| Anna Zakrisson | |
| Birth Date: | 31 March 1980 |
| Birth Place: | Stockholm, Sweden |
| Citizenship: | Swedish |
| Nationality: | Swedish |
| Fields: | Science Communicator, Consultant |
| Workplaces: | Max-Planck-Institute Charité Zageno |
| Education: | Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge |
| Alma Mater: | Stockholm University |
| Thesis Title: | External Growth Control of Baltic Sea Cyanobacteria |
| Thesis1 Url: | and |
| Thesis2 Url: | )--> |
| Thesis Year: | 2015 |
| Doctoral Advisor: | Prof. Ulf Larsson |
| Academic Advisors: | Dr. Jacob Walve, Prof. Elena Gorokhova |
| Spouse: | Joa Helgesson |
| Partners: | )--> |
| Website: | https://annasimaginarium.com/ |
Anna Zakrisson (born 31 March 1980 in Sollentuna, Stockholm, Sweden) is a Swedish science communicator and scientist living in Berlin.
Zakrisson grew up in Stockholm; her father was a hydrologist and her mother is a medical doctor. She moved to Fagersta Municipality in Västmanland County in 1988 and left Sweden in 1997 for journeys to California, Asia and Africa. She studied at Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge and Stockholm University where she completed her doctoral thesis in 2015 entitled "External Growth Control of Baltic Sea Cyanobacteria". From 2004 to 2006 she worked as a researcher for Max-Planck-Institute Cologne. She is the mother of a daughter, born 2008. In 2012, she moved to Berlin and worked as a biologist and for Charité.
In an interview with Annika Merkelbach for Skeptical Inquirer, when asked her academic career Zakrisson replied that "...I didn’t want to stay in academia... The system sucks. I think it’s built to remove all that wonder and childish enthusiasm that, in my opinion, should be the foundation of science."
As of 2018, she is a resident of Berlin, Germany and worked as a freelancer in science communication for a two years before founding her consulting company Anna's Imaginarium GmbH & Co KG.
In 2019 Zakrisson married internationally active opera singer Joa Helgesson with whom she collaborates closely to create performative science lectures.[1]
Zakrisson was Head of Content of Zageno and worked as a biotechnical consultant there. She founded her platform Doctor Anna's Imaginarium in 2015. Zakrisson told Annika Merkelbach that "my absolutely favorite audience are those ... with no background whatsoever in science. To see those faces light up in sudden understanding of some aspects of their bodies or the world around them is fantastic and rewarding beyond belief." She also does science performances together with artists including opera singers, fakirs and dancers.
One of Zakrisson's main area of concern in science communication is addressing the anti-vaccine movement. She calls it "an extremely dangerous movement."
She has become more concerned with Homeopathy since homeopathic remedies for Ebola and HIV were introduced.
On the subject of women in science, Zakrisson believes that "it’s important for young female scientists to be able to see the diversity of women who do science."
Zakrisson has cooperated with a museum in the United Kingdom to advocate for early diagnostics for conditions such as Colorectal cancer.
She was a speaker at the German GWUP conference SkepKon in 2018. She is also active in the skeptical movement and is a member of the Swedish Skeptics Society (Föreningen Vetenskap och Folkbildning).[2] [3]