Week 2 with The Naked Scientists

Monday began as it did last week: searching for news. We found a lot of interesting stories, and divided them between us. We all struggled today, as most of the stories came from the USA, and so there was a lot of waiting for people on the other side of the world to wake up!

The portable recording equipment

On Tuesday it became apparent that a few of the stories weren’t going to work out, so I called a researcher from Cambridge whose paper we had seen a press release for on the university website. The phone call did not turn out as I wanted it to, and instead of doing a research call I ended up booking a face to face interview with her for that afternoon! This prompted some speedy tuition on how to use the mobile recording equipment (right), and some less speedy navigation around Cambridge to find the zoology building.

I made it through the construction site and eventually found the reception. I was then led down to the “beetle lab” where rows of boxes of soil (and beetles!) were kept in cupboards. It was on the walk down that I discovered the professor had actually been on Radio 4’s Today programme that morning talking about her research! No pressure for her next interviewer then…

We got down to the lab and, after brushing the beetle off my chair; I sat down and set up the recording equipment. Everything worked: result!

The interview went OK – she was excellent as she’d prepared answers for the questions from Radio 4, but I could have done a bit better. It’s definitely harder when you’re doing the interview face to face.

After another navigational fail, I made it back to the office and successfully uploaded the audio from the interview before calling a potential interviewee for Kat in the states. That all went OK so I went home on Tuesday feeling pretty good!

Me getting nervous before my live Q&A!

The last one to leave the building

Wednesday morning saw the group meeting and editing my piece. Chris then mentioned that he had a regular slot that evening on BBC Radio Norfolk where he answered science questions live from the public. And that he would like an intern to go along with him. Guess who volunteered! I couldn’t decide if I was excited or terrified, but it did mean I spent most of the rest of the day fretting. I did manage to get my news piece finished before heading down to the studio and dialling up Chris.

We were soon live on radio! I was quite nervous at first, which I’m sure you can tell, but as soon as I got a question I knew the answer to I relaxed. I am very glad I did it, but I’m not sure I would have said that at the time. You can listen here, starting at 2hrs10 ish.

Thursday saw some final editing tweaks and then writing up the story to a news article. I discovered (too late) that you should never re-record questions and cut them back in. This prevents any chance of twisting what your interviewee has said. For me, this meant re-doing the edit I had spent Wednesday afternoon doing! The end result was worth it though, and I was pleased with the edit. It didn't make the news for 5live, but it has been published as a special. Thanks to Rebecca Kilner for talking to me!

Week 1 as a Naked Scientist

The Naked Scientists are an award-winning broadcast organisation that produce weekly shows, articles, news stories and special podcasts. Thanks to funding from The Royal Academy of Engineering I am about to embark on an 8-week internship with them - keep reading to find out how I get on. 

The week before I was due to start at the Naked Scientists, I was at conference in Rio de Janeiro on the subject of Chemical Challenges in Renewable Energy. At the conference, I met a previous Naked Scientist, Ben Valsler, who was able to give me a bit of an insight before I started. I’m very glad for this; as he warned me that I would be starting very much from the word go, including helping out for their live radio shows on Sunday evenings. It was pretty exciting to hear about all the different things I would be doing, but it did involve some last minute rearrangements as I’d only planned to live in Cambridge Monday to Friday! 

So, arriving in from Rio at 17:30 the day before starting was perhaps an error, compounded by traffic on the motorway from Birmingham, meant I arrived half an hour late and without the one thing I needed (my passport) on my first day! This all turned out to be fine and I was quickly introduced to one full time member of the team (Graihagh) and the 3 other interns who had been there for varying periods of time already. We’re based in a large country house, Madingley hall, in a nice green area north west of Cambridge.

Every Monday morning there is a group meeting run by the producer for that week to determine which news stories will be covered. They then get distributed among the team. You might get a topic that you will end up leading an interview on, or you might be asked to research a paper that someone else will cover instead. Either way, you start by trying to get in contact with an author for the paper. This can be challenging if they are working in a country with a considerable time difference! You then need to have a conversation with them and work out if you think they are suited to being an interviewee. Can they describe their research clearly and enthusiastically? Before agreeing to definitely interview them, we ask for a sound check, so that the listeners will be able to hear them clearly.

In my first week, I wouldn’t be interviewing anyone for the show, so I did a couple of research calls to “scout out” potential interviewees for other people. I was lucky, as both of the people I contacted were happy to talk and very good at communicating. They also sent through pretty good sound checks.

My job for the week would be to write one of the short news articles and I found the most challenging part of this choosing a topic! Overwhelmed by the number of new articles published this week, by the end of the day I had only managed to get my shortlist down to 5.

