Ruth Francis, a science communication consultant, has died. She headed comms at the journal publisher BMC shortly after I left, and went on to do the same at Springer Nature and F1000 before becoming a consultant, in which role I briefly got to work with her. She will be missed. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/it-is-with-great-sadness-that-we-share-the-share-7442234166001303552-QYlI

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It is with great sadness that we share the news of the death of Ruth Francis. Ruth was a well-known and much-loved Stempra member and contributor to our community. She had more than two decades of… | Stempra | 34 comments

It is with great sadness that we share the news of the death of Ruth Francis. Ruth was a well-known and much-loved Stempra member and contributor to our community. She had more than two decades of experience in science communication, having worked for King's College London, Cancer Research UK (CRUK), Nature Portfolio, Springer Nature, F1000, and in recent years as a freelance communications consultant. She was also Chair of Stempra in the early 2010s, supported the committee when Rob Dawson passed four years ago, and most recently was Co-Chair from March 2024 until her diagnosis last year. Those who worked with Ruth describe her as inspiring, creative and kind - a colleague who helped others tell the stories of science in interesting and honest ways, while always championing her team and finding humour along the way. Her warmth, insight and generosity shaped the experiences of many across the science communication community. We know this news will be a shock to many. We are collecting messages of condolence and memories to share with Ruth’s family - please send these to [email protected]. There will be a moment of reflection at tomorrow’s AGM, and we will share more soon about how we plan to honour Ruth’s memory in the long term. | 34 comments on LinkedIn

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