PhD students Rhod Jenkins and Jess Bean from our Departments of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering are celebrating after being crowned winners in Friday’s ‘I’m a scientist, get me out of here!’ live final.
The competition, which took place over the past few weeks, is an online event where school students get to meet and interact with scientists.
Through a series of intense, fast-paced, online live chats, school students challenge scientists to explain their research in the most engaging way possible and vote for their favourites in a process of elimination.
Researchers from Bath went up against fellow academics in different ‘science zones’, each competing to win the student vote and secure £500 to help further communicate their work to the wider public in the future.
Jess Bean, whose research looks at the immobilisation of bacteria-killing enzymes for use in antimicrobial burn wound dressings, won the ‘Indium Zone’. Commenting on her win she said: “I’m absolutely stunned and humbled! The other scientists I was grouped with were great to work with and the whole experience was really fun.”
Rhod Jenkins, from the University’s Department of Chemical Engineering and Centre of Sustainable Chemical Technologies, beat off fierce competition to win the ‘Energy Zone’. He added: “I am thrilled to have won my zone in ‘I’m A Scientist, get me out of here!’. I love talking to enthusiastic students, as well as debating with them! Hopefully I motivated some of them to pursue the sciences”.
Rhod plans to put the £500 prize towards the work of Outreach International, a charity which promotes education programs in developing countries.
Other scientists from Bath involved in the competition included PhD student Alberto Lapedriza, from the Department of Biology & Biochemistry, and Dr Joanna Bryson, from the Department of Computer Science.
Commenting on the experience, Joanna said: “It was fun to work with the kids and find out what they cared about. I enjoyed thinking of ways to talk about current theories of biology and dynamic systems in ways that were clear to children – or at least hopefully clear! But it makes the point science doesn’t have to be complicated. It was also a great chance to use my expertise in poo and monkeys too!”
Local schools in Bath which took took part in the competition included: Oldfield School; Hayesfield Girls’ School; Prior Park College and Bath Royal High School.
Other nearby schools included: Backwell School (Backwell); Broadoak Mathematics and Computing College (Weston-super-Mare); Downend School (Downend); Downside (Radstock); Kingsmead Community School (Wiveliscombe); Lydiard Park Academy (Swindon); Somervale School (Midsomer Norton); St Katherines (Pill); St Laurence School (Bradford on Avon); St Mary Redcliffe and Temple (Bristol); and Winsley CofE Primary School (Bradford-on-Avon).