Tuesday morning saw me return to my shortlist and get started on my news article. I needed to contact the paper author and arrange an interview. I would then record the interview so I could have accurate quotes, and get some practice in using the studio and editing for next week.

My usual inability to make decisions struck again, and so I made two article frameworks and sent off emails to the corresponding paper authors. One of them was pretty prompt at replying, so I arranged to speak to him on Wed afternoon. 

I then went down to the studio (out of the estate, and just down the road) to have a look as another intern went down to do a recording. It’s a small room in the zoology building, with a microphone and some sliding knobs. It looks complicated, but when you know which buttons to press, it actually is quite simple. The key point is to make sure it’s recording properly!

All of the shows are transcribed, and it’s our job to check through them before they go online, to make sure they match the audio that accompanies them. 

I also had a meeting with the managing editor, Chris, who ran through the day to day runnings of the group, and asked me whether I had any specific aims for the placement. It was good to talk to him, and it seems that the opportunities available are limitless!

The Naked Scientists have a group meeting every Wednesday morning, to discuss the previous week’s show and the items for the coming weekend. This was really interesting - hearing what Chris and his team want from a topic, and the different ways they can be presented. I mentioned that I had felt a good pre-arrival intern guide would have been great, and so managed to get myself assigned the task of creating one! I also arrived in to an e-mail from the other potential interviewee, so ended up deciding to make both of the news stories into articles.

For everyone else, the rest of Wednesday was a day of editing like mad to get the news articles finished before the deadline at the end of the day. I finished off my news articles and in the afternoon had my first interviews. The first one was a bit of a disaster: I had no idea I started every question by saying “Umm... So...” and how having a microphone in my face would make me unable to talk normally. But once that was over, the second one was much more relaxed and I was able to have a really interesting conversation with the researcher.

Thursday for me was my first chance at editing – I went through both of my interviews and took out all the “umm”s and “so”s from both me and my interviewees. This is a strangely satisfying experience when you get it right and just as frustrating when you don’t! The challenge is getting a 15 minute interview down to less than 5 minutes of airtime. I was quite pleased with the work up of my second interview by the time I was finished, and wished I had recorded it properly so I could submit it as a news article. It has made me look forward to next week’s opportunity. I also did some odd bits to help out other people, like booking a meet and greet for one of our guests who will be speaking live from a different location on Wednesday, and trying to track down some information from a researcher in France.

During my time here, one of the permanent staff Georgia will be acting as my “mother hen”. Essentially, she will be my first point of contact if I have any questions about anything. On Thursday afternoon she was able to listen to my interview and also read my two news articles. She was very positive about them, but also gave me some really useful feedback. It’s only when you go through something with someone that you really understand what kind of output they are looking for. After some edits and hunting for pictures, my articles were ready to go online – you can find one on why cavefish have no eyes here and another one on a record breaking artificial leaf here. After this week, I really can’t wait to get started next week on a piece to go into the news.

Professor John Loughhead, Chief Scientific Advisor for DECC comes to Birmingham

Yesterday, the chief scientific advisor for DECC, Professor John Loughhead, came to Birmingham to speak as the first in a series of lectures run by the Birmingham Energy Institute. 
Before the lecture, there was the opportunity to attend a student Q&A session, which I signed up for as soon as I heard about it! 

I arrived to discover there were only 12 of us in the Q&A, so an ideal opportunity for us to ask Professor Loughhead our questions in a much more personal environment. There were students from a range of research backgrounds, which led to a nice variety in the questions asked. From small modular nuclear reactors, to onshore wind subsidies via Electric Vehicle uptake and carbon labelling we covered most of the main areas of a future UK energy system. I, of course, asked about hydrogen and it's part of the UK's future. Professor Loughhead agreed that the technology is very attractive, mainly because there are no emissions at point of use. However, whilst there is still the option to buy petrol/diesel cars, there needs to be additional advantages to ownership: people don't like to be different. Maybe even the support of a Hollywood star would shift the balance...?

Throughout the session, Professor Loughhead was very personable and answered (or at least, tried to answer) all our questions: even when asked whether DECC, and himself, actually had any influence over governmental decisions! 

After a quick chat with us over a cup of tea, we all went upstairs to be joined by a theatre full of people to hear his lecture. Beginning by admitting he had one of the best jobs in the world, he then went on to speak about the UK's targets as set by the Climate Change Act, and how DECC was helping the UK get to these targets. 

He stressed the need for new technologies, and encouraged us students to get back to the lab! However, we were warned of the uncertainty of the energy system (including oil price fluctuations) and how this can be a massive turn-off for investors.

There were some really interesting graphs in his presentation, including one showing the reduction in research and development funding in energy research that occurred towards the end of the 1980s, and which is only just starting to rise. 

