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In I’m a Scientist we ask all the scientists to tell us a joke. It turns out everyone loves this bit of the scientist’s profiles, so we thought we would gather them all here together, for your delight and delectation…

Zone	Scientist	Joke
Beryllium	Upul Wijayantha
	Philip Wadler	There are two kinds of people—those who think there are two kinds of people, and those who don’t.
	Ian Sillett	Why did the scarecrow win a nobel prize? He was outstanding in his field! (Topical?)
	Derek Mann	Q. What did the fish say when he swam into the wall? A. Dam!
	Daniel Mietchen	Schrödinger’s cat walks into a bar … and doesn’t.
Boron	Vicki Stevenson	how many physicists does it take to change a light bulb? 2 – 1 to hold the bulb and 1 to rotate the universe
	Keith Brain	3 people travelling in a bus through the Australian countryside see a black sheep; the first says, “ah, so all sheep in Australia are black”; the second says, “No, all we can say is that that particular sheep is black”; the third says, “No, all I can say is that that particular object I call a sheep is black on one side, but of course I don’t expect you to believe me”. So, which is the scientist?
	Hywel Vaughan	Two sausages are sizzling away in their pan. One turns to the other and says ‘Goodness me it’s hot in here!’. The other rolls over and replies ‘Bahh!!! A talking sausage!!!’
	Emma Carter	A jump lead walks into a bar and asks for a drink. The bartender says ‘OK, but don’t start anything’
	Alastair Sloan	Did you know that if a stick insect laid it’s eggs in a jar of Bovril it will give birth to a litter of twiglets
Nitrogen	Tim Craggs	There are 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don’t. (Hint: what is 10 in binary? – I know – it’s a geeky joke)
	Stuart Kyle	-
	Mark Lancaster	What do you call a tellytubby who has been burgled? A: A tubby.
	Joanna Buckley	How do you make Lady Gaga cry? Poke ‘er face.
	Donna MacCallum	What do you call a mushroom who buys everyone at the bar a drink? …a FUN GUY! Sad, I know.
Oxygen	Tom Hardy	What do you do when you find a dead chemist? Barium
	Matthew Hurley	What’s round and growls? – A vicious circle!
	Hugh Roderick	Two cowboys in a kitchen, which is the real one? The one on the range!
	Douglas Blane	I like one-liners. Like when they were explaining gravity to Eccles in the Goons: “When you jump up in the air what happens?” “I come back down again.” “Why’s that?” “Cos I live here”.
	Antonia Hamilton	-
Fluorine	Sarah Bardsley	What was the biologist wearing on his first date? Designer jeans.
	Paul Roche	“Build a man a fire, and he’ll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he’ll be warm for the rest of his life”
	Mark Roberts	A good pun is its own reword
	Lily Asquith	-
	Laura Maliszewski	Zero walks up the eight and says “hey- where did you get that belt?”
Neon	Zoe Duck	manchester city
	Sharon Sneddon	Why didn’t the skeleton go to the party? Because he had no body to go with!
	Louise Dash	Q: What goes “oink, 3.14159, oink, 3.14159, oink, 3.14159″? A: A pork pi!
	Jon Copley	Before you criticise someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you do criticise them, you are a mile away, and you have their shoes.
	Daniel Richardson	-
Sodium	Louisa Chard	Two elephants fall off a cliff. Boom Boom!
	Heather McKee	Have you heard about extreme camping? Its in tents (intense!!)
	Beth Dyson	What do you call a nun on a washing machine? Sister-matic!
	Ben Still	Two atoms bump into each other. One says ‘I think I lost an electron!’ The other asks, ‘Are you sure?’, to which the first replies, ‘I’m positive.’
	Andrew McKinley	What type of bear dissolves in water? A polar bear…
Magnesium	Sian Foch-Gatrell	Q: What is the fastest way to determine the sex of a chromosome? A: Pull down its genes.
	Luisa Ostertag	Waaah! I am so bad at this! I’ll try: Plump lady to the waitress: I’d like Death by Chocolate for dessert, but only enough to put me in critical condition. HA HA HA HA! ;o)
	Jessica Housden	-
	Dean Whittaker	A neutron walks into a bar, orders a drink and goes to pay. The barman says “It’s ok, no charge for you” (the geekiest joke I know )
	Alexandra Kamins	Heisenberg was speeding down a road, and got pulled over by a cop. The cop swaggers up to Heisenberg’s car and demands, “Do you know how fast you were going?!” Heisenberg begs, “Don’t tell me! I’ll pay the ticket!! Just don’t tell me!” The cop says, “You were going 90!” Heisenberg swears, “Crap. Now I don’t know where I am!” (If you don’t laugh heartily, go look up the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. If you still don’t laugh, let your inner geek out!)
Aluminium	Paula Salgado	What does the ocean say to a penguin? Nothing, it just waves…
	Nathalie Pettorelli	I’m rubbish at jokes – I never remember them, and the one I remember isn’t funny when not told in front of people
	Laura Dixon	Why did the dinosaur cross the road? Because chickens hadn’t evolved yet! Yes, it’s lame but it made me giggle!
	Katy Mee	Where do you find a one-legged dog?……Where you left it……BOOM BOOM
	Hermine Schnetler	What are black holes? Things you get in black socks!
Silicon	Paula Gilfillan	What do you do with dead elements?…Barium!
	Marianne Baker	What did the fish say when it bumped into a wall? … … … Dam!
	Emma Pilgrim	Oh crikey I am rubbish at jokes. I will have a think……….
	Andrew Maynard	Why did the chicken cross the road? Because it was duct-taped to the squirrel. (Shamelessly plagiarized from a good friend!)
	Andrew Leitch	A farmer was helping one of his cows give birth when he noticed his four-year-old son standing at the fence with wide eyes, taking in the whole event. The man thought to himself, “Great, he’s four years old and I’m gonna have to start explaining the birds and bees now. No need to jump the gun. I guess I’ll let him ask and then I’ll answer.” After everything was over, the man walked over to his son and said, “Well son, do you have any questions?” “Just one,” gasped the wide-eyed lad. “How fast was that calf going when he hit that cow?”
Clean	Sarah Burl	A mushroom walked into a bar. The bar tender said, “Get out of here! We don’t serve your kind.” “Hey, what’s the problem?” “Just get out of here. We don’t serve mushrooms.” The mushroom in anguish says, “Why not? I’m a fun guy.”
	Panos Soultanas	What is the dullest element? …. Bohrium
