing much about classical music, but liking it,” says Anna, with a frank honesty that has clearly served her well.
“There’s a parallel with science, because classical music is a bit of a niche, done by certain types of people and it was about packaging it to remove some of the preconceptions so more people could enjoy it.”
It is this ability to see the value in things and encourage curiosity in others that makes Anna the ideal person to be leading Bristol’s popular science centre into the future with a change in name to We The Curious.
“The thing that hit me was we had this wall called ‘news and views’ and people were writing these amazing questions like ‘how does the moon fly?’” says Anna, on the inspiration behind the new direction.
“They were amazing questions that weren’t being answered in our exhibits or rooms.
“Our vision is building a culture of curiosity, which is kind of empowering people to ask questions. People might say they are not scientists, or not good at maths, or even not have much imagination, but they can all be curious, so it’s a bit of a leveller. Curiosity is the engine to both artistic and scientific enquiry.”
We The Curious has been awarded £3m through the Inspiring Science Fund which will be used to completely reimagine the ground floor, with the first major exhibition based entirely on curiosity.
“I think this is a whole new era of connecting up ideas and science coming out of its bubble, continues Anna.
“The good thing about Bristol is people seem energised about making positive social change, more so than in have seen anywhere else. Just to be awake and inquisitive and not just taking the status quo for an answer – we need that now more than ever.”
Brunel’s Buttery
Museum Street
BS1 6UD
0117 929 1696
Bacon and egg roll £3.20
Mushroom and egg sandwich £3.10
Mint tea £1.10
Coffee £1.50
Total: £8.90
Illustration by Anna Higgie: www.annahiggie.co.uk
Read more: At-Bristol reveals Curious new name
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