Category Archives: Zone Reports

Read the report: Sustainability Zone Report – November 2019 [PDF]

Read the report: Sustainability Zone Report – November 2019 [PDF]

• Stuart Goldie is a Postgraduate Research Assistant, discovering new materials for renewable energy.
• Scott Dwyer is finding new ways to control a parasitic mite that can kill honey bees.
• Lisa Kelly manages BASF’s distribution business, trying to supply products like cosmetics, food and pharmaceuticals in a sustainable way.
• Jack Saunders is a polymer scientist making new plastics for paints, to help keep things in better conditions for longer.
• Caragh Whitehead is a research technician looking at how plants can lead to improvements in all areas of our lives.
• Alex Batchelor, the winner of this zone, is a PhD student investigating how plant roots can get more phosphorous from the soil, to help them grow better and produce more food.

Read the report: Meitnerium Zone Report – November 2019 [PDF]

Read the report: Meitnerium Zone Report – November 2019 [PDF]

• Sarah Knight works at the University of York, exploring why we get distracted by background noise when we’re trying to listen to another person speaking.
• Isaac Halstead is a PhD student looking at the psychological factors of gene editing attitudes – what makes a person support or oppose its use.
• Hira Virdee is a space laser scientist, using lasers to increase the power of satellite solar panels.
• Elena Maters, the winner of this zone, is studying how volcanoes affect our environment and why ash particles from different volcanoes influence chemistry and clouds.
• Anisha Wijeyesekera is studying how diet can impact the bacteria in our gut, and how this can positively or negatively influence our health.
• Alex Leide looks at how ceramics break at the nanoscale, to help design stronger materials.

Read the report: Darmstadtium Zone Report – November 2019 [PDF]

Read the report: Darmstadtium Zone Report – November 2019 [PDF]

• Simon Brown is a technician at University of Bath chemistry department.
• Selen Ozbek is a psychologist, investigating how blindness affects the circadian rhythm of veterans and army personnel.
• Paul Laurance-Young, the winner in this Zone, is a biomedical scientist in cellular pathology.
• Nawapat Kaweeyanun is a space physicist looking at Jupiter’s largest moon, Ganymede, preparing for a mission to find out if it once hosted life.
• Natalie Fowler is a clinical scientist working at a hospital, ensuring the correct machines are being used and are working properly for the sickest patients.
• Katy Bruce is a PhD student in Forensic Chemistry, looking at whether traces of makeup at a crime scene could be used as reliable sources of evidence.

Read the report: Plants Zone Report – June 2019 [PDF]

The Plants Zone was a themed zone for primary schools zone supported by Wellcome. It featured six scientists:

• Shannah Gates is a PhD student growing root cultures to be used in medicinal compounds.
• Richard Gammons is researching how to use plants as chemicals to make fuels.
• Matthew Alkan 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 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 works at the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council funding research which helps people and the planet.
• Anna Gardner, the winning scientist, is a researcher of trees, studying how climate change might change oak leaves in the future.

Read the report: Hassium Zone Report – June 2019 [PDF]

The Hassium Zone was a general zone supported by Wellcome and featured six scientists:

• Helen Faulkner tests drugs to be sure that they are safe for patients to take.
• Farah Elahi is completing a PhD looking at how virtual reality can improve young people’s mental health.
• Dave Underhill, the winner of this zone, is an archaeologist who runs projects aimed at increasing public understanding of mining and quarrying industries.
• Cheryl Williams analyses specimens from patients to help doctors with diagnosis.
• Bastian Saputra is researching how to modify bacteria to make them glow in the presence of soil pollution.
• Alun Owen is an Environmental Chemistry Technician who also teaches chemistry at university.

Read the report: Bohrium Zone Report – June 2019 [PDF]

The Bohrium Zone was a general zone supported by Wellcome. It featured six scientists:

• Rob Ives, winner of the zone, is an in-vivo scientist creating better tasting medicines for children.
• Imad Ouachan is developing new materials to protect offshore wind turbines blades from impacts.
• Fern Johnson is a trainee clinical scientist in bioinformatics, working in the genetics department of a hospital.
• Christian Gude makes plastics from waste gases using genetically engineered bacteria.
• Carol Wallace is a research technician working in an immunology lab that specialises in fungal disease.
• A sixth scientist unfortunately had to drop out at short notice.

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The Water Zone was a themed zone supported by Wellcome. In the zone were six scientists:

• Silvia Imberti, who use neutrons to look at hydrogen bonds in liquids.
• Scott Graham, who is currently working as a microbiologist in an animal disease laboratory following a role with Scottish Water.
• Oliver Andrews, a lecturer who uses computers to investigate how global warming changes the oceans and marine life.
• Natalie Lamb, a PhD scientist researching how to treat drinking water better.
• Michelle Valkanas, who studies bioremediation and how can we use biological organisms to clean up the environment.
• Lowri Evans, the winner of the zone, is a marine biologist interested in fisheries and Marine Protected Areas.