When Siouxsie met Dun and Bradstreet . . .

Ihad an odd phone call the other day. A woman wanted to know if she had reached Lucy Ferrin Ltd, and if the company did PCR testing. I said no and asked why she needed a PCR test. Covid, she replied. I advised her to call Healthline who would tell her where her nearest testing station was. She said she’d tried them and they were too busy. I told her I was sorry I couldn’t help, wished her well, and hung up.

Why does she think Lucy Ferrin Ltd does Covid PCR testing? When I Googled Lucy Ferrin Ltd, the top hit was for a company called Dun and Bradstreet, which seems to be based in the United States and describes itself as ‘‘a leading global provider of business decisioning data and analytics’’.

Dun and Bradstreet listed Lucy Ferrin Ltd as part of Auckland’s ‘‘Testing Laboratories Industry’’. It also says the company had nine employees and generated US$1.63 million in sales.

All of which is news to me as I’m the sole person involved with Lucy Ferrin Ltd and its bank account contains the grand sum of $254.47. On Lucy Ferrin Ltd’s website, I describe Lucy Ferrin as my alter ego and explain that the company specialises in science communication.

I started Lucy Ferrin Ltd in 2012 for two reasons. The first was that in 2011, I started working with graphic artist Luke Harris to make short videos about glowing creatures and the scientific uses for their living light.

After struggling to pay Luke through my university’s finance system, I figured having my own company might be easier. I could make sure Luke was paid on time using the small personal grants I was getting for the animations.

The second reason I started the company was because my contract at the University of Auckland was ending. I was running a research group, supervising students, and lecturing, but on a fixed-term contract. Despite years of promises there would be a permanent lecturing position for me, it wasn’t materialising. As I did more science communication, I wondered if I could turn that into a career.

Ironically, it was winning the Prime Minister’s Science Media Communication Prize in 2013 that made me realise I didn’t want to leave scientific research for science communication. I wanted to do both.

It took the University of Auckland’s Faculty of Science offering to pay half my salary before the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences made a permanent lectureship available.

The name Lucy Ferrin Ltd is a play on the word luciferin, the name of the chemical that fireflies use to make light. And as of last Friday, Dun & Bradstreet had taken down the erroneous reference at my request. Phew.

On Lucy Ferrin Ltd’s website, I describe Lucy Ferrin as my alter ego.

The Dominion Post is subject to the NZ Media Council. Complaints must be directed to editor@dompost.co. nz. If the complainant is unsatisfied with the response, the complaint may be referred to the Media Council, PO Box 10-879, Wellington, 6143 or info@mediacouncil.org.nz. Further details at presscouncil.org.nz