To finish, he stressed that innovation is not just needed in technology, but also business models and markets. 

It was a great talk, with an excellent opportunity before hand to discuss individual issues with the speaker. I look forward to the next in the lecture series!

3 Minute Thesis 2015

2 years ago I competed in the University's "3 Minute Thesis" competition. This involves PhD researchers explaining their thesis to a general audience in 3 minutes with no props and using only one stationary slide.

Last time I made it through to the university final, but no further. I really enjoyed the experience: so much so, that I managed to persuade my Mum (who is studying for a DBA at Henley Business School) to enter the heats at her university! After she made it through to her university's final, I knew there was no way I wasn't going to be able to give it another go...

Last time, I started with the basic chemistry, building up to the topic of my research and then finishing with the applications. The video is here. After attending a 3MT training session put on by the graduate school before the heats, I decided to change the order a bit: starting with the motivation and application of hydrogen fuel cell technology and then going into more detail. 

After a hectic week prior to the heat, and the timer having technical issues during my presentation, I wasn't sure how it had gone, but was pleased to find out that I had made it through to the final (phew - at least Mum hadn't beaten me yet!!). We then had a morning of training from Lucy Vernall from @ideaslabproject where we analysed previous 3MT presentations and discussed ways to improve our own. 

I came away buzzing with ideas, and had a bit of a re-write. I then did quite a lot of practice: in my room; in the car; even out running along the canal! I made some changes to my slide: coming up with the final version below illustrating the different way that hydrogen is stored in the two vehicles. 

The day of the final began with filming in the media centre - instructed not to wear green so that we didn't disappear into our slide, we headed to the studio underneath the great hall. I was first up, having been randomly selected to present first both for filming and for the event in the afternoon. I stood on my piece of tape while the camera and lights were lined up, and I was "powdered" to remove any shine. And.... action! 

I managed it in one take! I found it hard to not move around and keep my focus on the camera, but I think it went OK. Even though I began calm, by the end I was shaking like a leaf, so I'm glad there had been no major problems because there was no way I would have been able to do that again. 

Now followed a few hours back in the office preparing a conference presentation (with very different slides!) before the live final in the afternoon. 

The final was put on as part of the graduate school's awards ceremony: we presented at the start and then after all the other awards were given out, the winner would be announced. Up first, I gave my presentation to the audience, who were really open and welcoming. It felt much less nerve-wracking than either the heat or the filming! Although I did finish and I was shaking like a leaf! The finalists were all based in a different room, so I didn't get to hear anyone else present. But everyone seemed to come back feeling confident that they had done well.

After a drinks reception we returned to the main room for the prize giving. One of my fellow School of Chemistry researchers won the publication prize, so Chemistry was already doing well! They announced the prizes for the runners up for the people's choice and the judges choice first and then, to my complete shock, they announced me as the winner! 

I am so pleased to have got through to the next round - thanks to everyone who helped with the organisation and the training, and apologies to those who saw me talking to myself on the canal! The next round is judged based on the videos, and then the national final is in September in Manchester. So watch this space....

Leading Academics: Prof. Jennifer Tann

I knew the second session of Leading Academics (see here for the first session) was going to be good when the speaker was introduced as having "laughter" on her list of interests on LinkedIn. And I was not disappointed. Professor Jennifer Tann was a very engaging speaker and was there to talk us through how to recognise (and make the most of) personality traits in both ourselves and other people. 

Before the class, I completed a Myers-Briggs test on "Type Dynamics", which told me that I fitted the "ESTJ" profile. This means that:

• I am more Extroverted than Introverted (E vs I)
• I pay more attention to things I have directly Sensed than by iNtuition (S vs N)
• I make decisions based on Thinking rather than Feeling (T vs F)
• I make Judgements based on action plans, rather than Perception: letting things happen. (J vs P)

Some people had only vague preferences for one of the two options, but for the last 3 points I was pretty much off the scale! I wasn't very surprised by the results, but I was looking forward to learning what this really meant. 

In groups of similar temperaments (all the SJs were together) we discussed leadership practices: which would come most naturally for us, and which we would struggle to be good at. It was interesting considering how much more comfortable we all felt "leading by example" when compared to "encouraging from the heart".

So, as an extrovert, I show everyone my strongest personality trait: my judgement. However, introverts display their 2nd strongest, making them more difficult to get to know. It was intriguing to hear how illness or stress can change this: exposing your more hidden personality traits. I guess this is why people say "you're not yourself" when you're feeling unwell. 