	Michael Loughlin	Why couldn’t the student E.coli go into the lab? Because it was Staph only….
	Mark Travis	Please note that in the ‘describe yourself in 3 words’ section, one of the words was not ‘funny’……. I rang the Swine Flu National helpline recently for some advice, but it was useless- all I got was crackling. I’ll get my coat…..
	Mark Fogg	How about a quote from Douglas Adams, one of my favourite authors, that could apply to me “He was a dreamer, a thinker, a speculative philosopher…or, as his wife would have it, an idiot.” My wife agrees.
Brain	William Davies	I saw a native Australian the other day playing ‘Dancing Queen’ on the didgeridoo – I thought to myself ‘Hmm, that’s Aboriginal…’
	Michelle Murphy	What does a brain do when it sees a friend across the street? …… Gives a brain wave
	Joanna Brooks	What is pink and fluffy? Pink fluff. What is blue pink and fluffy? Pink fluff holding it’s breath.
	Jane Henry	There’s a visual joke of how men and women spend their time. On the female pie chart talking about relationships is the biggest category, and on the mens its sport!
	Fiona Randall	I only know rude ones haha
Cancer	Mariam Orme	Here’s a really geeky science joke: Two atoms meet up at a bar. One asks the other “what’s wrong, you don’t look very happy”. “No”, says the other atom, “I’m a bit worried, I’ve lost an electron”. “Are you sure?” asks the first atom. “Yeah”, says its friend, “I’m positive”.
	Leo Garcia	What do you call cheese that doesn’t belong to you? Nacho cheese!
	Joanna Watson	Two fish in a tank. One says to the other one “How do you drive this thing?”
	Iain Moal	Whats brown and sticky? … A stick.
	Gioia Cherubini	My italian jokes are all lost in translation
Chemicals	Rachael Fox	-
	Poonam Kaushik	This duck walks into a convenience store and asks the clerk, “Do you have any grapes?” The clerk says no, and the duck leaves. The next day, the duck returns and asks, “Do you have any grapes?” The clerk again says no, and the duck leaves. The day after that, the duck walks in the store again and asks “Do you have any grapes?” The clerk screams at the duck, “You’ve come in here the past two days and asked if we had any grapes. I told you no every time that we don’t have any grapes! I swear if you come back in here again, and ask for grapes, I’ll nail your webbed feet to the floor!!” The duck left, and returned the next day. This time he asked, “Do you have any nails?” The clerk replied, “No,” and the duck said, “Good! Got any grapes?”
	Patience Dorgu	The skeleton couldn’t go to the dance, because it had no body to go with!
	Joseph Cook	What do you call 6.022 x 10^23 avocados? Guacamole.
	Dr Hywel Jones	Two hydrogen atoms are walking down the street. One says “I think I just lost an electron”, the other says “Are you sure?” and the first one replies “Yes, I’m positive!”. Ba ba boom!!
Drugs	Michelle Hudson	Why did the banana go to the doctors? Because he wasn’t peeling very well!
	Lori-An Etherington	Why are there no aspirins in the jungle? Because the Parrots-ate-em-all
	Duncan Hull	Q: How many mathematicians does it take to change a lightbulb? A: None. It’s left to the reader as an exercise.
	Deuan Jones	How many quantum physicists does it take to change a lightbulb?… No one knows for sure! hahahahaha.
	Darren Nesbeth	Q: What do you call cheese that doesn’t belong to you? A: Nacho cheese.
Evolution	Maria Pawlowska	sorry but it will have to be a Darwin joke. Why did the chicken cross the road? Darwin: It was the logical next step after coming down from the trees.
	Laurel Fogarty	Ok but I only know nerdy ones and you asked for it…. Two atoms are walking down the road, one isn’t concentrating and walks right into the other. They both fall over, one gets up and says ‘oh my! are you ok’ the other says ‘no no I think I’ve lost an electron’ the first says ‘oh my god are you sure’ the other replies ‘yes I’m bloody positive’!…and let that teach you not to ask scientists for jokes.
	Ceri Thomas	OK this is bad……How do you tell the sex of a chromosome? Pull down its genes! (Sorry)
	Bridget Waller	RUBBISH at jokes.
	Betul Arslan	“Old chemists don’t die, they reach equilibrium” (got nerd?)
Genes	Yvette Wilson	What was the last thing that went through the fly’s mind when he hit the car windscreen? – His bottom
	Steven Kiddle	Why did the scarecrow get a nobel prize? He was outstanding in his field
	Sian Harding	Darth Vader says to Luke Skywalker – “Son, I know what you are getting for Christmas”. Luke says “how is that”. Darth replies “I have felt your presence”
	Michaela Livingstone	Duct tape is like the force. It has a light side, a dark side, and it holds the world together.
	Louise Johnson	What’s green and leaky? A leek!
Imaging	Tom Hartley	Q: How many crustaceans are there in London? A: Three; King’s Crustacean, Charing Crustacean and St Pan Crustacean.
	Steve Roser	how do you get 1000 Pikachus on a bus? Poke ‘em on!
	Stephen Curry	Two beavers are looking up at a massive hydroelectric dam. “I didn’t build it,” says one, “but it is based on my idea!”
	Pete Edwards	Why are pirates called pirates? Because they ARRRRRRGGGHHHH
	Marieke Navin	I like really stupid jokes. Ok, a man walked into a bar. He said Ow! It was an iron bar. I know that’s a bit naff…here’s one that’s even worse as it’s a relativity joke: A bar walked into a man…. Sorry! Wrong reference frame!
IVF	Vicki Onions	2 lions in a supermarket. One says to the other “quiet in here isn’t it?”
	Nuruz Jaman	-
	Jo Broadbent	What do you call a fairy that needs a bath? Stinkerbell.
	Jane Cleal	You’re on a horse galloping away at speed. On your right is a sharp drop, on your left is an elephant travelling at the same speed as you. Directly in front of you is a kangaroo and your horse is unable to overtake it. Behind you a lion is chasing you. What must you do to safely get out of this highly dangerous situation??……….Get off the merry go round and act your age!!
	Greg FitzHarris	What’s green, brown, and would hurt if it fell out of a tree onto you?………………………………………………………… a snooker table
	Claire O’Donnell	What do you get if you eat the Christmas decorations? Tinsellitis
Sports	Sian Lawson	How many mules does it take to change a lightbulb? One to hold the bulb, and 305 to rotate the house.
	Sally Fenton	-
	Sally Barber	Why did the baker wash his hands?…. Because he kneaded a poo.
	Rebecca Randell	-
	Peter Styring	Sheffield Wednesday Football Club!

