Naomi won the Neodymium Zone in June 2014. Since then she’s been working hard to make good use of her £500 and she sent us this update on how it’s all going….
Last June I had the pleasure of talking to students in the Neodymium Zone over 2 weeks, answering many intuitive questions and enjoying great discussions with classes during the live chats. I was completely surprised when I was voted as the winner, and very happy! Winning £500 to spend on science communication opened up so many ways in which I could carry on engaging students in the world of microbiology. I had a few ideas of ways that I could do this, but it didn’t take me long to settle on the idea of a microbiology eBook.
‘Meet the Microbes’ started off as a fun Twitter conversation with colleagues a couple of years before and was actually made a possibility with the prize money. Inspired to carry on engaging students and the public in science after taking part in I’m a Scientist, Get me out of here, I started volunteering for the Thames Valley Branch of the British Science Association. It was through this volunteering that I met a bioartist Immy Smith, who was able to make my microbe ideas come to life, which was perfect timing! Over the past year I’ve been writing the book, and it’s now complete and ready to download.
Luke Onostock, Sam ‘N’ Ella and Dinah Coccus pictured here are just a few of the many fascinating microbes you can meet in the e-book!
‘Meet the Microbes’ is a book where young readers, or anyone wanting to learn about microbes, can delve into the weird and wonderful world of microbiology and become a scientist by tracking a flu outbreak, growing microbes and even using them to make your own food. Aside from learning about the good, the bad and the ugly microbes, readers can also carry out experiments at home.
Apart from using the prize money for fantastic illustrations, I’ve also set up a website (www.meetthemicrobes.co.uk) and you can download the eBook now as a PDF (and soon on Amazon Kindle, Apple iBooks and Google Play). I’m hoping teachers will also find this site helpful in future, as I plan on adding resources such as microbiology lesson plans and experiments that can be used in the classroom. I really hope students will enjoy reading about Mike O’Bacterium, Sue Domonas and the many other menacing and marvellous microbes in the book!
Without the I’m a Scientist team, The Wellcome Trust and all the students and teachers involved in the event, ‘Meet the Microbes’ would not have been made possible so a HUGE thank you to all!
