It’s only a matter of days before I’m a Scientist starts in June, so it’s time to announce the scientists and schools taking part.
The Amsterdam event will be running from 11th-22nd June, and we’ll update you nearer the time about the Los Angeles event (taking place 25th June – 6th July).
UK schools taking part in this event
Over 50 schools will be taking part and as usual there’s a big variety in schools involved, from Omagh to Orkney, and even Singapore. We’re hoping that, as in previous events, energy levels will be high and classes at these schools will have a great experience. One teacher in March 2012 said “my boys were inspired by the answers – still buzzing now!”.
Scientists
As ever competition for scientists was tough, and choosing the final scientists to take part was hard. We had to turn down lots of scientists doing fascinating research. Scientists have thoroughly enjoyed previous events. One scientist who took part in March 2012 says “I have to say, this is one of the best things I’ve ever done – science wise”
Bromine Zone
Scientists
| Matt Gunther | University of Manchester | I’m training to be a nuclear scientist and want to find out whether our hazardous nuclear waste can be damaged by elements within the atmosphere. |
| John Short | University of St Andrews | I study how dangerous viruses infect and provoke our cells to counterattack and destroy the intruder! |
| Caroline Dalton | University College London | I am trying to understand how mitochondria, which make energy for the cell in the form of ATP, are important for making good eggs (which are fertilised by sperm to make a baby) and how problems with mitochondria in eggs might contribute to infertility. |
| Artem Evdokimov | Monsanto | I discover how the biomolecular machinery of the cell works on an atomic level, and then try to modify it. |
| Alison Graham | Newcastle University | I teach people about all the ways in which tiny tiny bugs help us from making food and drink (like Quorn and beer) to getting rid of our waste. |
Schools
Portree High School, Portree
Bo’ness Academy, Bo’ness
Melksham Oak Community School, Melksham
St John the Baptist Primary School, Fauldhouse
Auchmuty High School, Fife
Cathedral Academy, Wakefield
The Woodroffe school, Lyme Regis
Cardinal Newman Catholic School, Hove
ACERS EMSSS, Preston
St Paul’s Catholic College, Burgess Hill
Krypton Zone
Scientists
| Sarah Hart | Keele University | We use chemistry and physics as tools to help us to understand biological problems, like why some pregnancies don’t go as planned. |
| Nike Dattani | Oxford University | I’m designing the world’s next generation of computers, which are much more powerful than the ones we use today! |
| Nicola Brownlow | Cancer Research UK – London Research Institute | I study the mechanisms that cells use to prevent inappropriate cell division which may otherwise lead to cancer. |
| Kirsty Ross | University of Strathclyde | I am trying to understand what causes arthritis so new drugs can be developed. |
| Austin Elliott | University of Manchester | We figure out how cells in the body survive (or don’t) being attacked by free radicals, and what that means for diseases like pancreatitis and cancer. |
Schools
Good Shepherd Primary School, Coventry
Sheffield Park Academy, Doncaster
Melksham Oak Community School, Melksham
Linlithgow Academy, Linlithgow
Trinity CE High School, Manchester
Uplands Community College, Wadhurst
St Michaels RC Primary School, Newcastle upon Tyne
Rubidium Zone
Scientists
| Tiffany Taylor | University of Reading | I’m a code breaker – inside every cell is a code which gives the recipe of life, by changing this code I try to understand how it evolved, and how easily it can change |
| Nicola Ibberson | Cambridge University Hospitals | I read the blueprint of life- your DNA, and with just a bit of your saliva I will know all about you without even meeting you- what sex you are, whether you’re likely to develop certain diseases, or why you had a nasty reaction to that tablet you took…. |
| Mae Woods | University College London | Many single animal cells move around randomly, however groups of cells move like a herd of animals, I use computer games to try and figure this out. |
| Hywel Owen | University of Manchester | I design particle accelerators to fire subatomic fragments into nuclear reactors to make nuclear energy better. |
| Hitesh Dave | GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals research center | Checking the effects of medicines on body tissues which will help in preparing best suitable medicine for patients. |
Schools
Lathallan School, Angus
Falkirk High School, Falkirk
Bishop Douglass School, London
All Saints RC High, Rossendale
Howard Primary, Croydon
Simon Balle, Hertford
Wallace High School, Stirling
Williamwood High School, East Renfrewshire
Attleborough High School, Norfolk
Strontium Zone
Scientists
| Will Reynolds | University of Bath | I am a chemist working on environmentally friendly ways of making medicines, which means I have to make complicated molecules without poisoning anyone or blowing anything up! |
| Vijay Yadav | Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute | Understanding the biology of our bones in health and disease. |
