Fanuel Muindi

Fanuel Muindi is a former neuroscientist turned civic science scholar-journalist and entrepreneur.

He is the Founder and Director of the Civic Science Media Lab, which focuses on mapping and reporting on the civic nature of science. The coverage examines how the scientific enterprise interacts with local communities to address real-world challenges and foster informed decision-making. Why is this important? Navigating the rapidly evolving civic nature of science is increasingly complex. Through civic science journalism, the lab aims to make new knowledge, lived experiences, activities, behaviors, roles, motivations, and responsibilities across the civic science landscape more accessible, informative, and actionable. This approach is tailored for a diverse audience, including scientists at various career stages, science engagement practitioners (such as science communicators, journalists, educators, funders, and entrepreneurs), and community leaders.

The lab’s flagship project, the Civic Science Television Network (CivicSciTV), delivers on-the-go insights directly from stakeholders across the rapidly changing civic science landscape through its innovative programming. The lab’s insights have been published in journals such as Nature Biotechnology, Trends in Molecular Medicine, SciDev, BioRxiv, and Elsevier and have also resulted in the launch of several initiatives such as the non-profit, Sai Resident Collective (SRC).

Dr. Muindi received his Bachelor’s degree in Biology and PhD in Organismal Biology from Morehouse College and Stanford University respectively. He completed his postdoctoral training in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT. His professional experiences include staff roles at Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, and Research!America.

In addition to his lab, he is co-leading the development of a new effort called the Public Engagement with Science Hub (PESH) at Northeastern University. PESH is a community of scholars and practitioners from diverse academic fields in the New England area who share a passion for strengthening engagement pathways between scientists and members of the public.