I think I need to say, first of all, how much I enjoyed taking part in IAS – although the number of e-mailed questions was fairly daunting and the speed of the live chats left me physically and mentally exhausted (ok, I may be exaggerating a little here), it was amazing to see the diversity of questions and views on such a wide range of scientific (and not so scientific) areas.

I never ever expected to win it; there were some fantastically knowledgeable and engaging scientists in my zone, so I was totally overwhelmed by it all.  So thankyou for giving me that opportunity and experience.

So, on to the prize winnings!  In the original information that I had read on the scheme, the winnings could be spent on communicating science or science education.  I decided from the start that I would spend my money more on the education side of things and I had found a charity called KIND which I thought a very worthy recipient.  Their tag line is “because every child deserves the same opportunities” and this is something I believe very strongly in.

The charity is based in Merseyside and provides additional social and scientific education for disadvantaged children, and their families.  They have a learning centre where children and their families can go to learn in a fun and imaginative way; they also run volunteer programmes and weekends away.  The general ethos, I found, was to allow less privileged children to realise that there can be a better life out there for them and to provide them with the skills and motivation to go out there and achieve that.  That ethos, I believe, is truly worthy of the donation from the IAS scheme.

Whilst not all the children that interacted with us during the course of IAS may feel particularly inspired by science and may baulk at the idea of extra science lessons, an understanding of the subject and practical experience in it can lead into so many different paths – doctor, gardener, science research, chef (think of Heston Blumenthal), vet, electrician, building demolition expert…the list goes on and on.  And so by providing that little bit of extra guidance and experience, in a fun and practical way, it can open up countless avenues of opportunities for these children and their families.  I hope you approve of my decision to fund communicating science in the wider sense and feel it was a worthwhile choice.

Many thanks again and best wishes

Vicki Onions

(Winner of the IVF zone )

This is a last reminder: We really want to hear from you!

• What do you think, did you like I’m a Scientist?
• What did you like/dislike about it?
• Was it better or worse than normal lessons?

You should fill in our survey and tell us what you think. It helps us make it better for next time. Also you’ll go into a prize draw for £20 WH Smiths vouchers.

Survey is here http://www.surveygizmo.com/s/307117/i-m-a-scientist-june-2010-tell-us-what-you-think-

Thanks for your help!

It’s almost two weeks since I’m a Scientist ended. Doesn’t time fly? Do you miss it? We do, but we’re maybe a bit sad like that.

Now we want to know what YOU think about it, what you liked and what you didn’t.

If you tell us what you thought, it helps us make it better for next time.

Also, you’ll go into a prize draw to win £20 of WH Smiths vouchers.

Student survey: http://www.surveygizmo.com/s/307117/i-m-a-scientist-june-2010-tell-us-what-you-think-

Thanks for telling us, we really appreciate it.

As we see Wimbledon and World Cup fever draw to an end, so too must I’m a Scientist, Get me out of Here!

This battle was also fierce, but through the sweat, blood and tears* one victor emerged, (well 41 technically) to be crowned champions of I’m a Scientist, Get me out of Here! June 2010.

Thank you so much to all those that took part. This has truly been an amazing event with record participation, so we can’t thank you enough for making it so much fun! We only hope you had as much fun as we did in the office!

So without further ado, it is with my pleasure to announce that the winners of I’m a Scientist, Get me out of Here! June 2010 are:

Zone	Scientist Winner	Student Winner
Brain	Joanna Brooks	Jacob Buckle – John Hampden Grammar School
Cancer	Joanna Watson	Savannah Woolgar-Harris and Katie Mulvey – Loreto Grammar School
Chemicals	Joseph Cook	Nathaniel Fisher – Urmston Grammar School
Clean	Panos Soultanas	Helen Mylne – The King’s School
Drugs	Deuan Jones	Allysa Gatinao – Convent of Jesus and Mary Language College
Evolution	Ceri Thomas	Maya Katz – Kingsmead Community School
Genes	Steven Kiddle	Matthew Kinsbrook – The Weald
Imaging	Stephen Curry	Fred Ross – Matthew Arnold School
IVF	Vicki Onions	Georgina Dinsdale – Wallington High School for Girls
Sports	Sally Fenton	Gillian Scott – Aughnacloy College
Beryllium	Ian Sillett	Bethany Taylor – Heathcote School
Boron	Hywel Vaughan	Harriett Cooke – Broadoak Mathematics and Computing College
Nitrogen	Joanna Buckley	Fiona Winters – Hardenhuish
Oxygen	Tom Hardy	Hannah Hunt – Great Marlow School
Fluorine	Mark Roberts	Eleanor Beedles – The Priory
Neon	Jon Copley	Tiosha Mcleod – Kingsbury High School
Sodium	Ben Still	Sam Massey – Mangotsfield School
Magnesium	Dean Whittaker	Corey Duncan – Harlaw Academy
Aluminium	Katy Mee	Mat Savage – Oldbury Wells
Silicon	Andrew Maynard	Ella McDonald – Helston Community College

We hope your tired hands are enjoying the rest and look forward to seeing you again next year! (Click below for your online application for IAS 2011!)

Teachers

Scientists

*No Scientists were harmed in the making of this event.

It’s the final countdown!

With at least two evictions in each zone- and in some, three- the end is drawing close for this round of I’m A Scientist, Get Me Out of Here!

But that just means things are getting really exciting! Our scientists still want your questions- and votes- so keep sending them to us, students, and we’ll announce our winners this Friday.

Nonetheless, we’d like to thank all our scientists for taking part. Just because some have been evicted doesn’t mean that they’re completely gone. You can still check out their profiles, and read their answered questions. And remember you can still leave comments for each scientist in their zone.

