ScienceGrrl: Science is for Everyone

On the 8th October, I went along to the Arts Tower at the University of Sheffield to attend the first inaugural lecture titled 'Science is for Everyone' by ScienceGrrl's Sheffield branch. 

The lecture began with Jen Lewis (founder of ScienceGrrl Sheffield) asking people to picture a typical scientist and engineer, something I have written about before here. Jen then showed a picture of Ada Lovelace and asked the audience if anyone knew who she was. It's safe to say that not many people did (or they were being extremely shy!). The lecture itself was arranged to coincide with Ada Lovelace day on 14th October, which is a celebration of the achievements of women in science. Ada is often associated with being the worlds first computer programmer after sketching out programs and plans for something called the 'Analytical Engine', which was essentially an early version of the modern computer.

Ada Lovelace Day - 14th October

Next up was the main speaker of the evening, Professor Elena Rodriguez-Falcon, a Mechanical Engineer and Enterprise Educator at the University of Sheffield. She told us her story and how she became involved in the field of engineering. Elena is originally from Mexico, where she studied. There she met a new friend who had a disabled brother. Elena was astounded at the way his family had made a hand-brace for him. This was engineering. She was determined to help disabled people complete day to day activities and she discovered she could do this through engineering. 'Everything is enabled by science and engineering' and so these pathways make just as much difference to people's lives as medicine can. 

Professor Rodriguez-Falcon has spent her career dedicated to helping those with a disability through her knowledge of engineering. Someone with a 'disability' may not just be someone who was born with a physical/mental disability, as she explained that we all become disabled in one way or another as we age. She showed that the number of elderly people with a physical disability will be 50% of the population by 2020. As our strength and dexterity deteriorate as we get older, it becomes harder to do day to day chores and clever engineering solutions are the way to overcome this. Elena's talk was incredibly inspiring and it was extremely helpful of her to give an insight into what you can do with engineering and how helpful it can actually be to people. When you say the word 'engineering' people often think of cars or aeroplanes and vehicles, but actually it is so much more than that and the career possibilities you can get from engineering are endless. 

We then heard from some PhD students from the University, all ScienceGrrls and hence involved in STEM subjects. They were kind enough to talk us through their research and all four of them were involved in entirely different fields:

• Firstly we heard about the subject of Bone Regeneration and the engineering behind aiding the recovery of broken bones through inserting a material between the gaps in the broken bone to speed up recovery. 

• The second short talk was on Additive Manufacturing, or 3D printing as we all know it. The technology behind 3D printing is extremely cool, not only because you can make a 3D replica of your own face (really!), but really thin slices of material in any shape needed can be produced by the printer. This is very useful for the Medical, Automotive and Consumer Industries. 

• We then heard from Priya, a member of Sheffield's NeuroGirls, who was researching Vasomotion and the dilation and constriction of arteries in the body. She told us that vasomotion is extremely useful in medicine as it can help predict whether a patient is developing a disease, before the disease is actually apparent. 

• Lastly, we heard from another ScienceGrrl, Steph, who began as a chemist who was interested in environmental chemistry and is now an environmental engineer studying groundwater and the microbiology to clean up groundwater after petrol leaks. I found her talk most interesting as I think I could relate to it most, however all of the girls were absolutely amazing and so passionate about their fields and projects. 

At the end of the lecture, there was time for questions:

The first question asked Professor Rodriguez how she decided what kind of engineering she wanted to study. Elena replied that she didn't actually know what career she wanted, so she chose mechanical engineering as it is a very broad field and she decided it would be best for her as she could specialise later if she wanted to. Some of the other ScienceGrrls also said this and some said they 'fell' in to engineering; it wasn't their initital career plan but they discovered that they really enjoyed finding practical solutions to problems faced in the world. 

Following questions discussed the gender imbalance in engineering subjects at University and in Industry. Elena was quick to reassure people that she had never experienced discrimination even whilst working at a company where she was the only woman amongst 200 men. She said that the actual problem is not the vast number of boys in STEM, but the number of girls not taking STEM subjects. 

