From turning smartphones into microscopes to extracting DNA from strawberries, it’s been a busy first year of activity at the University’s ‘Meet the Scientists’ series, which wrapped up this month.
The series was launched last October in partnership with World Museum, Liverpool to engage visitors with cutting edge health and life sciences research in a fun and interactive way.
Over six weekend events, more than 240 members of staff and students ran family-friendly activities for over 6,000 members of the public.
Themed events
Each event focused on a different theme, including ‘Fat Cats and Hot Dogs’ where people could learn how to keep pets fit and healthy, and ‘Marvellous Medicine,’ which looked at how and why medicines are becoming more personalised.
The series culminated on 11 June with ‘Our World’, which explored some of the environmental and sustainability issues facing society today. This event had contributions from all three faculties, and included activities such as ‘Rescuing our Rivers,’ where people could build their own river, and a demonstration of how Earth has been imaged from space throughout history.
Meet the Scientists is supported by the Wellcome Trust and is a part of the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences’ public engagement programme, which also includes school visits, public lectures and running events at science festivals.
Positive feedback
Laura Winters, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences Public Engagement Officer, said: “The series gave us a fantastic opportunity to engage people with cutting-edge research and allow them to explore what it means to them and their lives.
“It was fantastic to see so many researchers and staff from across the faculty, and wider university, get involved with the series and develop their public engagement skills. We’ve have some really positive feedback from visitors and are already planning another series for this autumn.”
For more information about the series please visit www.liverpool.ac.uk /meet-the-scientists. Staff and students who are interested in taking part in the 2016/17 series can contact Laura Winters at lwinters@liverpool.ac.uk for more information.