Researcher Blog: Scientific Outreach during Cov-19
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Two Lancaster University PhD researchers, Claire Holden and Katie Reeves, didn’t let the lockdown stop them from taking easy-to-understand science to the people.
Do you ever find yourself wishing you knew more about the environment we live in, the technology we use, or even your own body, but when you try to learn the resources available to you are heavy and dry? What if you could find out about cutting edge scientific advances with the same ease as a chat over a drink with your mates? Pint of Science (PoS) is an international science festival that aims to spread scientific knowledge in an informal and fun setting. Every year, in 46 cities across the UK, Pint of Science takes over pubs, bars and cafes, bringing together experienced academic experts, early career researchers and members of the public to celebrate shared knowledge.
When I spoke to an old friend from my undergraduate university about his volunteering experience with Pint of Science, I was excited to join up and help with the Lancaster team. However, I was surprised to learn that Lancaster did not have a Pint of Science Festival. I’m passionate about scientific outreach and felt strongly that as a top ten university we should be taking part. Additionally, as a final year PhD student who also attended a Lancaster school, I was eager to leave a legacy to my hometown.
I spoke with Dr Ali Birkett, the Research Promotion Coordinator for the Lancaster Environment Centre, about how to move forwards. I was immediately met with positivity and enthusiasm from everyone I approached about the idea. PoS was known to the university because Lancaster’s very own Professor Dame Sue Black (@ProfSueBlack) contributed a podcast to Pint of Science previously on her career as a world-renowned forensic anthropologist.
Within a few weeks we had secured funding from the university, gathered together a group of enthusiastic students to help run the events, chosen our themes, and secured several speakers from amongst our early career researchers and lecturers. Our venues included The Crafty Scholar, The Herbarium, and The Gregson in Lancaster, and The Kings Arms in the nearby town of Morecambe. Prizes such as pint glasses and drink coasters were delivered, and the event was ready to go.
Everything was running smoothly when the first cases of COVID-19 were announced in Europe, and the escalating COVID-19 pandemic halted our plans to launch the PoS Lancaster May 2020 events which were scheduled during the peak of a national lockdown. Unfortunately, this could not be overcome, and the events were cancelled. However, the central PoS team moved the event online for #PINT20 in September 2020 through a series of webinars on topics like ‘What makes us Human?’ and ‘How to design an “effective” flower’.
Left with numerous pint glasses and a sense of disappointment that the original event was cancelled, we decided to run a PoS competition during the online #PINT20 festival period to share scientific knowledge and our research at Lancaster University. The theme was ‘Research on a Post-it’ and we asked research students at Lancaster University to submit a summary of their work which we could then share during the festival. These were shared on Twitter and Instagram in the hope of spreading knowledge with the general public and scientific community on social media. We were even lucky enough to get a high number of our entries retweeted on the official Pint of Science UK Twitter and Instagram account!
This experience showed us that even external influences beyond our control (a global pandemic, for example) cannot stop the research that is core to this University, nor can it dampen the joy of engaging with and sharing science. Although it is not what we originally imagined, we are happy with the passion demonstrated and the number of submissions we were able to circulate as a result. We’ve already had interest from first year students in continuing this next year. Hopefully by this time we are able to run this in a pub as originally planned!
Next year’s PoS festival is planned to take place on the 17-19 May 2021. Find out more here: https://pintofscience.co.uk.
Author biography
Claire Holden and Katie Reeves are both final year PhD research students at Lancaster University. Katie is studying the role of surface particles in the loss of ice and snow from glaciers and ice sheets, and Claire is applying ATR-FTIR spectroscopy to the study of the invasive plant species, Japanese knotweed.
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