Linkedin seems to be full of people whose career trajectory was like something preordained.Not so for me. In my early 30s I’d been making TV documentaries for ten years, about everything from space science to U.S. politics and religion (plus a little smattering of UFO conspiracy programmes thrown in there, but I try to forget those ) I loved the work and assumed I’d be doing it until I retired.But six years ago a call from a university friend changed that entirely.Her medical research lab had received a public engagement grant and she wanted help creating some videos, so that patients and the public could understand more about their work.Embedded amongst the researchers over a period of several months, learning about their work and helping them to engage meaningfully with their community was hugely rewarding. I was hooked. And I also realised that there was a real need within the research community for professionals with creative storytelling experience to help them communicate effectively.That’s when Orinoco Communications was born. Since starting the company in 2016, I’ve been lucky enough to work with some incredibly talented researchers from all disciplines across STEM, the social sciences and humanities.Always with the same purpose: telling stories to communicate research in a fresh, engaging way. And in 2019 an exciting new chapter for Orinoco Communications began, when I moved with my family from London to Austin in Texas, and set up a US office over there. It’s hard to say this kind of thing without sounding a little bit too earnest, but it’s very humbling to work with people who dedicate their lives, day-in-day-out, to changing the world for the better. Whether that’s seeking cures for rare diseases, designing vaccines to end global pandemics, or learning more about what it means to be human. Ultimately, I just make videos and animations about other people’s amazing work. But I do strongly believe that if those discoveries and ideas aren’t properly communicated then they won’t achieve the impact they deserve.So I’m very proud of the role we play and I'm excited about what's to come!Expect my Linekdin feed to be full of posts about digital comms with a research focus, updates on what we’re up to at Orinoco Communications, and news about the latest episodes of the #ResearchCommsPodcast.www.orinococomms.com