Gill Rooker:

Hi Dee

Fantastic to read your blog. I think that holding an interview whilst swimming lengths of in a pool is pretty remarkable multi tasking
!
Well done with the Blooming Snapdragons and making it happen from an idea to a wonderful production- when I saw it I got very excited and inspired by it, and I am looking forward to seeing it again at the Royal Institution.

Have you any ideas on how to encourage many of the young female researchers at JIC into the senior positions - do you think it is personal choice by female satff not to apply to the project leader positions or issues with the culture and environment of science institutes - or both? How do you think staff would react to a message on the website/newsletter/HR notice
board encouraging women to apply when a vacancy arises?
Do you think a focus group with research staff would be a good idea?

Gill

Ruth Wilson (moderator):

HI Dee,

Welcome to the blog - that has to be one of the most unusual interviews ever! At least you didn't have to get into the pool as well.

I am looking forward to seeing Blooming Snapdragons next Wednesday. How does drama compare to other ways of communicating science to the general public?

Dee Rawsthorne:

Hi everyone,

To answer Ruth's question first about drama to communicate science. Like any communication activity it depends on the quality of the material and presenter. In this case the personalities of the women in the story just screamed out for a talented actor and we were really lucky that Liz Rothschild was not only willing to write the play but also take on all the different roles. She really does immerse herself in the personalities and understands their situations so well. Drama is also non threatening and does reach a different audience.

Now Gill's question about women applying for senior positions - I don't think science is any different to other profession in that women make a concious choice between career progression and their family. This is not to say that the two are incompatible, just difficult, unless you can afford full time child care and/or a partner with flexible working conditions. I would be interested to hear from anyone who thinks otherwise.
Dee

Fiona Corke:

Whilst, women should be encouraged to apply for high level research posts I am very happy with my career path. I am a Research Assistant (RA) at JIC. I started at JIC 25 years ago registered for a PhD. After this I opted to stay at JIC for a series of post-doc positions and was able to transfer to a part-time contract after having children. I have always enjoyed lab work and the career choice I made was to become a RA working in the same research group for the last 13 years. Over the last 8 years I have become involved in science outreach - mainly with young people. JIC is the home of Teacher Scientist Network which partners scientists from Norwich Research Park with local schools. I find sharing and explaining science with the primary age children very fulfilling. This has led me to working with Dee at local farming and school events trying to increase peoples awareness of locally grown crops. This outreach work is encouraged by JIC as our remit includes icreasing the public's awareness of science.
I found Blooming Snapdragons very thought provoking and realise how lucky I am to be a woman scientist in the 21st century, when I am fully accepted by my male colleagues.

Rachel :

Hi Dee

I see you took a four year career break when your second child was born. Did you find getting back to work difficult after this? What advice would you to other women who are considering or taking a career break?

Dee :

Hello Rachel,

Because I had kept in touch with people and kept my hand in editing and a few other bits and bobs it wasn't too bad coming back after a break and I worked part time at first too. Also working in admin is easier than lab based work where you can soon loose touch and I would imagine it would be harder to get back into things again, especially in some fields.

Dee

Malc:

Hi Dee - great blog.
What methods of communication do you use, what is the purpose of that communication and what, would you say, are your top 5 successes?
Take care
Malc

Dee :

We use a broad range of methods from the standard lecture on site or sending scientists out to talk to Community groups, to in depth focus groups, hands on events for all ages, debates, plays and going out to places people would least expect scientific research being explained to them or asked their opinions on topics such as GM, climate change or food security.

At the Royal Norfolk Show recently we joined forces with a local agriculatural college and economic development forum on a stand with a show garden of research, traditional and novel agricultural crops including Arabidopsis, a weed which has more research money spent on it than any other plant worldwide. It is a model plant, the genome has been sequenced, it is small easy to grow with a short life cycle so ideally suited to high through put genomic studies. People were attracted to this strange garden and began asking what's that, what's this, why do you use this and waht do you do with that and I think we really did reach that mythical random sample of the general public and we were able to talk about quite complex plant science topics to a wide range of people. We also had a couple of basic microscopes next to the garden for people to take a closer look at plants on their own, which went down well.