Check out our evicted scientists here- remember the answers, the science, the laughs- and maybe leave them a message!

Zone	First eviction	Second eviction
Beryllium	Upul Wijayantha	Philip Wadler
Boron	Vicki Stevenson	Emma Carter
Nitrogen	Stuart Kyle	Donna MacCallum
Oxygen	Antonia Hamilton	Hugh Roderick
Fluorine	Laura Maliszewski	Lily Asquith
Neon	Zoe Daniels	Daniel Richardson
Sodium	Beth Dyson	Andrew McKinley
Magnesium	Alexandra Kamins	Sian Foch-Gatrell
Aluminium	Hermine Schnetler	Laura Dixon
Silicon	Paula Gilfillan	Emma Pilgrim
Clean	Mark Travis	Mark Fogg
Brain	Jane Henry	Michelle Murphy
Cancer	Gioia Cherubini	Mariam Orme
Chemicals	Rachael Fox	Patience Dorgu
Drugs	Duncan Hull	Darren Nesbeth
Evolution	Laurel Fogarty	DRAW
Genes	Sian Harding	Yvette Wilson
Imaging	Pete Edwards	Steve Roser
IVF	Nuruz Jaman	Jo Broadbent Third eviction: Jane Cleal
Sports	DRAW	Sian Lawson Sally Barber

As you all know, there are evictions every day for the rest of the week! You get a vote every day, so remember to keep voting for your favourite scientist.

But how do the scientists feel, being bombarded with questions and then facing eviction? One of the scientists who took part in I’m a Scientist in March, the lovely Louise Buckley, has agreed to tell us about what the scientists taking part are REALLY thinking…

Hey there! I am Louise one of the scientists from the last “I’m a Scientist….” event. This competition is looking even more exciting than when I took part – I cannot believe how many questions are getting asked. It’s a total mash-up of questions – these scientists are going to need to take a holiday afterwards to recover!

I bet the scientists are starting to feel nervous now about who’s going to get evicted. We get labelled ‘the scientists’, but we are only human too. I know I was worried that you guys wouldn’t like me, that I’d get evicted because my science was crap or you thought I was a weirdo. Nobody likes to be evicted first. It’s kinda embarrassing. A bit like being a member of McKinley High’s Glee team

LMAO – my major fear was that you would ask me loads of questions that I didn’t know the answer too. I was terrified. And you did – and I coped and I learnt loads along the way. I can see from the questions asked at the moment that the scientists at the moment are getting asked loads of challenging questions. Keep ‘em coming. It reminds us that there is soooooo much more to science than our narrow fields of research. We sometimes forget that.

The scientists will be learning at the moment that it is okay to be wrong or not know the answers to every question. Sometimes you guys will know more than us, other times we will know more. You guys taught me that rainbows are circular – and I was like, nah, rubbish, wind-up, but it was true. Today’s scientists are learning all sorts of new things and they are learning them because of you.

But the most important thing that the scientists are learning at the moment is how to communicate our science to young people. Many of us don’t get that opportunity often. I know I was excited but scared that I wouldn’t be able to describe my work in a way that wasn’t total gobbledegook. These scientists are trying to manage it too.

We need to learn how to make our stuff sound interesting. So if you don’t think they have made something clear,  ask and ask and ask again. Don’t “Yeah, checked out of this conversation a minute ago…” (sorry Sue Sylvester!) Give ‘em feedback, show interest, and you can make today’s scientists better. Remember they are all terrified of being evicted so DON’T be too tough on them personally – but DO give them a hard time scientifically. And that’s how Sue Louise sees it!

Well no, OK, funnily enough FIFA aren’t changing their match times because of I’m a Scientist evictions. But we do have an eviction planned for 3.30pm on Wed, during the England vs Slovenia game. Because we are kind, caring people here at I’m a Scientist, we have decided to bring the time of Wednesday’s eviction forwards to 3pm.

This means that you (and the moderators, who’ve been working very hard, and deserve a break) can relax and watch the match, with your eviction worries behind you.

Apologies to those of you not supporting England, but we would move evictions for Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland matches too. If there were any.

Also apologies to those of you who don’t like football. Me either. I and the two non-English mods will be looking after the site on our own while the match is on. Please try not to break anything.

Other evictions this week will be at the usual time of 3.30pm.

As you all know, the winner of I’m a Scientist gets a £500 grant to spend on science communication. And you students decide who gets it! So we thought we’d have a little look at some of their plans for the money. Here’s a few of the more interesting ones:-

Beryllium Treasure Hunt

Daniel Mietchen, from Beryllium Zone, is planning to share a bit of it (£50!) with the first student to work out his scientific puzzle. This is open to all students, not just in Beryllium Zone, so get your thinking caps on if you think you’d make a good scientific detective!

Scan your Teacher

Tom Hartley, in Imaging Zone, would use the money to scan one class’s teacher’s brain. While the teacher does a task chosen by the class. No, rude things not allowed I’m afraid. But you might be able to see inside your teacher’s head!

The Cheesiness of Science

Stephen Curry, also in Imaging Zone intends to make a video about what science is really like, and how you don’t have to be a genius to be a scientist. He’s made a trailer for you and called it the Cheesiness of Science.

Schools underwater explorer

Jon Copley, Of Neon Zone, is going to spend the money on special computer equipment, so that school classes can take control of one of his team’s underwater vehicles and use it to explore the bottom of the sea! If your class finds a new creature down there, then you’ll even get to name it:-)

That’s just a taster of the plans some of the scientists have for the money you are awarding them. What do you think of those ideas? Remember if you like a scientist but think they should have a different plan for the money, you can suggest it to them!

No, you can’t suggest giving the money to you. It has to be for communicating science!

Hi everyone! What an exciting week we have had; hundreds of live chats and questions flying in from every direction!

We have been super-busy reading and replying to all of your questions, remember that you can comment on them too. Just go to the zone that you asked your question in and comment on the scientists answers as much as you like! You can also post questions for the scientists there as well.

We hope that you have enjoyed the first week as much as we have and are looking forward to Monday; remember though if you want your favourite scientist to stand a chance of winning you need to VOTE by Tuesday!

Who will win? Only YOU decide!

