I am Emeritus Professor of Science, Language, and Society at the Institute for Science and Society (School of Sociology and Social Policy). I studied French and philosophy in Germany and gained a DrPhil in French linguistics. After a postdoc in general linguistic at Oxford I moved to Nottingham. My current research focuses on the cultural and political contexts in which metaphors and other framing devices are used in the public, policy and scientific debates about synthetic biology and climate change. I have written books and articles on the history of linguistics, semantic change, metaphor, metonymy, polysemy and, more recently, the sociology of health and illness and the social study of science and technology. In 2011 the University of Nottingham awarded me a DLitt for my research and publications relating to the social study of metaphor. I am a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences.