We do a schools tallest jelly competition which is a great way to teach children physics and at the other extreme host 3 day workshops for students thinking about a career in science where they get to hear about the latest research going on, use an electron microscope, visit labs and really get a taste of life as a researcher.

So a real mix of events and activities. This year we had our first Science in Norwich Day during National Science and Engineering Week which will be repeated again next year on Sat 19th March in the Forum, which is the most used Library in the UK and attracts all ages of people, is in the City Centre and a great venue for just about anything!

So that's four successes, and if I had to choose just one more then working with Dr Ken to produce a show on genetics using juggling to explain inheritance would have to be included!

Dee

Gill:

Hi Dee

I love the idea of building a school's tallest jelly and I want a go!
When I was a youth worker in my past we played a game of making a parachutes for eggs and seeing whose could fly..very basic Science I guess and I can't remember how it was done ..I do remember youth worker's cars being a mess though.

Dee (and Fiona)- is most of your school's engagement work with high schools or are you funded to work with primary's too? And how do you reach the rural schools in Norfolk? I'm trying to locate some mobile provision (a bus) for some potential work with Opito and can't seem to find one. Their is the Institute of Physics lab in a lorry, but this is very expensive.
Gill

Dee :

We do both primary and High School Gill, although tend to concentrate on Yr8/9 when they take their options for GCSE and Yr11/6th Form when they begin to think about Univeristy and career choices. Recently we have been given responsibility for Inspiring Young Scientists Coordination across the BBSRC following a one year experimental post. The Teacher Scientist Network is also located at John Innes so we work with them a lot and they have kit clubs and place scientists in schools so we are able to reach rural schools that way. As part of the John Innes Centenary we tried to get a scientist in every school in Norfolk - we managed just over 100! We have often looked into mobile labs and buses but cost was always a problem - we have a new training lab opening at JI soon so hope to give schools lab exepreince that way. We do offer transport costs for our school events to allow as many schools as possible to take part. In October we are also going out to a village hall which we tried for the first time last year going out to North Norfolk which was very successful, so schools could walk groups down.

Malc:

Hi Dee - thanks for your great response. Wow - it all sounds fantastic and interesting. You should be duplicated throughout the country!

Gill:

Hi Dee (and Malc) - you do some pioneering work in Norfolk!
What village hall in North Norfolk are you using in October?
Do you have good links with the University of East Anglia at JIC? We help run the Athena Swan Charter (an award for Gender Equality)and are really keen to get the UEA to apply for the award. Would any of your outreach work at JIC or the Teacher Scientist Network be able to be credited to the University do you think?

See you tomorrow at the Blooming Snapdragons - can't wait to see it again!
Gill

Dee :

Hi Gill,

We went to Sheringham last year and are off to Poringland this October. Coming onto a large site must be intimidating to some people so taking our science out to venues where people feel comfortable and at ease we are hoping will build up trust in science and confidence to question what we do and why we do it.

Through the Science Outreach in Norfolk group we began about 18 months ago we are developng links across the county and with UEA so that may help their application. We are also increasingly working with their Science Outreach team on events to help economise.

Dee

Ruth Wilson (moderator):

Hi Dee,

What a pleasure to see you last night and to see the play, Blooming Snapdragons. I highly recommend it, and hope you get to show it in other venues.

Although I know women have had massive barriers to overcome, I was shocked at the vehement opposition 100 years ago of most Cambridge scholars and staff to equality for women. For Bateson, the women scientists he recruited may have been a cheap way of enable him to work on an out-of-favour area of science (genetics!) but there was clearly mutual respect and the women were able to do pioneering work.

As both the play and members of the audience pointed out, we still face struggles today...

