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Biography

After finishing a degree in Environmental Science, and a Masters degree in Meteorology and Climatology, I went on to complete PhD in Atmospheric Science at the University of Birmingham. I addition to my doctoral research in the field of remote sensing, clouds and precipitation, I undertook a number of teaching duties, including classroom demonstrating, running field trip projects, tutoring and assisting on masterclasses. I subsequently discovered that I had a real passion for educational activities. Coincidentally, a unique post-doctoral position was advertised during the final month of my PhD, one that would allow me to explore my interest in educational outreach activities with school children (and in the field of climate change!), but still retain my research interests. I am now based in the Earth Observation Science group at the University of Leicester, and, in addition to a number of other research and outreach activities, I work on the Space Academy project. Space Academy is an educational project that uses ‘space’ and ‘climate change’ themes to inspire learners into perusing a future based around STEM subjects. Working jointly with outstanding teachers, we have developed and are running key stage 4 and 5 hands-on masterclasses , teacher training sessions and career days covering biology, physics, chemistry, applied sciences, environmental science and geography.

What motivated you to engage with the public?

In addition to Space Academy, I have organised and run a number of research council-funded educational outreach activities (for both primary school and secondary schools) based around observing planet Earth. I have also developed a number of resources, including hands-on exercises, demonstrations, computer-based activities and websites.

Describe the public engagement work you have done

The work I am currently involved in has allowed me to fully experience the true benefit of educational outreach activities. I would like to continue to partake in outreach and public engagement as much as possible. It is also important to encourage colleagues to take part in outreach activities – some academics do not yet see the real benefit of these activities, viewing it as something they ‘have’ to do rather than really ‘wanting’ to do it, yet if we do not inspire the next generation into following a STEM-related pathway, the pool of scientists and engineers will diminish. Promoting STEM uptake is therefore extremely important for the future of the UKs industries. Furthermore, the public perception of specific topics can occasionally be affected by highly publicised events – for example, public understanding of climate change has recently suffered negative consequences due to the ‘climategate’ incident which left many people confused as to what to truly believe about this extremely important topic. Therefore, I feel public engagement is essential for communicating the facts about such topics and to provide a medium for discussions to take place.

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