'That's not to say we're not awesome.

 We are brilliant!' 

- Professor Elena Rodriguez-Falcon on the lack of women in engineering

I had the most enjoyable evening at the lecture and I hope it inspired all of the younger people in there to study STEM at University. It was really good to see people of different ages and there were more boys there than I expected there to be, which was amazing to see. I really hope ScienceGrrl Sheffield hold more events like this at the Uni. I'd like to thank them all for giving up their time to share their knowledge and passion with us. You're an inspiration. 

University: My Room

When you move away from home and into new accommodation like I did last year, it's difficult to make it feel like home. I had a really bare room for a while which made it feel a bit empty and hospital-like. So, grab your cushions, cute bedding, photographs and stationery to jazz up your room. It is a home from home after all. 

I recently moved in to my new flat that I will being living in during second year and decided to make it a little more colourful this year. It's still not finished, I have plenty of photos to go up but I decided not to feature those in the video because they're of family members, friends etc. and I've been scouring Etsy for more cute things to make my room look homely. You'll also notice the pile of books I got from the library yesterday. I have plenty of reading to do before Uni starts again and so a trip to the library was a must. :-)

This is the first video I've made in a long time (I haven't used movie maker since about year 7) and so I apologise for how amateur it is. 

Music: Mazzy Star // Fade Into You

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What's it like to be in the Lab?

With so many people starting University soon I thought I would share what a typical day at Uni is like for me. Recently quite a few people have asked me 'What do you actually do, Gina?' So here, I'll talk you through what happens in a first year lab.

With no thanks to popular culture, people often think that as chemists we make a lot of meth. That's only partially true*. Being in the lab is nothing like cooking with Walt, although the technicians are just as fixated on health and safety as him. That's the first thing you learn, before you're even allowed anywhere near the lab is health and safety. *Cue 10 year old Powerpoint with images of horrific scarring*. Being in the lab is dangerous and potentially lethal, which kind of makes it fun, but let's face it, no one wants to be stripped and put under the emergency shower in the corner of the room. 

Preparation for labs can be quite dull with quizzes and questions to answer and research to do, however they're really valuable and I can't imagine going into the lab not knowing what to do, especially because my first year lab teacher was incredibly intimidating when he wanted to be. 

In first year, our lab sessions began at 10.00am and finished at 4.00pm, which seems like a really long time to be stood in the same room, however as soon as you begin a science degree you learn that nothing in science is ever 'quick'. Experiments are time-consuming and sometimes there is nothing to do but wait around for the rotary evaporator to finish, but in general those six hours were spent rushed off our feet. Usually, there is something that can be done. I've discovered that organic labs are possibly the worst simply because there is so much to do in such a short space of time, however the write-ups are fairly easy and vice-versa with physical chemistry labs. 

Setting up glassware and finding missing glassware occupies the first ten minutes of labs, you learn that people never put things back in the right place. In my first year we got a lab manual which had instructions, we simply had to follow these instructions and were expected to think about the chemistry behind the experiment and why we were doing it. Labs always link to something you're learning or will learn so having the practical application of what you're taught in lectures helps you learn and improve your skills. We have PhD students who help us with the experiments and give us advice. A lot of time is spent talking to them in the hope that they pass their wisdom onto you; they're like majestic chemistry unicorns, always there to save the day. 

Undergraduate labs are so different to being at school, you get to play around with loads of cool new equipment and machines, things you'd previously never heard of and are worth thousands of pounds. Learning to use a rotary evaporator is one of those skills that once you've mastered you feel like a proper chemist. IF YOU CAN USE A ROTARY EVAPORATOR, YOU CAN DO ANYTHING. Well, you feel that way. It's just fun to learn how to use equipment you'd previously only seen on TV. Also, there's always a sense of panic in the room when you're using a dangerous chemical for the first time. It's thrilling yet terrifying to know that you are handling something that has the power to kill you and when you use it successfully without killing anyone you feel a great sense of achievement. I was absolutely terrified the first time I used chlorine gas in the lab, but I've learnt that handling potential dangerous gases and compounds is all part of being a competent chemist. Plus I love going home to my flatmates and telling them that I worked with a chemical warfare agent. 

