Suzanne Whitby

Founder of SciComm Success.
Communicator, facilitator, storyteller.

Suzanne Whitby works at the intersection of science, society, storytelling, and sustainability. A communication expert with more than 20 years of international experience, she specialises in communicating complexity and helping scientists and researchers share their work with clarity and confidence.

Since 2012, Suzanne has designed and delivered training, facilitation, and strategy sessions for thousands of researchers in academia, industry, and science communication. She is a lively, engaging trainer and moderator known for incisive feedback, creative methods, and empathy for the pressures of research life.

Her clients have included EU Horizon and European Green Deal projects; universities such as Cambridge, Innsbruck, and Kiel; businesses like Prysmian, Genentech, and Sanford Burnham Prebys; and organisations such as the UN, CERN, and the Society for Experimental Biology.

Suzanne is an experienced foresight practitioner and facilitator and founder of Futures Fit, where she helps science-led organisations and university spin-offs think strategically about uncertain futures. She brings this futures-oriented lens to her SciComm work, supporting research teams and communication professionals to plan strategically, engage meaningfully, and connect science to action.

An interdisciplinary researcher affiliated with VU Amsterdam, she explores experiential and sensory approaches to climate communication and citizen engagement. She holds degrees in Philosophy, Classics, and is completing a PhD in heritage and sensory studies.

Originally from South Africa, Suzanne now lives in Innsbruck, Austria, with her rather marvellous husband (if she does say so herself!). She is a voracious reader, storyteller, scuba diver, sailor, and self-described “fish hugger” with an insatiable curiousity about people and the world around us, and a love of unexpected discoveries and deep conversations.

Suzanne is a communication specialist with over 20 years of international experience tackling complex communication challenges. Since 2012 she has worked across science, research, policy, and purpose-led sectors. Since 2014, she has focused on designing and delivering practical, engaging training and facilitation for scientists, researchers, and science communication teams, helping them connect with peers, policymakers, and the public with clarity and confidence.

Known for her incisive feedback, creative facilitation methods, and deep empathy for the pressures of research life, Suzanne combines strategic insight with a people-first approach. She has led communication and capacity-building programmes across Europe, the USA, Africa, and internationally, supporting institutions, EU research projects, and scientific teams at all levels.

Her work is grounded in a belief that science plays a vital role in creating a better future, and that communication is the bridge that connects research to action.

Suzanne also co-leads Futures Fit, a foresight and strategy consultancy, and runs an initiative focused on climate and sustainability communication. These activities reflect her commitment to helping organisations and individuals navigate uncertainty, engage meaningfully, and co-create hopeful, sustainable futures. These projects feed directly into her science communication work, bringing a futures-oriented lens to how research is communicated and understood in society.

She is currently pursuing a PhD in heritage and sensory studies, exploring novel ways to communicate climate change and encourage sustainable action.

Outside of work, Suzanne is a voracious reader, a joyful oral storyteller, a keen scuba diver and sailor, and a self-described “fish hugger” with a love for wild places, long walks, and deep conversations. She is proudly South African and lives in Innsbruck, Austria, with her husband, an atmospheric physicist.

Suzanne is the founder and managing director of SciComm Success.

She is a communication specialist who has nearly 20 years of international experience of tackling communication challenges head-on. Since 2014, she has been designing and delivering training programmes and workshops to help scientists and researchers share their research effectively with non-expert audiences, and develop the skills they need to interact successfully with peers and colleagues. Her experience extends across a range of sectors and she has designed and delivered communication and facilitation programmes for many well-known organisations in Europe, the USA, and further afield.

In addition to her innovative use of training and facilitation methodologies in her programmes to aid learning, she is known for her ability to cut to the heart of problems and to provide innovative insights, direct feedback, and supportive advice to help people transform their communication and personal impact.

A life-long learner, Suzanne is studying towards a PhD in heritage and sensory studies in her free time, enjoying the life of an academic researcher gathering and analysing data in sometimes pressurised conditions, which makes her work with researchers and academics particularly relevant!

On a personal note, she is a voracious reader, an oral storyteller and a “fish hugger” (rather than a “tree hugger”) who loves scuba diving, walking and travelling. She believes in the importance of human connection and creates new communities wherever she goes. She is continually becoming better at “tread more lightly” on the earth and lives in Innsbruck, Austria with her Atmospheric Physicist husband.