What will you do if I vote for you? – MRC Festival Zone 2018

Liza Selley answered on 4 Jun 2018:

I think the best way to find out about science (and whether you like it!) is to have a go at it yourself.

I would love to create an air pollution treasure hunt…in groups you would use the same equipment that air pollution experts use to measure air pollution around your schools. This would be a real experiment with exciting results but also a competition – the team that finds the most and the least polluted areas will win the treasure!

Claire Donald answered on 4 Jun 2018:

I have developed some activities that I take to schools and youth groups to teach them about viruses and the mosquitoes that transmit them. I have a glovebox isolater (a large, clear, sealed box with long gloves attached that go all the way up your arms- like this https://www.tdiinternational.com/gloveboxes/) and I get you to do challenges inside the box. For instance, you have to dissect a 3D printed mosquito or transfer sleeping ”mosquitoes” from one area to another before they wake up and try to fly around. This may sound simple but your timed and those gloves are very thick!

If I won the money, my idea is to develop other activities, specifically ones for younger children. I’d like to get some special UV paint that only shows up under UV light to teach them about hygiene. Its important they learn that even though your hands may look clean, there may be something nasty there that you can’t see. I can bring them a long to your school and let you guys try them out??

Joey Shepherd answered on 4 Jun 2018:

I (with the help of members of my team) do several public engagement events in a year and one thing we would really like is a microscope with a digital screen attached. Sometimes our stand can get very crowded – it is fantastic to see so many children and older people interested in our science but it can get difficult if lots of people are trying to look at our bacteria down the microscope. If we had one with a digital screen attached, more people could see the slides at the same time and people woudn’t have to wait so long for a look at our bugs!

Claudia Bonfio answered on 5 Jun 2018:

I would create some 3D models to be used for outreach events and exhibitions to give young students an idea of how life (let’s say the first cell) emerged and evolved on our planet… and eventually how life could be on other planets =)

Alexandra Hogan answered on 5 Jun 2018:

I would come to your schools to talk to you about mathematics, and all the different career options that you can follow if you like maths! I really loved maths at school and ended up doing a maths degree at university – but even at uni I wasn’t completely sure what sorts of jobs I could apply for. It turns out that there are SO many jobs for people who are good at maths, including in banking, insurance, business, consulting, teaching, software development, medical research, pharmaceuticals… So I want to come and talk to you all about that, and get you to think more about maths!

Helen Cooper answered on 5 Jun 2018:

I would love to organise visits to my unit so that students can come and see how the mice are housed, what enrichment we give them to keep them entertained and meet the animal technicians who are the people that care for the mice.

It would be nice if you could also have a go at handling the mice, health checking them, feeding them and making sure they have everything they need in their cages.

Laura Hemming answered on 6 Jun 2018:

I’d like to put on some sort of event which uses the arts to spread awareness of mental health problems in prisoners. This would probably involve taking some of the qualitative interviews I have done with prisoners and turning them into a script for a play. I want to make the issues that I’m researching as accessible as possible to a wide range of people, so that people can improve their understanding of mental health problems in prisoners and why we should be researching them.

Lauren Burns answered on 8 Jun 2018:

I would help promote Data Science at schools and events (such as the Swansea Science Festival!), communicate the work we do, and hopefully get people interested in science by answering any questions!

Hannah Farley answered on 10 Jun 2018:

I will get embryos 3D printed to help explain my work to kids in schools.

Question: What will you do if I vote for you?

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