Here's my tips/advice if you're starting a Uni course that involves labs:

1. Always wear safety glasses or you will get shouted at.
2. Don't worry about getting your lab coat dirty, you look more experienced if it's covered in substances. Although you probably should wash it at some point.
3. Make use of PhD students/Older students/Technicians, they know lots of valuable stuff, and sometimes they might tell you the answer ;)
4. Your feet WILL ache after standing up for so long. After a lab go home, put your pyjamas on, make a cup of tea and mentally recover from what's just happened to you. 

Also useful is my Surviving the First year of Uni post I wrote a while ago. 

*I'm joking, obviously.

Useful Books for Undergraduate Chemistry Students

I love books, like really love books. If you're starting University and studying the physical sciences, I've devised a list of books that may be useful in your first year of University. Every Uni has their own list of recommended reading but obviously not all lists will contain the same books, so I've taken some books that my department recommended and some I discovered myself, that have been really helpful/interesting, so I hope this is of some use if you want to get some books together before starting your course. :-)

• This book is awesome. It may say that it's for A level Chemistry, but it's full of exercises and calculations that cover all aspects of Chemistry. It's really good for revising your maths skills and working through problems. It also has example problems at the beginning of each chapter so you know how to calculate the answers yourself and it's just really useful if you want to revise answering calculation questions. You can buy it here: Calculations for A-level Chemistry

• Another Maths book specifically for those undergraduate students studying the chemical sciences without having done A level maths. Again, example problems are given and it covers everything you will cover in your first year maths catch-up lectures. Covers lots of different topics such as differentiation, integration and matrices. You can buy it here: Maths for Chemistry

• Oxford Chemistry Primers are really helpful. They are small books each focussing on a specific topic in Chemistry and will contain some information that may not be given to you in lectures. They're really good for outside reading, are concise and informative and on the whole, easy to understand. I didn't buy before starting my first year and I really wish I had because generally, the University library will only have a few copies of each and they are really good! I've recently invested in a few to begin my second year and plan on taking them on holiday with me to begin some pre-Uni reading. Just search for Oxford Chemistry Primers on Amazon and there are tonnes of them. Some are more expensive than others and I'm unsure why, but I think I got mine for about a penny each. You can't go wrong. 
  

• Who says all educational books have to be text books? If you're studying a subject like chemistry, one topic you will cover in your first year will be the structure of atoms and quantum mechanics. It's difficult to get your head around at first because it's like nothing you've ever encountered before and it always reminds me of the famous quote: "If you think you understand quantum mechanics, you don't understand quantum mechanics." This is where Brian Greene comes in. 'The Fabric of the Cosmos' is a brilliant book. It really helped me understand quantum mechanics, probability and Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle. It's also really good if you're interested in concepts such as time and space etc. Amazon have it here: Fabric of the Cosmos 

There are so many useful books out there to aid you in your university course and don't be afraid to try those that aren't textbooks; sometimes they're more helpful as they have a more personal approach and examples you can relate to. :-)

Rejuvination of Solar Power

One of the greatest challenges scientists face today is finding renewable energy sources that are efficient and have successful practical applications. It has become more and more common to see houses with solar panels on their roofs and the cost of these panels have fallen over the years, making them more accessible to people.

Why are renewable energy sources needed?

Most people still rely on traditional sources of energy, fossil fuels. Global Warming is caused by the release of greenhouse gases and carbon dioxide is the primary cause. It is estimated that CO2 makes up 72% of the total emitted greenhouse gases, followed by methane and nitrous oxide. The largest source of carbon dioxide emissions comes from the burning of fossil fuels, which we all rely on for electricity, light and gas.

Fossil fuels are technically a renewable energy source as they are continually being made underground. The problem is that humans are consuming the fuels at an alarming rate, far faster than the rate of production of fuel. Therefore to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases and reduce the effects of Global warming on the Earth, scientists and Governments across the world are moving towards the production of new renewable energy sources with reduced emissions of carbon dioxide.