After another session on the Leading Academics course, again I went away wanting to spend more time on self-assessment. I have been sent away with the "Strengthsfinder" book which also profiles you based on a series of strengths. We were advised to learn what we are good at, and what we enjoy doing, but not to use it as an excuse! Carrying out tasks which are not covered by your strengths may be exhausting, but they are often necessary. Discovering what kind of environment you need to be in to compete them is also key: as they are against your normal habits, they may need to be done in a similarly contrasting environment. 

Thanks to Jennifer for such an interesting session, and again to the careers network for running the course. It was great to be a part of it, even if only for a small while!

Leading academics: Adair Richards

The University of Birmingham enterprise unit run a course called "Leading Academics". The description is as follows:

In June 2015 we will be hosting a six-session series which gives doctoral students the opportunity to engage with guest speakers on how they have made it to the top and the issues they face and have overcome, as well as acquiring frameworks and toolkits for their future careers.

Unfortunately I was unable to attend all 6 of the sessions, as lab work for me is reaching its peak, but I had spotted the phrase "Science communicator" in the description of one of the speakers, so I spoke to the organisers and managed to arrange to come along for just one session: the one Adair Richards was presenting. 
(To hear more about Adair's work: go to his TEDx talk - well worth a watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqmPUm54oew)

Arriving halfway through a course is never ideal, but the first exercise was to discuss the most intriguing ideas that had come up from the previous sessions, so I was able to catch up with the key points. The course is about learning what key attributes leaders have, how to recognise the skills that you have, and how to develop yourself to become a successful leader. 

We spent some time in groups discussing the definition of leadership, with most coming up with the same key words: influence, inspire, understanding, enabling, integrate, common goal. 

Adair then took us through some leadership theories, and I found myself thinking of examples of both good (and not so good) people I had been working with in the past, and how those theories applied to them and the group we had been working in. All the characteristics painted a picture of someone worth respecting, and who you desire to work for. The key point for me was that it became about how you act in a way that means people want to do what you are asking them, and go ahead with their task without feeling directly influenced. 

We heard about Adair's background: of opportunities seized; failures; successes and learning how to be lucky. It was interesting to see how he has guided his career path not by making a goal and working towards it, but more short term decision making based on his basic values. It made me realise the importance of self-assessment, and knowing your own definition of success. 

The session ended with his "Top 10 leadership lessons learnt". From the importance of a good attitude, to the need to keep on learning, all the points made me want to sit down and spend some time thinking more about myself and what I want, rather than my work and where it is taking itself. 

A very interesting and engaging session! To the extent that I'm coming back for the next speaker tomorrow... 
Thanks to Adair for delivering it, and to the careers network for letting me come along. 

FameLab Academy - the final!

This year, I have been able to be a part of FameLab's launch of FameLab Academy in Gloucestershire. I have been on a training masterclass, been a mentor for Pate's Grammar School (visiting twice: 1 and 2) and had the scary experience of being a judge! Yesterday was the final of the competition. All of the twelve finalists had qualified via their school finals, been on a science communication masterclass, and had the opportunity to visit an engineering company. 

Before the final started, I had the chance to catch up with the other engineer mentors to find out how they had been working with their link schools and what other science communication activities they had been up to. I also spoke to the teacher I had been working with at Pates and found out that the student I had spoken to about Oxbridge interviews had been offered a place at Cambridge! I wonder whether any of those in my engineering introduction session will end up pursuing it as a career.

After an introduction from edf energy, who were hosting the event, the final began! What followed were 12 fantastic talks, on scientific and engineering topics ranging from how we handle pain to invisibility using octupuses (octupi?). I was impressed by the improvement I saw in the students I had mentored at Pate's, and the finalist we put through from St Edward's. There were some great props and demos, and I learnt a lot!

After all the students had spoken, Nick Harrigan (@sparrigan) gave us a fab demo on lightbulbs (yeah, I know - but it was actually interesting!). I never knew that you could use a gherkin instead of a filament, although it was a relief that said gherkin did not set off the fire alarm...

The judges: Ben Garrod (@ben_garrod), Louise Emerson from Cheltenham festivals and Ben Salisbury from edf had a tough job... 

After their deliberation, they awarded runners up prizes to Abi (Pittville School) and Lexie (from Pate's - wooo!!!) who spoke on living in space and the feasibility of swimming in syrup. The overall winner was Harry from The Cotswold School, who grabbed everyone's attention with his opening line of "Aphids SUCK" and then went on to discuss these tiny creatures, which I never realised were so interesting... The engineering prize went to Chris, from St Edward's whose enthusiasm for trains meant his talk on streamlining was gripping. 

A huge well done to all who competed - not just yesterday, but throughout the process. Also to Ali Mawle from Cheltenham festivals and her team who made the whole of FameLba academy happen so successfully. And thanks to edf, who made it possible for me and the other engineers to be a part of such an awesome competition!