Kit Yates

Kit Yates (born 1985) is a British academic and author of popular science books. Yates is a Senior Lecturer in Mathematical Biology at the University of Bath and co-director of the Centre for Mathematical Biology. He has a diverse range of research interests and is a vocal advocate the empowerment of people through the communication of science.
Yates was born in Manchester in 1985. His father, Tim Yates, was Communications Director at University of UMIST and his mother, Nancy Yates, was a graphic designer at Manchester Museum.
Yates took A-levels in Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Chemistryhttps://www.smb.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/KIT-YATES-BOOK-QA.pdf before going on to Somerville College, Oxford|Somerville College, University of Oxford to study for a BA in Mathematics. He completed an MSc in mathematical modelling and scientific computing before completing a DPhil in Mathematical Biology under the supervision of Philip Maini|Professor Philip Mainihttps://mathgenealogy.org/id.php?id=163446 at St Catherine's College, Oxford|St Catherine’s College and Worcester College, University of Oxford. During his DPhil Yates began his public engagement career by joining Marcus Du Sautoy’s outreach group The Mathemagicians and writing for the University science magazine, Bang!.
After completing his DPhil Yates won a Junior Research Fellowship at Christ Church, Oxford. During this time he established his research programme in the mathematics of developmental biology and pattern formation.
Yates became a Lecturer at the University of Bath in 2014 and was subsequently promoted to Senior Lecturer. As an applied Mathematician Yates uses maths to describe the world. His research has been covered by media outlets including Reuters, Scientific American,RTE,the BBC, the Guardian, the Daily Mail and The Dailythe Telegraph.
He has worked in diverse biological applications including modelling developmental defectshttps://people.bath.ac.uk/cy386/papers/mort2016rdm.pdf and understanding Locust|locust swarminghttps://people.bath.ac.uk/cy386/papers/yates2009inc.pdf. He has also worked extensively on biological pattern formation including investigations into egg-shell patterns and the distinctive striped pigment patterns exhibited by zebrafish. The underlying theme of his research is the role of randomness in Biology.
Yates is a science communicator and author. His first book, “The Maths of Life and Death“, was published in September 2019 in the UK by Quercus (publisher)|Quercus and in January 2020 in the US by Scribner (publisher)|Scribner. The book has been translated into 20 languages for readers around the worldhttps://www.hachette.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/FINAL-SPREADS-HIGH-RES-Quercus-Translation-2020.pdf.
Yates has made numerous appearances on television and radio to discuss the real-world applications of mathematics on news channels including BBC Newshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkDZFahvSrg&feature, and Sky Newshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7IHMVlfrRI&feature=youtu.be as well as current affairs programmes like Panoramahttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOiDQNifR3Q&feature=youtu.be, More or Less and Watchdog and science-specific programmes such as Bang goes the theory, BBC Inside Science, BBC crowd Science and Numberphilehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTvKQYTV0Yw&feature=youtu.be. Yates also writes articles about the importance of Mathematics. His pieces have featured in the print media including the Huffington post|Huffington Post, the Guardian, Daily Mail|the Daily Mail, the Times, and the independent. His work regularly features in popular science outlets including The Conversation (website)|the Conversation Scientific American and IFLscience. Yates also sets mathematically themed riddles and puzzles for a range of newspapers and radio programmes.
Yates is also a director and trustee of Maths World UK which aims to establish an interactive Discovery Centre in the UK, showcasing the patterns, structures, discoveries, applications and people of Mathematics.
Since the beginning of the global COVID-19 pandemic Yates has been communicating the ideas behind the mathematical models which underlie much of the scientific advice provided to Government. As part of his work Yates has appeared on BBC newshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkDZFahvSrg&t=21s, Sky Newshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8whagVA-BVE&list=PLbYAJSQWV3_B0pwXEb_4ZE_osTtDHtuMd&index=8https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdolV2vzSag, BBC panoramahttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3SslpVD1hY, as well as on BBC Inside Science, BBC Crowd Science and BBC More or Less.
In October 2020, Yates joined the Independent SAGE group, whose aim is to offer independent advice to the UK Government during the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of his communication work, he has been quoted in several newspapers and appeared on Sky News, BBC News and BBC Radio|BBC radio discussing the UK response to the pandemic. In particular Yates was amongst the first to suggest that the United Kingdom’s lockdown came too late, at the cost of many thousands of lives.
2021 - Society of Mathematical Biology's Lee A. Segel Prize.
2019 - The Maths of Life and Death named a science book of the year by Sunday Times Science.
2016 - Winner of the University of Bath Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Public Engagement with Research.
2014 - Silver award in the Mathematics section of the national ‘SET for Britain’ poster competitionhttp://www.scienceinparliament.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/SET-FOR-BRITAIN.pdf
Yates has stated that his desire to become a scientist stemmed from the death of his mother at an early age from cervical cancer, an event which he wrote about in his first book, The Maths of Life and Death.
Yates is a self-proclaimed Oasis (band)|Oasis fan, having grown up in Manchester near to where he band are from. He is also a supporter of his hometown club, Manchester City F.C.|Manchester City. Yates has two children.
The Maths of Life and Death, Quercus, (2019).
How to Expect the Unexpected (Forthcoming).
Category:Biographers
Category:Science
Category:Mathematics