Greetings! IAS June 2010 is now well underway with record participation! This year  we have 100 scientists engaging with 400 classes  and 8000 students! We hope you’re all having as much fun as we are!

Below I have listed all the schools lucky enough to be able to share in the excitement. This is history in the making! If you missed the opportunity this year but are interested in future events please contact admin@imascientist.org.uk

Aluminium

All Saints RC High
Walthamstow Academy
Ashmole School
Kelmscott School
Richmond Upon Thames College
The Grange School
Oldbury Wells
Addey & Stanhope

Beryllium

Boldon School
St. Joseph’s College
Woodlands School
Heathcote School
The Warwick School
Beacon Hill High School Business & Enterprise College
Cheadle and Marple sixth form college
The Phoenix Centre

Boron

Chace Community School
Walthamstow Academy
Salesian College
The Manor School
Beacon Hill High School Business & Enterprise College
Broadoak Maths and Computing College
St. Cuthberts High School
The Long Eaton School

Brain

City of Portsmouth Girls’ School
John Hampden Grammar School
Gateacre CC School
Philomena’s School
Sharples Science Specialist College
london academy
British School Muscat
Neston High School

Cancer

Philomena’s School
Chafford Hundred Campus
Neston High School
Queen Ethelburga’s College
Ursuline High School
Brockenhurst College
Kirk Hallam Community Tech and sports college
Thomas Alleynes High School
Chosen Hill
Henry Beaufort School
Loreto Grammar School

Chemicals

Amberfield
Myton School
Oakwood Park Grammar School
Spen Valley Sports College
Unity College
Urmston Grammar School
Walthamstow Academy
Beacon Hill High School Business & Enterprise College
The Robert Napier School
Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Engineering College
Convent of Jesus & St Mary’s Language School
Smithycroft Secondary School

Clean

Southgate School
Wallington High School for girls
The Heath
Kirkby Sports College
Philomena’s School
North Chadderton School
Saltash.net Community School
Swindon Academy
The King’s School
South Chadderton Schoo

Drugs

Convent of Jesus & St Mary’s Language School
St Laurence School
Philomena’s School
Haringey Sixth Form Centre
Sacred Heart
Shimna Integrated College
Tiffin School

Evolution

Broadgreen International School
Kingsmead Commuity School
West Thames College
Queen Elizabeths Grammar School
Ripley St Thomas CofE High School

Fluorine

La Verdad Christian College
The Priory
St Cyres School
Highbury Fields School
Kingsbury High School
Woodkirk High Specialist Science School
St Anselm’s Catholic School

Genes

La Verdad Christian College
The Priory
St Cyres School
Highbury Fields School
Kingsbury High School
Woodkirk High Specialist Science School
St Anselm’s Catholic School

Imaging

Camden School for Girls
Ryton Comprehensive School
The Matthew Arnold School
William Brookes School
Lathallan School
Broadoak Maths and Computing College
Cheadle and Marple sixth form college
Philomena’s School
Woodkirk High Specialist Science School
The Woodlands School & Sports College

IVF

Fitzharrys School
Parliament Hill School
Walthamstow Academy
St Marys Catholic Comprehensive School
Pensby High School for Girls
Tiverton High School
Elton High School
Wallington High School for girls
St John’s

Magnesium

Grange Technology College
Harlaw Academy
Redwood Park School
Liberton High School
The Royal Docks Community School
Fort hill community school
Hetton School
Baltasound Junior High Schoolo
Ryton Comprehensive School

Neon

Lordswood Girls School
City of Portsmouth Girls’ School
St Cuthbert’s High School
St Thomas a Becket Catholic College
Bartholomew
South Molton Community College
The Hazeley School
Moreton School
Kingsbury High school

Nitrogen

Hardenhuish
Community college whitstable
Smithycroft Secondary School
Manor Community College
The Compton
Saltash.net Community School
St John’s
Walthamstow Academy
Great Marlow School
Ralph Thoresby School
Saint Cecilia’s Wandsworth  Church of England Schoo

Oxygen

Pate’s Grammar School
Abbeyfield School
Mount Tamar School
Great Marlow School
Sutton High Sports College
Prenton High School
St John’s
Montgomery High

Silicon

Horndean Technology College
Rudolf Steiner School Kings Langley
St Marys Catholic School
Frederick Bremer  School
Helston Community College
Mount Tamar School
Churston Ferrers Grammar School
Samuel King’s School
Wye Valley
Smithycroft Secondary School

Sodium

Globe Academy
Homeschooled
Perth Academy
Mangotsfield School
King Henry VIII School
Penn Hall School
The Hazeley School
Twynham School
Forest Education Centre
Robert Smyth School
Ryton Comprehensive School

Sports

Hardenhuish
Hertswood School
Howell’s School
Queens School
Aughnacloy College
Parkside Sports College
Perth Academy
Convent of Jesus & St Mary’s Language School
Deyes High School
Yate International Academy

Well the event has got off to a flying start!

The site had almost 5,500 visits in the first day, with visitors viewing almost 47,000 pages altogether (average 8.5 pages per visit). Previously our busiest day ever on the site was about 2,000 visits – and at the time we were impressed with that.

Students have asked, so far, over 3,500 questions. That is really a lot of  questions! Pity the poor scientists in Cancer zone who’ve had 546 questions already… Those questions have been amazing, with everything from ‘Do you have any superpowers?‘ to ‘What do you think the most important qualities in a Scientist are, morally as well as academically?‘

We’ve also had 34 live chats already, with hundreds more booked over the next two weeks.

As far as we know, there has never been an event bringing scientists and young people together, so closely, on this kind of scale, ever before. You’re all a part of making history.

Thanks! We hope you enjoy the rest of the event.

Fanfare! We have now finally chosen all the scientists to take part in I’m a Scientist, Get me out of Here! June 2010. Here they are, for your delight and delectation…

It’s been absolutely excruciating. We’ve had to turn down some fantastic sounding scientists doing fascinating work. Sadly we only have a finite amount of space! If any more funders would like to come forwards (err, hint!) then maybe we can manage more next year…

I’m a Scientist was recently described* as ‘the world’s most stunningly innovative teen science education program’ and this will be the biggest event we’ve ever run. In June we will have 100 scientists, engaging with 400 classes and 8,000 students. These scientists will be involved in making history!

