Dr Chris Macdonald
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drchrismacdonald.bsky.social
Dr Chris Macdonald
@drchrismacdonald.bsky.social
2K followers 62 following 30 posts
Scientist | Founder | Author | 40 Under 40 in Science
Sustainability and Health
Based at the University of Cambridge
Find out more at DrChrisMacdonald.com
Posts Replies Media Videos
drchrismacdonald.bsky.social
🥳🥳🥳🥳 We did it!!!

We won the Global EdTech Award for using virtual reality and neuroscience to create the most effective treatment for the fear of public speaking!

Find out more here:
www.eurekalert.org/news-release...

Original research paper here:
www.frontiersin.org/journals/vir...

#edtech 🙌
November 7, 2025 at 7:37 PM
drchrismacdonald.bsky.social
My new paper reveals how I used consumer insights to create the most effective nudge to increase sales of sustainable food 🙌

Share far and wide 🌱

Link to open access paper:
www.frontiersin.org/journals/sus...

#sustainablefood #sustainability
#vegan #greennudge
November 2, 2025 at 11:02 PM
drchrismacdonald.bsky.social
My new paper on how to increase sustainable food consumption is continuing to gather positive media attention 🙌

Link to paper:
www.frontiersin.org/journals/sus...

#sustainablefood #sustainability
#vegan #greennudge
October 22, 2025 at 12:50 PM
drchrismacdonald.bsky.social
🎉 I'll be demoing my virtual reality treatment for speech anxiety this weekend at New Scientist Live!

In my last VR paper, I revealed how my VR tech & overexposure protocol provides the most effective treatment.

Link to the paper here:
www.frontiersin.org/journals/vir...

#anxiety #medtech #edtech
Frontiers | Improving virtual reality exposure therapy with open access and overexposure: a single 30-minute session of overexposure therapy reduces public speaking anxiety
Public speaking anxiety is a prevalent issue with significant negative impacts. While virtual reality exposure therapy is an effective treatment, it currentl...
www.frontiersin.org
October 15, 2025 at 10:42 AM
drchrismacdonald.bsky.social
🥳 The new paper has quickly gained over 2000 views!

In the paper, I reveal new and highly effective approaches to increase sustainable meal choices.

www.frontiersin.org/journals/sus...

#sustainablefood #greennudges
#behaviourchange #climatechange
#vegan #sustainability
Frontiers | Reducing meat consumption with consumer insights and the nudge by proxy: the anomaly of asking, the power of protein, and illusions of insufficiency and availability
High global meat consumption presents significant environmental challenges. Interventions to reduce meat consumption, such as carbon labelling, have shown mo...
www.frontiersin.org
October 14, 2025 at 9:43 PM
drchrismacdonald.bsky.social
📢 New paper alert!

In the paper, I explored practical ways to increase sustainable meal choices and I uncovered something highly impactful using a consumer-led approach…

www.frontiersin.org/journals/sus...

#sustainablefood #greennudges
#behaviourchange #climatechange
#vegan #sustainability
Frontiers | Reducing meat consumption with consumer insights and the nudge by proxy: the anomaly of asking, the power of protein, and illusions of insufficiency and availability
High global meat consumption presents significant environmental challenges. Interventions to reduce meat consumption, such as carbon labelling, have shown mo...
www.frontiersin.org
October 7, 2025 at 9:55 PM
drchrismacdonald.bsky.social
My new paper on how to increase sustainable food consumption is starting to gather media attention 🙌

Link to paper:
www.frontiersin.org/journals/sus...

#sustainablefood #sustainability
October 3, 2025 at 12:11 PM
drchrismacdonald.bsky.social
Over 1000 views already on my newly published paper!

In the paper, I explored practical ways to increase sustainable meal choices and I uncovered something highly impactful using a new approach…

www.frontiersin.org/journals/sus...

#sustainablefood #greennudges
Frontiers | Reducing meat consumption with consumer insights and the nudge by proxy: the anomaly of asking, the power of protein, and illusions of insufficiency and availability
High global meat consumption presents significant environmental challenges. Interventions to reduce meat consumption, such as carbon labelling, have shown mo...
www.frontiersin.org
September 29, 2025 at 9:11 AM
drchrismacdonald.bsky.social
The ball is in Greggs’ court now...

Earlier this week, my publication revealed a trick that can more than double sales of meat-free products at Greggs.

Today, I shared the findings with them.

I also let them know that I’d be happy to collaborate to help accelerate positive change.
September 27, 2025 at 8:55 PM
drchrismacdonald.bsky.social
📢 New paper alert!

In the paper, I explored practical ways to increase sustainable meal choices and I uncovered something highly impactful using a consumer-led approach…

🔗 Link to open access paper here:
frontiersin.org/journals/sus...

#sustainablefood #greennudges
Frontiers | Reducing meat consumption with consumer insights and the nudge by proxy: the anomaly of asking, the power of protein, and illusions of insufficiency and availability
High global meat consumption presents significant environmental challenges. Interventions to reduce meat consumption, such as carbon labelling, have shown mo...
frontiersin.org
September 25, 2025 at 12:08 PM
drchrismacdonald.bsky.social
I'm back in the news, and this one made me emotional...

Read the full Guardian article for free via link below:
theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

Please share far and wide - it could be life-changing for anyone who suffers from speech anxiety or the fear of public speaking.
‘The room started to spin, my breath grew short’: could I conquer my fear of public speaking?
For years, speaking in public has triggered panic attacks. So to overcome them, I road-tested some popular methods, from psychotherapy to virtual reality
theguardian.com
August 24, 2025 at 9:20 AM
drchrismacdonald.bsky.social
📢 Exciting job opportunity!

