I’m a Scientist, Get me out of here! returns this June for two weeks from the 10th to the 21st. Scientists and school students across the country will be taking part in 7 different zones, from Plants and Particles, to Space and Mental Health.
For the latest news and announcements about the event, find us on Twitter @imascientist, and follow the hashtag, #IASUK.
Let’s meet the scientists and schools taking part…
The Bohrium Zone
The Bohrium Zone is a general zone supported by Wellcome.
The Scientists
Rob Ives | Research Scientist, GlaxoSmithKline
Rob is an in-vivo scientist creating new medicines for children, specifically ones that taste nice.
Imad Ouachan | PhD Student, University of Bristol
Imad is developing new materials to protect massive offshore wind turbines blades from impacts.
Hannah Semeraro | Senior Lecturer and Clinical Audiologist, University of Southampton and Dorset Healthcare
Hannah works both as a lecturer in audiology at a university and as an audiologist helping adults with hearing and balance problems.
Fern Johnson | Trainee Clinical Scientist, Bioinformatics Group, Genetics Diagnostic Laboratory
Fern is a trainee clinical scientist in bioinformatics, working in the genetics department of a hospital.
Carol Wallace | Research Technician, University of Aberdeen
Carol is a research technician working in an immunology lab that specialises in fungal disease.
Christian Gude | PhD Student, Synthetic Biology Research Centre, University of Nottingham
Christian makes plastics from waste gases using genetically engineered bacteria.
The Schools
- St Dominic’s High School, Belfast
- St Benedict’s Catholic High School, Alcester
- Hitchin Boys’ School, Hitchin
- Shimna Integrated College, Newcastle
- St Alban’s Catholic High School, Ipswich
- Heathfield Community College, Heathfield
- Culvers House Primary School, Mitcham
- Glen Urquhart High School, Highland
- Rainham Mark Grammar School, Gillingham
- All Saints Catholic College Specialist in Humanities, Huddersfield
- St. Mary’s Menston, a Catholic Voluntary Academy, Ilkley
- St John Wall Catholic School, Birmingham
The Hassium Zone
The Hassium Zone is a general zone supported by Wellcome.
The Scientists
Bastian Saputra | PhD Student, University of Sheffield
Bastian is researching how to modify bacteria to make them glow in the presence of soil pollution.
Cheryl Williams | Advanced Biomedical Scientist, Royal Oldham Hospital
Cheryl analyses specimens from patients to help doctors to diagnose any infections they may be suffering from.
Alun Owen | Environmental Chemistry Technician, University of the West of England
Alun teaches and prepares for chemistry and environmental classes at the university.
David Underhill | Special Projects Officer, Mineral Products Qualifications Council
David runs projects aimed at increasing public understanding of mining and quarrying industries, and the STEM skills involved.
Farah Elahi | PhD Student, University of Warwick
Farah is completing a PhD in Health Sciences and also works as a lecturer at several universities.
Helen Faulkner | Quality Control Analyst, Eisai Manufacturing Ltd
Helen tests drugs to be sure that they are safe for patients to take.
The Schools
- Reepham High School and College, Norwich
- St Bartholomew’s School, Newbury
- The Holmesdale School, Snodland
- Allestree Woodlands School, Derby
- Ormiston Maritime Academy, Grimsby
- Maindee C.P. School, Newport
- Ethos College, Huddersfield
- The Radcliffe School, Milton Keynes
- Walker Riverside Academy, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
- The Charles Dickens School, Broadstairs
The Influence Zone
The Influence Zone is a themed zone supported by the British Psychological Society.
The Psychologists
Laura Fisk | Clinical Psychologist, GP surgery
Laura works in local GP surgeries helping people of all ages with their mental health and other problems they might have.
Kathryn Atherton | Psychologist, Behavioural Insights Team
Kathryn uses research on human behaviour to come up with solutions to problems in our society.
Ian Cookson | PhD Student, Manchester Metropolitan University
Ian’s research looks at how we can understand transport choices, particularly cycling, using the social identity approach.
Chris Fullwood | Reader in Cyberpsychology, University of Wolverhampton
Chris is studying how people communicate and manage impressions in the online world.
Bogdana Huma | Lecturer in Social Psychology , York St John University
Bogdana teaches social psychology, with a focus on social influence and persuasion in real-life sales encounters.
Alex Lloyd | PhD Student, Royal Holloway
Alex is trying to answer questions about when and why teenagers take risks.
The Schools
- Glyn School, Epsom
- Furness Academy, Barrow-in-Furness
- Slemish College, Ballymena
- Kirkby Stephen Grammar School, Kirkby Stephen
- SGS Berkeley Green UTC, Berkeley
- Cleeve School, Cheltenham
- John F Kennedy Catholic School, Hemel Hempstead
- Saint John Houghton Catholic Voluntary Academy, Ilkeston
- Ormskirk School, Ormskirk
- St Gilgen International School, St Gilgen, Austria
- Hawley Primary School, London
- Dame Alice Owen’s School, Potters Bar
- Marr College, South Ayrshire
- St Martin in the Fields High School for Girls, London
The Mental Health Zone
The Mental Health Zone is a themed zone supported by the British Psychological Society.
The Psychologists
Robert Dempsey | Researcher and Senior Lecturer, Staffordshire University
Robert is interested in how our perceptions of our social environment impacts on our mental and physical health.
Oliver Clabburn | Post-Doctoral Research Assistant, Bath Spa University
Oliver is currently looking at stress for social workers, trying to find the key causes and then identify some ways that it might be reduced.
