Flowers, Magdalene College Cambridge

Dr Martin Thompson

Dr Martin Thompson is a Fellow Commoner at Magdalene.

Martin joined Magdalene as an undergraduate in 2004, having studied at one of Magdalene's link schools in Liverpool. He studied Natural Sciences, specialising in Zoology. After spending a year selling wine, Martin read for a Masters in Research at Imperial College London, achieving a childhood dream of studying entomology at the Natural History Museum.

At the Natural History Museum, Martin studied the butterfly Papilio dardanus, once called ‘the most interesting butterfly in the world’. His Masters work was expanded into a PhD project, jointly hosted at the Natural History Museum and at the Department of Zoology in Cambridge. The project looked at the genetic architecture of wing-pattern mimicry in this species of butterfly, combining molecular work with fieldwork in Ghana, Kenya and South Africa and Museum-based research in the collections of the Natural History Museum. Martin chose to maintain his connection to Magdalene, graduating with a PhD in 2014.

Having deeply enjoyed public engagement work at the Museum, and previous experience as a student ambassador for Magdalene during both undergraduate and postgraduate study, Martin began working in the admissions office at Peterhouse, Cambridge. Initially as a Schools Liaison Officer and then as Outreach Manager and Admissions Coordinator, Martin worked to support the admissions team and to plan and run programmes of events for schools and students about studying at Cambridge.

Martin moved on from Peterhouse in 2019, taking up the position of Director of Admissions and Fellow at St Edmund's College. Martin took up the role of Director of Undergraduate Admissions in July 2023. This role acts as the principal officer acting on behalf of all of the Cambridge Colleges to guide and to articulate strategy and policy relating to undergraduate admissions.

Research Interests

  • Undergraduate admissions, outreach and widening participation.

Qualifications

  • MA (Cantab) Natural Sciences (Zoology) - Magdalene College Cambridge
  • MRes Biosystematics - Imperial College London
  • PhD (Zoology) - Magdalene College Cambridge