Dear students,

You’ll be pleased to know as promised I’ll be off to the BSA Science Communication Conference next March where I’ll meet other scientists talking about the best ways to communicate our work. I’m chatting to @modsoph and @modshane about talking about the experience of being in I’m a scientist, hopefully encouraging more scientists to take part.

I’m also putting together a microbes event on how bacterial ‘Move, Smell and Talk’ for the  British Science Festival, but as there is lots to arrange I won’t be able to make Birmingham this year so it will be unveiled next year in September – so look forward to hopefully meeting some of you there!

Since doing I’m a scientist I’ve also been busy running the biochemistry UNIQ summer school, which saw 30 6th form students come to Oxford for a week to experience what life is like for undergraduate biochemists. While they were here the students attended lectures, tutorials and practicals, where they extracted their own DNA looking for genetic markers. The summer school is part of Oxford University’s UNIQ program which sees 500 6th formers come to Oxford for a taste of a variety of subjects including other sciences (Physics, Chemistry, etc).

Thank you all for voting for me and I hope you feel the money is going to good use communicating the small world (of bacteria) to a big audience!

Mark Roberts

winner of Fluorine Zone