Nicola Johnstone | Researcher in Developmental Psychology, University of Surrey
Nicola designs and carries out research studies to understand how the brain works, most recently working with kids and young people to understand how emotions develop as they grow up.
Jasmin Moon | Employment Support Co-ordinator, Virgin Care
Jasmin supports adults whose job is causing a mental health problem or making their mental health worse.
Dennis Relojo-Howell | Mental Health Blogger, Psychreg
Dennis runs a mental health blog, website and open access journal to address the stigma around mental health.
Caroline Brett | Senior Lecturer in Health Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University
Caroline is interested in what influences how we rate our wellbeing, whether it be our personal characteristics or our circumstances.
The Schools
- Hermitage Academy, Argyll & Bute
- Colne Community School and College, Colchester
- Wyvern Academy, Darlington
- All Hallows Catholic High School, Preston
- Arboretum Primary School, Derby
- St John Rigby RC Sixth Form College, Wigan
- The Charles Dickens School, Broadstairs
- Dover Grammar School for Girls, Dover
- City College Plymouth, Plymouth
- Fitzharrys School, Abingdon
- John Henry Newman Catholic College, Birmingham
- Furness Academy, Barrow-in-Furness
- Dame Alice Owen’s School, Potters Bar
The Particles Zone
The Particles Zone is a themed zone supported by the Science & Technology Facilities Council.
The Scientists
Savannah Clawson | PhD student, University of Manchester
Savannah studies what happens when we smash particles of light together, using the ATLAS detector and LHC at CERN.
Philippe Gambron | Research Scientist, STFC – Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
Philippe uses very large computers to work out what happened during the first moments of the Universe.
Lucy Budge | PhD Student, Institute of Particle Physics Phenomenology, Durham University
Lucy is trying to understand what happens when particles are smashed into each other at very high speeds.
Joanna Huang | PhD Student, University College London and CERN
Joanna is a PhD student learning about particles and the fundamental laws of the universe.
Harrison Prosper | Professor of Physics, Florida State University
Harrison tries to make sense of nature by colliding protons at the Large Hadron Collider.
Edoardo Vescovi | Research Associate, Imperial College London
Edoardo is developing precise methods to measure things when the forces between particles are either weak, medium or strong.
The Schools
- Caerleon Comprehensive School, Newport
- Bohunt School, Liphook
- Gordano School, Bristol
- St Ambrose Barlow RC High School, Manchester
- Central Lancaster High School, Lancaster
- Sullivan Upper School, Holywood
- Summerhill School, Kingswinford
- The Petchey Academy, London
The Plants Zone
The Plants Zone is a themed zone for primary schools zone supported by Wellcome.
The Scientists
Shannah Gates | PhD Student, Royal Holloway University of London and UCB Pharma
Shannah is interested in making immortal plant roots.
Richard Gammons | Research Technician, University of York
Richard is researching how to use plants as chemicals to make fuels.
Matthew Alkan | PhD student, University of Reading
Matthew is investigating whether driving cars is changing the smells of plants, affecting bees that use a plant’s scent to find and pollinate it.
John Paterson | PhD Student, Stirling University
John is trying to understand how pollinators, like bees and hoverflies, know when the seasons are changing and why this is important for flowers and crops.
Emma Markham | Geneticist, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
Emma works on projects funded by the government, such as one to produce ‘super broccoli’ and another to create plastic packaging from plants.
Anna Gardner | PhD student, University of Birmingham
Anna is a researcher of trees, studying how climate change might change oak leaves in the future.
The Schools
- Ribble Drive Community Primary School, Manchester
- Emmanuel Middle Church of England Voluntary Aided School, Verwood
- St Bridget’s Primary School & Nursery Class, Glasgow City
- Barry Primary School, Northampton
- St Mark’s CofE Primary School, Manchester
- All Saints Upton Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, Widnes
- Alexandra Park Primary School, Stockport
- St Leonard’s CofE Primary School, Bridgnorth
- Lark Rise Academy, Dunstable
- Oak Lodge School, London
The Space Zone
The Space Zone is a themed zone for primary schools zone supported by the Science & Technology Facilities Council.
The Scientists
Nicolas Bonne | Astronomer, Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation
Nicolas studies galaxies to come up with ways to allow people with sight problems to learn about space.
Laurence Datrier | PhD Student, University of Glasgow
Laurence is working on ways to find out when neutron stars collide.
Emma Davies | PhD Student, Imperial College London
Emma studies massive explosions from the Sun that can (and do!) hit Earth causing problems for us.
Declan Jonckers | Multi-Layer Insulation Engineer, RAL Space
Declan organises the design and manufacture of Multi-Layer Insulations, a kind of ‘space blanket’ which helps to keep a spacecraft’s temperature at the right level.
Bella Boulderstone | PhD Student, Southampton University
Bella tries to find the size of structures around supermassive black holes, using dust as a space radar.
Ali Hussain | Experimental Physicist, RAL Space
Ali designs and builds new instruments that use light beyond what our eyes can see, to give us information.
The Schools
- Merton Park Primary School, London
- Whitgreave Junior School, Wolverhampton
- Hodthorpe Primary School, Worksop
- St Mary’s Catholic Primary School, Morecambe
- Ormiston Maritime Academy, Grimsby
- Lark Rise Academy, Dunstable
- Chaulden Junior School, Hemel Hempstead
- Ashton Gate Primary School, Bristol
- Irchester Community Primary School, Wellingborough
- Ferndown Middle School, Ferndown
- Haileybury Almaty, Kazakhstan
- Westbury Church of England Junior School, Westbury
- Abbots Ripton CofE Primary School, Huntingdon