Oxford Festival of Ideas: a public engagement with science event
Rowena Fletcher-Wood
Science Oxford
rowena.fletcherwood@gmail.com
ECG Bulletin January 2020
Science Oxford
rowena.fletcherwood@gmail.com
ECG Bulletin January 2020
In one of over 100 events running as part of Oxford’s 11-day Science and Ideas Festival (IF), members of the ECG ran the outreach stall “Blue Sky Research”, engaging 560 of the 13,500 visitors.
On 19th and 20th October 2019 volunteers Omofolawe Otun, Melanie Witt, Sanaa Rashid, and Guy Fletcher-Wood supported the committee in delivering two hands-on activities and our spectacular Ocean Acidification demo. This dedicated team entertained a diverse audience including very young children, teenagers, experienced scientists (who were often parents) and other adults with an interest in environmental science. The stand was situated in two locations in Oxford: the Saturday activities were run in the Westgate Shopping Centre in central Oxford, whilst the Sunday venue was Oxford Town Hall. These sites enabled us to engage two different audiences; the first consisting primarily of passing shoppers who were unaware of the festival, and the latter drawing in those who had specifically come to explore the festival.
Participants searched for microplastics in soils, analysed the pH of tap water from different UK locations, used sensors to detect air quality and temperature, and a Geiger counter to quantify the background radiation in the venue. Visitors were especially keen to hear more about what chemists across academia and industry are doing to combat environmental change, and to find out what our volunteers were working on. Discussions with the public included the topics of some of our recent Distinguished Guest Lectures, such as the link between the hunt for microplastics in our soil samples to the prevalence persistent organic pollutants (POPs), their regulation, behaviour, and environmental impacts. The air quality monitor sparked some interest in the chemistry of diesel emissions and the energy storage and delivery options for hydrogen fuel and electric vehicles. The Geiger counter provided an opportunity to introduce visitors to the banana equivalent dose and discuss biodiversity in sites such as Chernobyl National Park. Through the ocean acidification and water testing activities, discussions included what pH is, human changes to the natural environment, and the chemical reactions that underlie the colour changes we see in indicators. After playing with the IR temperature probe, several visitors were interested in its range, accuracy, and how electromagnetic radiation performed analyses, such as temperature measurements.
On 19th and 20th October 2019 volunteers Omofolawe Otun, Melanie Witt, Sanaa Rashid, and Guy Fletcher-Wood supported the committee in delivering two hands-on activities and our spectacular Ocean Acidification demo. This dedicated team entertained a diverse audience including very young children, teenagers, experienced scientists (who were often parents) and other adults with an interest in environmental science. The stand was situated in two locations in Oxford: the Saturday activities were run in the Westgate Shopping Centre in central Oxford, whilst the Sunday venue was Oxford Town Hall. These sites enabled us to engage two different audiences; the first consisting primarily of passing shoppers who were unaware of the festival, and the latter drawing in those who had specifically come to explore the festival.
Participants searched for microplastics in soils, analysed the pH of tap water from different UK locations, used sensors to detect air quality and temperature, and a Geiger counter to quantify the background radiation in the venue. Visitors were especially keen to hear more about what chemists across academia and industry are doing to combat environmental change, and to find out what our volunteers were working on. Discussions with the public included the topics of some of our recent Distinguished Guest Lectures, such as the link between the hunt for microplastics in our soil samples to the prevalence persistent organic pollutants (POPs), their regulation, behaviour, and environmental impacts. The air quality monitor sparked some interest in the chemistry of diesel emissions and the energy storage and delivery options for hydrogen fuel and electric vehicles. The Geiger counter provided an opportunity to introduce visitors to the banana equivalent dose and discuss biodiversity in sites such as Chernobyl National Park. Through the ocean acidification and water testing activities, discussions included what pH is, human changes to the natural environment, and the chemical reactions that underlie the colour changes we see in indicators. After playing with the IR temperature probe, several visitors were interested in its range, accuracy, and how electromagnetic radiation performed analyses, such as temperature measurements.
The two forms of bromothymol blue exist in
solution in equilibrium at pH 7.1, and are colour
sensitive to the pH variations of tap water.
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Exhibition at the Westgate Centre, Oxford.
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If you would like to find out more about our activities, please check out our previous Bulletins and webpages for details, including ‘How To’ guides for most of our public engagement activities. ‘How to Remove Plastic with Dissolved Gas Floatation’ may be found on page 25 of this Bulletin, whilst ‘Ocean Acidification’ is outlined in our July 2019 edition, and ‘Microplastics’ in our July 2018 edition. All our outreach exhibit information may also be found on our website, at envchemgroup.com/resources. Risk assessments are also available online. You are welcome to replicate any of our outreach activities yourself, and we are always happy to answer questions about them.
Volunteer with us
Please email rowena.fletcherwood@gmail.com if you would like to participate in a similar ECG outreach event in the future, or suggest one to us. We provide full training and are always interested in new exhibits and activities. If you want our help running outreach activities for your existing event or would like us to help source volunteers, please get in touch, providing details.
Volunteer with us
Please email rowena.fletcherwood@gmail.com if you would like to participate in a similar ECG outreach event in the future, or suggest one to us. We provide full training and are always interested in new exhibits and activities. If you want our help running outreach activities for your existing event or would like us to help source volunteers, please get in touch, providing details.