How were these scientists chosen? We truly believe in listening to our users and that this makes the project much stronger. All scientists who applied wrote a one sentence description of their work and these descriptions were rated by students and teachers who are taking part in June, as well as by us and by a representative from our funders, the Wellcome Trust. We then combined these ratings to choose the scientists. If that isn’t two-way engagement I don’t know what is!

Congratulations to these scientists, we hope you are looking forward to it as much as we are.

*No, not by my Mum. But yes, I am in danger of wearing this quote out.

THEMED ZONES

Brain

Joanna	Brooks	University of Edinburgh	Why the right side of the brain prefers the left side of space
William	Davies	Cardiff University	Investigating sex differences in brain and behaviour
Michelle	Murphy	University of Nottingham	I investigate how your brain makes you fat
Fiona	Randall	Okinawa Institute of Science & Technology	I am interested in how our brain cells send messages to each other, and what goes wrong when they don’t do it properly.
Jane	Henry	The Open University	I am applied psychologist using social science to study how people can become the best they can be

Cancer Research

Gioia	Cherubini	Queen Mary, University of London	Making Viruses into Cancer Killers
Iain	Moal	Cancer Research UK	I run computer simulations to work out how the constituents of living beings interact with one another, in an attempt to construct the ‘circuitry of life’ and see how it goes wrong in cancer patients.
Joanna	Watson	University of Oxford	I try to work out why some people are more likely to get cancer than others.
Leo	Garcia	Institute of Cancer Research	Investigating tumour mobility using ultrasound elastography
Mariam	Orme	Institute of Cancer Research	I study the molecular mechanisms controlling apoptosis, a process through which individual cells in an organism ‘commit suicide’ if they are no longer necessary or if they pick up harmful mutations.

Use of Chemicals in Everyday Life

Joseph	Cook	University of Reading	New methods for synthesising hydrogels for various applications.
Rachael	Fox	Unilever	Taking new personal care products from R&D into the real world.
Hywel	Jones	Sheffield Hallam University	Materials scientist working on anything from volcanic ash to body armour, silver alloys to super-alloys
Poonam	Kaushik	Royal Botanical, Garden, Kew	Green Pestcidal formualtion deveopment against insects from food grade ingredients
Patience	Dorgu	University of Aberdeen	The effects of asphaltene precipitation on crude oil viscosity

Are we too Clean

Mark	Travis	University of Manchester	Discovering how ‘good’ immune responses fight infection, and how ‘bad’ immune responses are prevented that can lead to disease.
Mark	Fogg	University of York	I work out how bugs (bacteria), some very nasty ones as well as useful ones, make ‘photocopies’ of themselves (replicate), how they get energy from their food and how switches (genes) inside the bugs help connect these two things together.
Michael	Loughlin	Nottingham Trent University	Determining why bacteria and people sometimes find it so very hard to get along together; why they sometimes seem like very poor house guests and why our bodies over-react and end up hurting ourselves more than they ever would
Panos	Soultanas	The University of Nottingham	Biochemistry of bacterial DNA replication mechanisms and development of new antimicrobials.
Sarah	Burl	Medical Research Council The Gambia	I work in the field of infant immunology with particular interest in vaccines for infectious diseases in early life.

Drugs Development

Darren	Nesbeth	University College London	Modifying living cells to be more useful for making medicines
Deuan	Jones	University of Dundee	I try to find ways of killing parasites that we can use to develop new drugs for the poorer areas of the world.
Duncan	Hull	The European Bioinformatics Institute	Building a dictionary of drugs so that computers can intelligently understand chemistry published on the web
Lori-An	Etherington	University of Dundee	I test chemicals for a drug company which might be used as new medicines in the future
Michelle	Hudson	Fund for the Replacement of Animals in Medical Experiments	Finding practical and valid alternatives to the use of animals in biomedical science

Evolution

Betul	Arslan	Georgia Institute of Technology	Replaying the tape of life through resurrecting ancient ribosomal proteins.
Bridget	Waller	University of Portsmouth	I investigate the evolution of facial expression in humans and non-human primates.
Laurel	Fogarty	University of St. Andrews	I work with animals and mathematics to investigate how animals learn from each other and how the ability to learn evolved in the first place.
Maria	Pawlowska	University of Cambridge	Early life on Earth and its environment
Ceri	Thomas	University of Bristol	I work on the fossilised embryos  of marine animals that come from rocks half a billion years in age

Genes

Louise	Johnson	University of Reading	I’m interested in questions like: Why do our genes work the way they do? Whose side are they on? and Why do we mess everything up with sex?
Michaela	Livingstone	University of Sheffield	I try and work out how different proteins can affect whether a gene’s ‘message’ can get out of the nucleus where it’s made, in to the cytoplasm where it needed to be to made in to a protein.
Sian	Harding	Imperial College London	Changes in the beating cardiac muscle cell in heart failure, and the use of gene and stem cell therapy in heart disease
Steven	Kiddle	University of Warwick	Predicting and testing gene regulation in plants that are being infected by disease.
Yvette	Wilson	University of Dundee	Using genetics to improve barley straw for biofuel and stock feed

Imaging

Marieke	Navin	University of Sheffield	Study of elusive neutrinos these particles effect the way the universe was created and how it evolves
Pete	Edwards	Durham University	Exploring the Dark Side of the Universe
Stephen	Curry	Imperial College	I study the molecules of life and death in glorious detail in three dimensions
Steve	Roser	University of Bath	building cell membranes with bubble mixtures, looking at them with multi million pound donuts.
Tom	Hartley	University of York	I use brain imaging to find out how different kinds of memory are made and how we use them to recognise places and find our way about.

IVF

Claire	O’Donnell	North West Specialised Commissioning Team	I work out which new treatments are likely to be of most benefit to people (and which aren’t!) so the NHS can be fair to everyone; otherwise we’d end up spending all the money on a few gadgets with bells, whistles and flashing lights and the rest of us would have to make do with a couple of plasters.
Greg	FitzHarris	University College London	Why women’s eggs ‘go off’ as they get older
Jane	Cleal	The University of Southampton	I show how things cross the human placenta in order to feed the fetus; this is vital for fetal survival and has never been done before!
Jo	Broadbent	NHS North East Essex (PCT)	I am a Public Health Consultant in the NHS and apply the principles of public health science to improve the health of the population in North East Essex.
Nuruz	Jaman	University College London Hospital’s NHS Foundation Trust	We investigate mainly the causes of male infertility.
Vicki	Onions	University of Nottingham	Researching whole ovarian freezing and transplantation for fertility preservation in women and girls, for example, undergoing sterilising chemo- or radiotherapies.

