Ehsan Masood

Hassan Ehsan Masood is a British science writer, journalist and broadcaster. Between 2009 and 2017 he was the editor of Research Fortnight, is currently bureau chief at Nature, and has been teaching international science policy at Imperial College London. since 2008.

𝕏 EhsanMasood

Biography

Born in London, his father Hassan Masood worked in actuarial science and his mother Shamsa Masood is a writer of short fiction in Urdu.
He went to schools in New York, Karachi and London; studied applied physics at Portsmouth Polytechnic and science communication at Birkbeck, University of London.
He worked for the journal Nature as a writer on science and international development from 1995 to 1999 and again as acting chief commissioning editor in 2008/2009. He has also worked as Opinion Editor of New Scientist and communications director at LEAD International.
Masood has also written for Prospect magazine and openDemocracy.net, as well as The Times, The Guardian and Le Monde. He is a former director of communications of Leadership for Environment and Development and also advises the British Council on science and on cultural relations.
Ehsan Masood was a regular contributor to Home Planet, an environmental affairs programme on BBC Radio 4 in the UK.

Awards and nominations

In January 2015, Masood was nominated for Services to Science and Engineering at the British Muslim Awards.
In February 2023, Masood won Inclusive Mosque Initiative's Workplace Ally of the Year Award.

Selected publications

His latest book is The Great Invention: The Story of GDP and the Making and Unmaking of the Modern World, which will be published in the US on 7 June 2016 by Pegasus.
Ehsan Masood's previous book is Science and Islam: A History. This tells the story of how science developed during Islam's imperial period from 800 to 1500. It is the official tie-in to a three-part documentary series on BBC Television presented by Jim Al-Khalili, Professor of Physics at the University of Surrey.
His other publications include:

This is a report for a major new British Council programme of activities aimed at reducing mistrust between non-Muslim and Muslim communities.Dry: Life Without Water, Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press 2006 How Do You Know? Reading Ziauddin Sardar on Islam, Science and Cultural Relations, London: Pluto Press 2006 British Muslims: Media Guide, published by the British Council in association with the Association of Muslim Social Scientists, 2006. Download a copy of British Muslims: Media Guide
''The GM Debate: Who Decides? Analysing Decision-making on Genetically Modified Crops in Developing Countries, London: Panos 2005''

In the media

In February 2009, Ehsan Masood presented a three-part series for BBC Radio 4 entitled
Ehsan Masood is a regular panellist on BBC Radio 4's environmental affairs programme
, Prospect article by Ehsan Masood republished on Wanabehuman.
Ehsan's Open Democracy columns
Special issue of Nature, November 2006
on Start the Week on BBC Radio 4, 29 May 2006
with John Ashton, Simon Dalby and hosted by Ken Rockburn of CPAC's Talk Politics show, February 2007