Fiona was the winner of the general science Promethium Zone in 2014. Over the last year she’s been hard at work on her project, funded by the £500 prize. We asked her to tell us how she’s been getting on…

In June 2014 (after a lot of fast typing!) I was delighted to be told I was the winner of the Promethium Zone! I had a lot of fun engaging with so many people across the UK that I wanted to be able to do the same with whatever I spent the prize money on. So I decided to take up the challenge of making videos that anybody could watch anywhere.

“The pipette stays in the picture!” Fiona ‘Scorsese’ McLean frames another heart-wrenching shot.

Making a video was quite daunting because it was something I had never done before. However, I eventually just went for it and spent the money on a high quality video set up. I then rounded up some of my friends and colleagues and had a chat with them about being a scientist whilst filming it.

When learning to edit, remember to take the advice “Murder your darlings” non-literally to protect your friends’ health.

Next came the hard bit! Editing. Who knew editing software could be so awkward?! After hours and hours of editing and working out how to add music in and altering audio levels and all the rest of it, I finally finished my first video!

It’s called “What is it like to be a scientist?” and it’s a great feeling to see the finished version after so much hard work has gone into it. I am really happy at how it turned out and I think it gives an insight into what being a scientist is actually all about. Watch it here:

My next video project is the video I originally wanted to make first but I felt I needed more experience in film making before I embarked on it. My research looks into trying to understand why and how people develop dementia. I am hugely passionate about not only the science behind dementia but also about raising awareness and helping people understand more about it. Therefore my next video will be trying to do this.

The Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health where Fiona does her research. The invading red ivy is not a CGI effect.

The best thing about spending the prize money on video equipment is that I can keep making more and more videos. I have so many ideas and can’t wait to start them! So thank you to I’m A Scientist, Get Me Out Of Here! for the opportunity and a MASSIVE thank you to all the students who voted for me!

Follow Fiona on Twitter @FHMcLean and subscribe to her Youtube channel for updates on her next videos.