Education and Outreach
Disseminating scientific information to the general public is, I believe, a very important part of science. Below are some examples of how I have participated in scientific outreach.
- I volunteered as part of the outreach session at Our Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh which ran alongside the International Symposium on Antarctic Earth Sciences (July 2011). Over 1000 members of the public visited our exhibition which gave a hands-on (and feet-in) demonstration of Antarctic life as well as teaching people about the significance of the Polar regions in today's changing climate.
- I demonstrate in computer practicals for the palaeoclimate modelling session as part of the Climate Change the Physical Basis module at the University of Leeds
- I teach basic mathematics to undergraduate as part of the Maths for Environmental Scientists module run at the University of Leeds
- Science at the Ends of the Earth - Session at the Leeds Science Festival - aimed at secondary school children. The session involved an introduction to Antarctica and the Arctic. The children were then shown Polar kit (tent/sleeping system/food box) and were allowed to try out being a polar explorer. We also had an ice-coring demonstration and an interactive discussion about life on the Earth's coldest continent - Antarctica!
- Schools visits (done annually and aimed at year 3 primary school children) - Morning lessons on fossils, dinosaurs and life as a palaeontologist. This is a very hands on session where children can handle and draw fossils from different parts of an animal. I also teach them about the different types of fossil you can get (trace/body) and what that can tell us about the lives of the pre-historic animals.
Media
Some of the Education and Outreach that I have participated in has been reported on in the local and national press.
If you are interested in Education and Outreach and would like to become more involved, please see the E&O section of the UKPN Website! We are always looking for volunteers!
