Claire Benjamin

Claire Benjamin was the WEST project's communications manager. She oversaw strategic communications increase the visibility of the project's mission and successes. Claire began her career as a science writer at the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology where she wrote about DNA debunking war elephant myths, animal models paving the way for life-saving medical devices, and how engineering crops can help feed the world. Her stories have been picked up by CNN, Yahoo News, Wired, Smithsonian Magazine, Motherboard, and other publications. She earned her bachelor's degree in agricultural communications and master's degree in advertising from the University of Illinois. She went on to become the Associate Director of Communications for the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Illinois.