| Sarah Martin | SynthSys, University of Edinburgh | I study how the smallest plankton cells in the ocean grow with little food around – figuring this out could help us grow farm plants on land that need less or no fertilisers, which are currently made from non-renewable gas and oil reserves. |
| Karen Reed | Cardiff University | In 2009 nearly 16,000 people in the UK died from bowel cancer (the 3rd most common cancer) and I’m trying to find new ways we could treat this disease by looking at the genes that cause the normal gut cells to turn into bad cancer cells. |
| Amy Birch | Imperial College London | I’m looking at how some immune cells (that are like the police & doctors in our brain) can protect our nerve cells from dying as we get older, and how this is altered in certain diseases like Alzheimer’s disease. |
Schools
Loreto Grammar School, Cheshire
King Alfred’s Academy, Oxford
St Modan’s High School, Stirling
Linlithgow Academy, Linlithgow
Convent of St Jesus & Mary’s Language School, London
Hambleton and Richmondshire PRS, Northallerton
City College Plymouth, Plymouth
St Edward’s Prep, Reading
Animal Behaviour Zone
Scientists
| Valeria Senigaglia | Philippines | I am an ethologist that simply means I study animal behaviour. In particular I go on a boat to look how much time dolphins spend with their best friends. |
| Louise de Raad | Aberdeen University | I work in the field of animal behaviour and for my main research I went to South Africa to study the behaviour of a troop of baboons where I particularly looked at their social network structure.. |
| Kevin Mahon | University of Lincoln | My current work looks at the risks to wandering cats and the methods used to contain them. |
| Joanna Cruden | GlaxoSmithKline | I use behavioural testing as part of my PhD project in animal welfare, and to check on animal wellbeing in the laboratory, which includes researching welfare methods and techniques to help continuously improve both animal welfare and scientific results. |
| Charlotte Brassey | University of Manchester | I’m a palaeontologist, which means I study fossilised creatures, and I’m particularly interested in finding out about their movements – reconstructing their posture, how they walked, and how fast they could run. |
Schools
Loreto Grammar School, Cheshire
Dixons City Academy, Bradford
Sanday Community School, Orkney
Bishop Douglass School, London
Bury College, Bury
Sacred Heart College, Omagh
St Mark’s High School, Co Down
Plymstock School, Plymouth
King Henry VIII School, Coventry
Shimna Integrated College, Co Down
Jersey College for Girls, Jersey
Genes Zone
Scientists
| Seyyed Shah | University of Leicester | I study tiny proteins that can switch genes on or off, by magnifying the proteins to see what they look like and observe very small particles (the atoms) inside them. |
| Leisha Nolen | Queensland Institute of Medical Research | The ultimate packing job: how to cram 2 meters of DNA into a 0.000005 meter nucleus. |
| Judith Sleeman | University of St Andrews | I’m interested in how the cells of our body actually use the information stored in our genes: in particular the amazingly dynamic molecular ‘machines’ that edit the messages written in the genes so they can be understood by the rest of the cell. |
| Chris Kettle | Cytogenetics, NHS, Newcastle Upon Tyne | I play spot the difference with chromosomes, all day, every day. |
| Anouk Gouvras | Natural History Museum | I am a parasitologist working on a worm that infects people in Africa, using genetic methods to answer questions like; is the treatment getting rid of all the parasites in a child? Are there any treatment failures? |
Schools
MidKent College, Kent
Kingsmead Technology College, Staffs
Tanglin Trust School, Singapore
Grove School, Shropshire
Inverness High School, Inverness
Rutlish School, London
Colchester County High School For Girls, Essex
Wallace High School, Stirling
Cathedral Academy, Wakefield
William Brookes School, Shropshire
Materials Zone
Scientists
| Lizzie Eaves | University of Manchester | I’m working on ways to make paint more environmentally friendly by experimenting with the part that makes it stick on the wall (a polymer) – Who knew watching paint dry could be this interesting?! |
| Lindy Heath | The University of Nottingham | I make exciting materials called aerogels. They have lots of fascinating properties and applications. NASA even uses them on their spacecraft! |
| Beth Mortimer | Oxford University | Shooting silk – how silks react to high-speed events including projectiles. |
| Andrew Watt | University of Oxford | I make nanomaterials and using them build solar cells, batteries, rockets and explosives. |
| Bruce Alexander | University of Greenwich | I make stuff that makes fuel from water. |
Schools
Tanglin Trust School, Singapore
Aboyne Academy, Aberdeenshire
St Oswalds RC Primary, Tyne And Wear
St. Joseph’s College, Dumfries
Smithycroft Secondary School, Glasgow
Sacred Heart College, Omagh
Lucton School, Herefordshire
Glyncoed Comprehensive School, Blaenau Gwent
The Matthew Arnold School, Middlesex
Rode Heath Primary, Cheshire