Celebrating our colleagues during British Science Week: Dr Susan Bond

During British Science Week we are celebrating our colleagues to demystify a variety of science-based roles at Food Standards Scotland. 

Today we're spotlighting our Principal Social Researcher, Dr Susan Bond.

Hello my name is Sue…

I spent nearly 20 years working as a Social Researcher in universities, many of those years were at the Employment Research Institute at Edinburgh Napier University. As a Senior Research Fellow I was in charge of numerous large and small-scale social research projects from evaluations into work programmes to identifying good practice in equalities.

In February 2021 I joined Food Standards Scotland as their first dedicated Social Researcher.

What does it mean to be a Principal Social Researcher?

One of my roles as Principal Social Researcher is to provide evidence based research to help Food Standards Scotland better understand the issues that matter most to consumers in Scotland. I’m currently working closely with other social scientists in the Food Standards Agency to do just that. 

What skills are useful for your role?

My experience of gathering social science data using a variety of methods has been really useful in my role as it involves qualitative methods (workshops where I speak to people about the food issues that are most important to them) and quantitative methods (a survey of over 6000 consumers across the UK). I really enjoy looking through all the data to pick out key things – like how food safety is still really important to most people.

What is one thing you’ve learnt from your time at Food Standards Scotland?

I’ve learnt lots of new things since coming to Food Standards Scotland, including some of the new trends that might have an impact on food in the future – we might all be eating insects in the not too distant future since they provide a sustainable and nutritious source of alternative protein and there are cultures around the world where eating insects is as normal as eating prawns are for us. Make sure to follow Food Standards Scotland to see if this is explored further in the future...

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram during British Science Week as we celebrate more of our colleagues.