My congratulations to all involved in Blooming Snapdragons.

Lalita:

Hello Dee
I really enjoyed the play last night and the discussion afterwards. I was particularly interested in the relationship between Liz Rothschild as writer, the historian Marsha Richmond and the use of original archival material. Was Liz given an historical account on which she based her script or was the process more interactive? The archival material was so well integrated into the play that it seemed like she had quite an intimate knowledge of it.
I'd love to recommend the play to others is it likely to be on again anytime soon?

Dee :

Thank you for the kind comments, we are looking for funding to take the play on a tour, so if you have any ideas....

Liz spent a lot of time talking to our archivist and working in the archives at JI and Cambridge really immersing herself in the charcters as well as talking to as many realtives as she could and people who knew the women.

Dee

Dee :

I think many of us were pretty taken a back by the lady who said during the discussion after the play that she felt there were barriers in getting grants by women through internal sift panels Ruth.

At JI the sift panels are based on scientific merit and yes they are tough but there is no gender discrimination. If domineering males with egos are halting the progression of women scientists then this is tragic. As the discussion and the play rasied - what would science be like if half the women were scientists - maybe differnt questions would be asked and approached from an entirely different angle?
Dee

Lalita:

Have you tried the Wellcome Trust Public Engagement Awards for funding? http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/Funding/Public-engagement/index.htm

I think the play would be a good fit for these.

Dee :

Just thought I would share some comments from people who saw the play at the RI on Weds evening and include a link to a recording we did of it in Norwich
http://avsleccap.uea.ac.uk/mediasite/Viewer/?peid=684b002a575849d88b288cc515b127f8

"So thought provoking. We talked about it for ages afterwards in the pub", (a group of staff from the Women's Library)

"So warm - I felt really connected to those women, invited into their world. And inspired too"

"The performances were fantastic - totally believeable"

"I was moved, and I was educated. I knew nothing about those women"

" I thought Adi was a real scientist, the actress had so much enthusiasm for science"

Thank you everyone!
Dee

Dee :

Thanks - we looked into Wellcome funding for development funding and now we have a proof of concept will definately look to them again.

If anyone knows of any education grants for inner city schools we'd love to tour it for 6th formers which the original commision was intended.

It may also make a good Conference peice if there are any conference organisers out there!
Dee

Ranna:

Really enjoyed the performace at the RI, which I would love to see at other venues. Thank you to all involved.

I think that not only would it encourage sixth formers, but it would serve to remind us ladies who studied science (and related subjects) how lucky we are to have had the opportunity to do so, and that we are not alone.

For me, it was a good reminder of my passion for my subject, and has helped me to decide to stay on this career path.

Regarding funding, sometimes it helps to talk to the "competition" such at Unlimited Theatre, who focus on Physics plays, and have lots of links to Charitable Trusts that may be able to provide funding:
http://www.unlimited.org.uk/home/

You can also try applying for Newcastle Science City grants
http://www.newcastlesciencecity.com/what-we-do/education-community

Have you contacted STEMNET and WISE (Women into Science and Engineering)? Let me know if you want a personal contact.

Finally, you should definitely look at
http://www.stemdirectories.org.uk/stem_scheme_providers.cfm,
These comprise a collection of schemes and activities provided by organisations from across the UK that aim to enhance and enrich the curriculum.

Dee :

So pleased to hear the play helped you decided to stay in science Ranna - can't think of a better endorsement than that!

Very many thanks for all the links and tips too, which will be investigated and acted upon.
Dee

Gill:

Hi Dee

The Blooming Snapdragons production last week was fantastic -I really hope some of these funding sources can support more performances in the future. I think it would be ideal to show at next year's Big Bang Festival. Not sure who the contact is?
I think today is the last day for "live" blogging. I have really enjoyed your story. I think you do some fantastic work on the Norwich Research Park!
Thanks
Gill

Ruth Wilson:

Dee, please let us know if there are further performances. We'd be delighted to advertise them.