This is where solar panels come in. Solar power uses photovoltaic cells to convert sunlight into electricity which can then be used to power a home. Electricity is produced in the cell by something called the 'photovoltaic effect'. Simplified, the photovoltaic effect relies on a property called the 'photoelectric effect' which is exhibited by some substances. In essence, the photoelectric effect means that when the substance is faced with light, it absorbs photons and emits electrons. These freed electrons then go into the circuit to generate an electric current and hence electricity that can be harvested.

What are solar panels?

The crystalline structure of silicon

Solar panels are made from cells of silicon, a semi-conducting material, which are interconnected and join to form a circuit whereby electricity can be produced. Silicon is a semi-conductor due to its atomic properties and is in group 4 of the periodic table, meaning it has 4 valence electrons. Although preceded by Aluminium and above Germanium in the periodic table, Silicon is not a metal, so the 4 valence electrons are not free to move and hence are held in place by 4 strong covalent bonds with four neighbouring silicon atoms. This forms a lattice, a diamond cubic crystal structure. Because of this property, pure silicon is basically an insulator, although it can be made into a semiconductor by adding impurities. Solar cells require semi-conductors instead of simply conductors, due to the fact that one of the properties of a semi-conductor is that their conductivity changes with varying conditions such as temperature. 

Many people have solar cells installed to reduce their carbon footprint as the only greenhouse gas emissions involved in the process is the production of the cells themselves. No fuel is required for the solar panels to work and hence no carbon dioxide is released.

How efficient are they?

The downside to solar panels is their efficiency, with only around 15% of the suns energy being converted into electricity, however work is being done to increase efficiency by looking at the use of new materials. I was recently reading an article on Popular Science, found here and discovered Perovskites.

Perovskites are set to replace silicon in solar panels as they are easier to manufacture due to the fact that a conducting layer is not required. They are also readily-available, cheap and have a greater efficiency when it comes to generating electricity. It is predicted that Perovskite solar power could reach efficiencies of around 50% as scientists have recently done more work on the structure of the crystal and how electrons are transported. Also the polymers made from these crystals have the property of being translucent meaning maybe some time in the future, we might not have solar panels on our roofs, but in our windows.

It's extremely exciting to see new ideas come together and watch people take steps closer towards an age of renewable energy sources. Who knows, maybe Perovskites are the answer we have been searching for?

My opinion on Ebola

In society, the general consensus is that we trust scientists. Well, you would think we do anyway. I recently saw a tweet (on twitter, obviously) that said panicking about Ebola despite scientists saying there's no reason to is silly and that when it comes to real threats like Global warming, we choose to ignore them. Why is this?

If we actually listened to the scientists (you know, the experts) instead of the media, there might not be so much panic. The media feed off giving people terrible news and watching us all fall apart, because that's how they get attention and make money. Whilst Ebola is a real virus and can have devastating effects, scientists have repeatedly informed us that it is not as widespread as the media may make us believe. So far there have been reports of Ebola taking people's lives and as awful as this is, it does not mean we are all going to die. Remember the whole bird flu thing and how civilisation survived? Yeah, me too. #BirdFluSurvivor.

The recent outbreak started in West Africa. I've noticed that the media has focused a lot on 'What happens if it comes to the USA/UK?'. The countries in West Africa that it has so far affected do not have the same medical facilities as we have. The lack of medicine, running water and care all contribute to the spread of the disease and that is why countries such as Guinea and Sierra Leone are so unfortunate in contracting Ebola. If we do want to make sure that there are no more outbreaks of the virus, then the true answer is not to invent a new vaccine every time there's an outbreak but to tackle the lack of facilities and treatment in less economically developed countries where diseases spread more easily. I believe it's a political issue as much as a scientific one. We are very lucky to live in economically developed countries where we have a better chance of survival.

