Outreach

Our favourite activity is to engage in classroom workshops developed in conjunction with teachers to make sure relevance to the curriculum as well as introducing new concepts and ideas. 

We have also engaged in National Science week, Festival of the mind.

Workshops we have delivered include:

• Oral hygiene and microbiology (Y1-3)

• Hand hygiene and microbiology (Y1-3)

• Domestic waste, plastic waste and Fatbergs (Y5-6)

• Medical microbiology diagnosis (Y6 and Y12)

• Scientific naming challenge (Y6)

We often discuss major topics in microbiology and health such as; antimicrobial resistance, the importance of vaccination, hand and oral hygiene. We have microscopes and cameras that allow viewing microbes in real-time, these have even included teachers oral swab Gram Stains, urine samples and agar plate analysis.

We have also showcased some of the EPSRC Twenty65 work to discuss the importance of what we flush down our toilets, or pour down sinks in the context of Fatbergs, FOGs and wet-wipes. The pupils designed their own experimental protocol for testing wet-wipes and their likelihood of degradation or persistence in the sewage system and wider environment. 

The team usually includes enthusiastic volunteer PhD students and ECRs and sometimes in conjunction with Prachi Staffords team from Sheffield Hallam University.