Sports Science

Peter	Styring	University of Sheffield	Carbon dioxide capture & re-use; snowsports engineering
Rebecca	Randell	University of Birmingham	Investigating the effects of green tea on fat burning during exercise
Sally	Barber	University of Leeds	The effect of exercise upon cardiovascular changes and functional ability in health and disease states.
Sally	Fenton	University of Birmingham	Research as part of a multi-national european collaborative group scientifically validating the health and fitness benefits associated with playing football in childhood and assessing the implications this may have for the current obesity epidemic.
Sian	Lawson	Newcastle University	Studying the musculo-skeletal system using the mechanics of movement.

GENERAL ZONES

Beryllium

Daniel	Mietchen	University of Jena	I do methodological work (primarily imaging) in biophysics to investigate life across scales in space and time, e.g. catalysis, cell division, fossilization, cold hardiness, music perception, brain folding.
Derek	Mann	Newcastle University	We are discovering ways to encourage reversal of liver damage caused by viruses, alcohol and obesity.
Ian	Sillett	Home Office	I provide scientific support and advice to law enforcement and counter terrorism agencies for the UK Home Office, specifically in the area of automated cctv analysis.
Philip	Wadler	University of Edinburgh	I design programming languages. It’s like inventing new ways to think.
Upul	Wijayantha	Loughborough University	My research interests include nanotechnology, solar energy harvesting, energy conservation and energy storage.

Boron

Alastair	Sloan	Cardiff University	Tissue engineering of hard tissues (teeth and bone) and use of stem cells in developing new therapies
Emma	Carter	University of Birmingham	Using a quantum force to make a new generation of micro machines
Hywel	Vaughan	Bloodhound SSC	Design Engineer on Britain’s latest Land Speed Record Vehicle. Designing the cockpit and steering wheel for a 1000mph car.
Keith	Brain	University of Birmingham	Understanding how the nerves that travel throughout our body subconsciously regulate all our essential bodily functions.
Vicki	Stevenson	Welsh School of Architecture	I try to help people reduce their reliance on fossil fuels through energy efficiency and alternative energy sources.

Nitrogen

Donna	MacCallum	University of Aberdeen	My work focuses on investigating how fungi are able to set up infections, and sometimes kill, seriously ill patients.
Joanna	Buckley	Freelance	I promote science to young people (on radio and in books) but previously I worked on developing silver dressings to kill bacteria such as MRSA
Mark	Lancaster	University College London	Particle physics – I am seeking to understand the evolution of the Universe in the first fraction of a second after its birth in the Big Bang in terms of a small number of fundamental particles and forces and these processes ultimately resulted in the cre
Stuart	Kyle	University of Leeds	Trying to persuade cells of the body to grow on an artificial scaffold outside the body that will be replaced inside the body – tissue engineering using smart nanomaterials
Tim	Craggs	University of St Andrews	We use state of the art microscopes to watch individual molecules interacting and changing shape

Oxygen

Antonia	Hamilton	University of Nottingham	when you see your friend point to an ice cream van, how does your brain understand and respond?
Matthew	Hurley	University of Nottingham	Tyring to stop bacteria working as a team in lung infections in children with cystic fibrosis
Douglas	Blane	Freelance Science Communicator	Used to design and model dynamic systems (nuclear reactors, underwater robots, oil-rigs); now science writer, journalist, communicator.
Tom	Hardy	Home Office Scientific Development Branch (HOSDB)	Government research and development in the field of counter terrorism (explosives and weapons)
Hugh	Roderick	Leeds University	I’m developing pest resistant crops for African farmers.

Fluorine

Laura	Maliszewski	UK Science and Innovation Network, British Consulate-General Boston	I’m a Virologist informing UK policy in life sciences and building US-UK scientific collaborations
Lily	Asquith	University College London	Smashing particles together and seeing what happens
Mark	Roberts	University of Oxford	How bacteria sense the outside world (Bacterial sat nav….)
Paul	Roche	Cardiff University	University and schools education, public outreach in astronomy, and occassionlly helping to weigh a black hole
Sarah	Bardsley	Environment Agency	I am a Horizon Scanning Scientist – I identify new science and technology developments that may impact the environment in the future.

Neon

Daniel	Richardson	University College London	I study social cognition – in this case, how people talk, think and lie – by using lots of gadgets to track movements of their eyes and body.
Jon	Copley	University of Southampton	I explore undersea volcanoes, miles deep on the ocean floor, in search of new species of deep-sea creatures, so we can better understand the web of life in the oceans – our planet’s largest habitat and last unexplored frontier.
Louise	Dash	University of York	I use computer models to study the physical properties of nanoscale devices and understand how they interact with their environment
Sharon	Sneddon	University of Manchester	I am trying to find ways of creating ethically acceptable human embryonic stem cells.
Zoe	Duck	Univeristy of Reading	During infection, the bubonic plague bacterium covers itself in a protein that activates the immune system- my job is to work out how the protein gets out of the cell

Sodium

Andrew	McKinley	University of St Andrews	Light is all around us, but we can now use it to pick up and move microscopic cells, to control them, and even to perform surgery – without even touching them!
Ben	Still	Queen Mary, University of London	I am a Neutrino Particle Physicist; I use the very smallest building blocks of Nature to answer the Universes biggest questions.
Beth	Dyson	University of Manchester	Trying to stop plants getting sunburnt!
Heather	McKee	University of Birmingham	Psychology of weight loss, motivation and goals
Louisa	Chard	Queen Mary, University of London	designing genetically engineered viruses to treat cancer