I’m looking for an exceptional Project Coordinator to expand the rollout of a ground-breaking edtech/medtech platform developed at my lab at the University of Cambridge.

Find out more and apply:
lucy.cam.ac.uk/vacancies/pr...
August 23, 2025 at 10:28 PM
drchrismacdonald.bsky.social
📢 New article alert!

Want to encourage more sustainable diets? Then don’t talk about sustainability. That’s the surprising takeaway from my research.

Read the full article for free here: theimpactmagazine.org/magaz… (page 22-23)
July 1, 2025 at 5:41 PM
drchrismacdonald.bsky.social
We did it again 🥳 🥳 🥳

We won the Cambridge University Excellence Award (for the third year running!).

For this year’s entry, I used emerging tech to better translate and visualise emissions data.
June 20, 2025 at 4:14 PM
drchrismacdonald.bsky.social
Please share far and wide - the free treatment is life-changing for anyone who suffers from speech anxiety or the fear of public speaking.

#psychologyresearch #psychology
#virtualreality #publicspeaking
#edtech #healthtech
June 1, 2025 at 12:07 PM
drchrismacdonald.bsky.social
🎉 Exciting research update: My latest paper is now in the top 5% of all 48 million research outputs scored by Altmetric. The paper reveals an innovative and free VR treatment for speech anxiety.

Read the paper for free here:
www.frontiersin.org/journals/vir...

#psychologyresearch #psychology
Frontiers | Improving virtual reality exposure therapy with open access and overexposure: a single 30-minute session of overexposure therapy reduces public speaking anxiety
Public speaking anxiety is a prevalent issue with significant negative impacts. While virtual reality exposure therapy is an effective treatment, it currentl...
www.frontiersin.org
June 1, 2025 at 12:04 PM
drchrismacdonald.bsky.social
Earlier this week, I was on BBC Science Hour with Chris Smith and Naga Munchetty. I shared my story of how I created the most effective treatment for speech anxiety and why I made it free for all.

You can access it for free via link in bio.

#socialanxiety #anxiety #vr
#edtech #digitalhealth
May 8, 2025 at 12:32 PM
drchrismacdonald.bsky.social
This week, I was interviewed for the legendary science show, The Naked Scientists...

You can listen to the full episode for free here:
www.thenakedscientists.com/articles/int...

Enjoy!

#Innovation #Technology #EdTech
VR device to reduce fear of public speaking
Don't get in your own headset...
www.thenakedscientists.com
May 2, 2025 at 5:55 PM
drchrismacdonald.bsky.social
What a week…

7 days ago, I launched a free online platform that helps people become more skilled and more confident public speakers.

Find out more at:
www.DrChrisMacdonald.com

#virtualreality #publicspeaking
#edtech #healthtech

#fearofpublicspeaking #speechanxiety
#socialanxiety #anxiety
March 22, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Reposted by Dr Chris Macdonald
cambridgefestival.bsky.social
Cambridge scientist launches free AI-enabled virtual reality platform that transforms users into skilled and confident public speakers and you can try it for free at #CamFest!

Read more: www.cam.ac.uk/stories/AI-V...

@drchrismacdonald.bsky.social
Free tech eliminates the fear of public speaking
Cambridge scientist launches free AI-enabled virtual reality platform that transforms users into skilled and confident public speakers.
www.cam.ac.uk
March 17, 2025 at 4:22 PM
drchrismacdonald.bsky.social
I set a simple but ambitious mission: create the most effective treatment for the most common fear, and make it freely available to all. And today, I am so excited to reveal that I succeeded!!!

Links to everything are available on my website (link in bio).

#fearofpublicspeaking #speechanxiety
March 15, 2025 at 9:25 PM
drchrismacdonald.bsky.social
I created the most effective treatment for speech anxiety - and I made it free for all!

I was interviewed about it for The Guardian.

Please share far and wide - this free treatment could be life-changing for anyone who suffers from the fear of public speaking.

www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Free online virtual reality tool helps people tackle public speaking nerves
Cambridge scientist behind VR platform says it could help those put off by high cost of speech anxiety treatment
www.theguardian.com
March 15, 2025 at 6:02 PM
drchrismacdonald.bsky.social
Last week, I was interviewed by Rhys Blakely (Science Correspondent at The Times) about the free treatment I have created for speech anxiety and the fear or public speaking.

Please share far and wide - the free treatment could be life-changing for millions.

www.thetimes.com/uk/science/a...
Can a virtual reality headset cure your fear of public speaking?
A device that simulates even the most intimidating of audiences can make presentations less of an ordeal, a Cambridge scientist explains
www.thetimes.com
March 15, 2025 at 3:00 PM
drchrismacdonald.bsky.social
I set out with a simple but ambitious goal: create the most effective treatment for the most common fear, and make it freely and instantly accessible to all.

Today, with the launch of my free online platform, I believe that I have achieved that goal.

Conquer speech anxiety for free (link in bio)
March 15, 2025 at 1:51 PM
drchrismacdonald.bsky.social
I used virtual reality to create the most effective treatment for speech anxiety. And the platform will be available for all, for free! from March 15th - #WorldSpeechDay

www.mendeley.com/catalogue/1d...

#ExposureTherapy #SpeechAnxiety #VR #PublicSpeaking
Improving virtual reality exposure therapy with open access and overexposure: a single 30-minute session of overexposure therapy reduces public speaking anxiety
(2024) Macdonald. Frontiers in Virtual Reality. Public speaking anxiety is a prevalent issue with significant negative impacts. While virtual reality exposure therapy is an effective treatment, it ...
www.mendeley.com
February 28, 2025 at 11:13 PM