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The Health Zone was part of I’m a Scientist: On Demand, running from 2 to 27 November 2020. It was jointly funded by the Royal Society of Chemistry and the British Society for Immunology. 50 scientists from various fields and career stages engaged with students through live Chats and Ask questions.

486 students from 23 schools across the UK participated, with 42% from target schools. 30 live Chats took place, and 44 student questions were approved, with scientists responding with 201 answers. Two of the weekly evening chats focused on vaccinations.

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Read the report: Energy Zone Report – March 2020 [PDF]

[caption id="attachment_13087" align="alignright" width="211"] Read the report: Energy Zone Report – March 2020 [PDF][/caption]The Energy Zone was a themed zone supported by the Royal Society of Chemistry. Continue reading →

Read the report: Elements Zone Report – November 2019 [PDF] The Elements Zone was a themed zone supported by the Royal Society of Chemistry. It featured six scientists: William Wiseman is a technical manager in industry who mixes zirconium with metal oxides to create ceramic materials used in places such as aeroplanes and oil rigs. Thibaut Deviese is a chemist who uses the radioactivity of carbon isotopes to help archaeologists date objects. Harry Wilkinson is a PhD student recreating iron and sulphur compounds usually found in the body with the aim of replacing unsustainable industrial processes. Georgia Orton is a research scientist trying to make iron do the job of platinum in reactions using tiny cage structures called MOFs (metal organic frameworks). Emily Sparkes is a PhD student who studies how well enzymes make and break bonds between silicon and oxygen. Aimee Egglestone is an industry development chemist helping scientists … Continue reading →

Read the full report This zone was a themed zone funded by the Royal Society of Chemistry, of which Olivia, Mzamo and Megan were members. Weiyi is a PhD student researching biofuels, Olivia is researching materials that can be used for more sustainable energy sources, Ola is looking at ways to save more energy, food and water and Mzamo is a lecturer in bio-renewable energy and based in South Africa. Megan, who was the winner of this zone, researches how waste uranium could help carry out reactions and reduce waste from nuclear energy. Megan and Ola were particularly engaging within the live chats, both showing up to almost all sessions. Within the chats and ASK there were some fairly serious discussions on topics such as global warming and nuclear power with students showing a lot of interest in how scientists are working to save energy in the future.

Read the full report This was a themed zone funded by the Royal Society of Chemistry, of which Steve, Hannah and Eleni were members. Steve, the winner of the zone, is a PhD student making new anti-cancer drugs from sugars, Oli studies bacteria which can become resistant to viruses in order to use them in replace of antibiotics and Jenny develops drugs for diseases like cancer and diabetes. Hannah makes drugs for the parasitic tropical disease leishmaniasis and Eleni is a PhD student finding antibiotics from rare sources like fungus growing ants. All of the scientists in the zone were engaging and provided detailed and accessible answers, with Steve and Hannah making up well over half of all answers and lines of live chat.

Read the full report The Mercury Zone was a general Primary School zone funded by the Royal Society of Chemistry, of which Waqar, Melissa and Angus were members. Waqar researches how to find out if someone has an infection by studying their breath, Melissa is an environmental scientist looking at how explosives travel through the ground and the effect the chemicals can have on the environment and Jenni researches how our brains understand the words they hear and read, in order to help children with learning difficulties. Catherine is a cardiac scientist who uses ultrasound to examine people’s hearts and Angus is a PhD student who researches what makes stainless steels rust in order to know what we can use them for. The zone received diverse questions, but was quiet compared to the average number of questions in June’s event.

Read the full report The Antibiotics Zone was funded by the Royal Society of Chemistry, of which Lindsay and Jonny are members, with additional funding from the Biochemical Society Diversity Grant. Danna is a Research Associate who studies how bacteria evolve, Lindsay is a chemist working to improve compounds to better target diseases and Juan researches how our bodies fight off threatening microbes. Jonny is a PhD student working to make medicines in more environmentally friendly ways and Daniela is a PhD student who modifies the DNA of viruses. All five scientists took an active role in the event, answering a similar number of questions and attending many live chats even after being evicted. Some students from Jonny’s old college – Selby College – took part in the zone and were excited to have the opportunity to talk to him in a live chat.

Read the full report The Catalysis Zone was a themed zone funded by the Royal Society of Chemistry, of which Ruth, Rob, Laura and John were members. Ruth is a PhD student who creates new molecules to see what happens when they react, Rob works for a pharmaceutical company where he ensures chemicals are mixed in the right way and Luke is researching how to make medicines and other chemicals from a bacteria found in a compost heaps. Laura researches how sunlight can be used on reactions to use less fossil fuels within chemistry, and John is a lecturer who teaches organic chemistry and researches how to create new catalysts. This zone had the highest percentage of active students out of all the zones in the June event.

READ THE FULL REPORT The Toxicology Zone was a themed zone funded by the Royal Society of Chemistry, and Richard, Anais and Katy were members. Stuart works as a chemist making hazardous waste safe to handle, Richard devises methods for testing medicines, Lauren studies how pollutants can be toxic to fish, Katy is a Teaching and Research Assistant studying drugs of abuse and Anais is researching how fatty acids get inside cells. The zone was busy, with an above average number of questions approved and answers from the scientists. Students showed a lot of interest in the scientists’ individual areas of work with lots of questions for Lauren about fish and Katy about drugs, for example.  All the scientists engaged well throughout the event with Lauren, the winner of the zone, and Stuart, who came second, accounting for over half of all scientist activity within ASK and the live chats.

READ THE FULL REPORT The Climate Change Zone was a themed Primary School zone, funded by the Royal Society of Chemistry, and Helena, Iain and Cat were members. Iain studies the effect of cars and factories on the air, Elaine studies the chemistry of fossils to find out about what the climate was like in the past, Helena is researching new ways to make biodegradable plastics, Gabriel is a PhD student researching the sources of pollutants in the air and Cat is looking at how the chemicals emitted from trees affect the climate of the planet. Within ASK and the live chats there were a lot of on topic questions about weather and climate, with students taking the topic of climate change quite seriously with an interest in how global warming can affect our future. The two final scientists, Cat and Helena, accounted for over two thirds of all scientist … Continue reading →

READ THE FULL REPORT The Biochemistry Zone was funded by the Biochemical Society, which Harriet was a member of, and the Royal Society of Chemistry. Harriet, Chris, Andy and Jessica were all members of this society. Nikki is a microbiologist and laboratory manager researching new antibiotics, Jess builds machines to help doctors hunt for diseases and Harriet designs new materials to be used to treat cancer. Andy and Chris are both lecturers at universities, Andy working in inorganic chemistry and Chris in biomaterials. The zone had an above average amount of questions in the ASK section, where students engaged with the scientists’ individual work and research, as well as asking a variety of general science questions. Each scientist answered a very similar amount of questions in ASK.

READ THE FULL REPORT The Spectroscopy Zone was funded by the Royal Society of Chemistry, of which Baljit, Jesus, Arlene and Michael were members. All the scientists used types of spectroscopy in their research or work, for instance in detecting explosive compounds, in forensic chemistry, or to analyse the light from distant galaxies. The students in this zone were interested in the research of the scientists and picked up on the details in their profiles, leading to varied discussion of careers in chemistry as well as how they each used spectroscopy. All scientists communicated well with the students and Jesus, the zone winner, engaged strongly throughout. He attended all 19 chats, often as the sole scientist, and contributed a third of the zone’s answers in ASK, as did Baljit.