Magnesium

Alexandra	Kamins	University of Cambridge	Fruit bats in West Africa can carry diseases that affect people, and we’ve discovered that people hunt and eat the bats; just who’s at risk and of what, exactly?
Dean	Whittaker	University of Bath	I use neutron scattering to work out where atoms are and how they’re jiggling about in disordered materials.
Jessica	Housden	EADS Astrium Ltd	I design spacecraft the look at climate change
Luisa	Ostertag	University of Aberdeen	I am trying to find out how eating specific foods (for example dark chocolate) can influence your risk for getting cardiovascular disease (like stroke or heart attacks).
Sian	Foch-Gatrell	University of Dundee	Population composition and abundance, identification efficiency and the genetic structure of great white sharks

Aluminium Zone

Hermine	Schnetler	United Kingdom Astronomy Technology Centre	I am a Systems Engineer and responsible to design and develop telescopes and instrumentation to allow the UK Astronomers to do their research.
Katie	Mee	British Geological Survey	Geology and volcanology
Laura	Dixon	Scottish Agricultural College	I study what motivates animals to perform various behaviour patterns, including both normal and abnormal behaviours.
Nathalie	Pettorelli	Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London	I am exploring the possible effects of environmental change on wildlife & ecosystems
Paula	Salgado	Imperial College London	I focus on finding out the shape (structure) of life’s fundamental molecules: proteins, since that’s really important to understand their function and can also help develop targeted drugs to cure and prevent diseases.

Silicon

Andrew	Leitch	University of Edinburgh/NHS	I’m a clinical research fellow; a doctor working in science to develop new treatments for lung inflammation.
Andrew	Maynard	University of Michigan	Helping people to make science-informed decisions about stuff that affects them
Emma	Pilgrim	North Wyke Research	I am an ecologist working to ensure farms can be both profitable and wildlife havens.
Marianne	Baker	Bart’s Institute of Cancer (Cancer Research UK)	I am a PhD student working on pathological angiogenesis (blood vessel growth into tumours) in Down’s Syndrome & how researching this can help develop new anti-cancer therapies.
Paula	Gilfillan	Ministry of Defence (Royal Navy)	I research, develop and write environmental management policy for the land estate of the Royal Navy.

Please note, this list may be subject to change.

We would like to congratulate the following winning students from the March 2010 event; as voted for by our chat room moderators…

The students winners of I’m a Scientist Get me Out of Here! are:

Name	School	Zone
Christy Lemmon	St Columba’s High School	Brain
Sebastian Ellis	Tiffin School	Genes
Jessica Harvey	King Henry VIII School	Helium
Ryan Pendlebury	Mid Cheshire College	Hydrogen
Matt Warren	Hardenhuish School	Lithium

Congratulations to above student winners, who were all chosen for their overall contributions to the event.  They have now received their student winners certificates and WHSmith vouchers.

We would also like to thank all the other students who participated for their brilliant chats and thought provoking questions which made this year’s I’m a Scientist Get Me Out of Here! one of the most exciting and fun events yet.

We’ve had two weeks of hot debate, stimulating chat and mind-boggling facts. In each of our zones five scientists started out in the competition ready to tackle any question, but as the students voted the scientists were eliminated one by one. Today the final vote revealed the ultimate winner for each zone…

The winners of I’m a Scientist Get me Out of Here are:

JOE from the Brain Zone

KERSTIN from the Genes Zone

KATY from the Hydrogen Zone

MARTIN from the Helium Zone

KIRAN from the Lithium Zone

Congratulations to all the lucky winners and may each of you enjoy communicating your wonderful science ideas further with your £500 prize. Hard luck and thank you to all you other clever scientists who took part, as each and every one of you contributed to the success of this year’s event.

Thank you to all the wonderful teachers for your enthusiasm and involvement and finally thanks to all the students whose brilliant chats and thought provoking questions made this year’s I’m a Scientist Get Me Out of Here one of the most exciting and fun events yet.

The next I’m a Scientist event will be taking place from the 14^th to the 25^th of June. Scientists and schools can sign up now to take part!

Thank you all and see you next time!

The pressure is really on now for the scientists, with only two days to go before the final winner is declared!

Here’s a round-up of the evictions so far…

On Tuesday the first round of voting closed and the scientist with the least votes in each zone was eliminated from the competition. In the Brain zone Mariana was voted off, in the Genes zone Chris was the one with the least votes, Pamela was eliminated from Hydrogen, Emily from Helium and Sarah lost out in the Lithium zone.

The remaining scientists were sad to see their new friends leave, but had to work hard to ensure they survived the next round. Wednesday’s eliminations produced some surprising results. Anne was the second scientist to leave the Brain zone, Lorna lost the contest in Genes, over in Hydrogen it was Helen who was voted off while in Helium Natalie was forced to leave and in Lithium everyone was shocked when Paul’s very trendy hat failed to win him the support he needed to stay in the competition.

The remaining scientists Carolyn, Joe & Nick, Kay, Kerstin & Liv, along with Freya, Katy & Louise, Chris,  Martin & Tamsin, and not forgetting Duncan, Kiran & Sharon, now have an even tougher job convincing the students that they are worthy of the £500 prize!

On Thursday another five scientists will be going home empty handed, before the big finale on Friday when the winners are finally revealed. Keep the votes coming in to make sure your favourite scientist doesn’t get evicted from I’m a Scientist, Get me out of Here!

Last week on I’m a Scientist was a chance to start getting to know the scientists. THIS week the young people have to start making some tough decisions about WHO gets the money.

The first eviction will be tomorrow (Tuesday) at 3pm. Which scientist will be the first to be shown the door? Tune in tomorrow to find out!

Well the first week is almost over already and it’s been incredibly hectic. This is already the busiest event we’ve ever run – we’ve had nearly 4,000 visitors, just in the last few days!

Thank you to all the students for the interesting, funny and thought-provoking questions. And thanks to all the scientists for all the hard work they’ve put in answering them.

Students – feel free to comment wherever you want to on the site.

Visitors – although you can’t comment, you are very welcome to have a look round and read everything.

If you want to you can follow us on twitter – our twitter feed is http://twitter.com/imascientist, or the hashtag for the event is #IAS2010 – scientists and teachers, if you are on twitter, please use the hashtag if you are tweeting about the event, then people can find all the comments together.

We are having a whale of a time, we hope you are too. Best of luck everyone!

Welcome to I’m a Scientist, Get me out of Here! This is the only event in the world* where school students choose which scientists gets some money.

For the next two weeks you young people have the power. Use it wisely my friends.

*As far as we know