Personally, my favourite thing about this whole Ebola malarkey is that the media don't tell us what it actually is, only that we should be deathly afraid of it. You think that you should be able to trust the news however the exaggeration of morbid facts is the only thing they are concentrating on. Giving statistics of how many people have died is just a way to make people scared. Ebola is a virus that makes people ill and in some cases can be fatal. It is simply that. Whilst focusing on Ebola statistics we forget that there are far more deadly diseases in the world. How many people die due to Malaria each year? I was reading the World Health Organisation's 2013 Malaria report and found:

• 97 countries had ongoing Malaria transmission in 2013.
• 3.4 billion people are at risk of Malaria. 
• There were 207 million cases of Malaria and 627000 deaths.  

These facts are shocking, yet we're so used to them that we don't worry. The main point is that we are scared of the unknown. In places such as the UK, it's rare that we come across diseases such as Ebola, so when we do there is uproar. However we've all learnt about malaria at school, we know it exists and how it's transmitted and what the effects are. We also know that in the UK we aren't really at risk from it, so why worry about it? 

Basically, I believe there are more threatening things out there than Ebola. I mentioned previously that one of these is Global Warming. So, if you do want a scientific topic to panic about, it's Global Warming, that pesky little issue we all choose to ignore that actually poses a real threat. Personally, I'm no expert on global warming. However if you want to read more, please visit Becky's blog at:

http://prettysciencestuff.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/bad-media-and-climate-change.html
She writes a lot about Earth Science and animals, so if you're into that, she's definitely worth following.
:-)


WHO Malaria Report 2013

Preconceptions of a Scientist

Whenever people ask me what I study at University and I tell them I'm a chemistry student, I usually get responses along the lines of:

 'Wow, you must be really intelligent!' or 'Ooh, aren't you a clever girl?', (which is possibly the most patronising comment ever).

My own personal favourite is 'Oh, but you're so pretty!', simply because it's unrelated to my field and I still can't figure out whether it's a compliment or an insult.

I've recently discussed what people perceive scientists to 'look like', however my experience has told me that these preconceptions of scientists are much more complex than simply appearance. I've even had medicine students ask me what I study and when I tell them they respond with something like 'Eww really? Chemistry's so hard. You must be so clever.' I wanted to remind them that they study medicine, the most competitive University course there is. People have this idea that all scientists are genius' (what is the plural of genius?!) and we sit at desks all day scribbling down complex equations. This may be true of some scientists, who are extremely intelligent and probably make the rest of us look a little dim, however we're not all Einstein and I think this is where the preconceived idea comes from. Einstein is the most well known scientist on Earth and probably the first person people think of when they imagine a scientist. Therefore I think people's thought process is something along the lines of:

Einstein = Scientist, therefore if you are a scientist you must be on the same level as Einstein! Which I know on a personal level isn't true. I am most definitely not a genius. Sure, I have a brain like everyone else, but I am a scientist because I love science and I enjoy it and that is the reason I am good at it. Not because I have an IQ of 1 billion. (Disclaimer: I'm pretty sure you can't have an IQ of 1 billion.)

I think a lot of careers have stereotypes but those of people in STEM subjects are actually quite damaging and I think is one of the reasons there is a lack of women in these fields. Take the 'Big Bang Theory'. It's a funny show and I love it, but when I look at characters like Amy Farrah Fowler, I wonder if I would have chosen a career in science if I had grown up with her character. Probably not. Fortunately I'm lucky enough to know that most female scientists aren't like her at all. Mayim Bialik who plays Amy, is a real representation of a women in science! She's amazing and funny and beautiful with a passion for the subject; she's a true inspiration. However Amy is frumpy, socially awkward and perceived as 'boring'. Maybe I'm taking this too seriously but she really doesn't represent the majority and personally, I don't know anyone like her which makes me wonder where this stereotype comes from.

Yes as scientists,we are a little geeky but we like to have fun as much as anyone else. We love the Universe and the origin of it, we love the Earth, we love the organisms that inhabit the Earth, we love invisible forces the act on you and the atoms and molecules that make up everything. We love the chemicals whizzing around your brain as you're reading this. In general, we love life and the origins of life. How can you possibly say that's boring?

What does a scientist look like?

Whilst reading the latest issue of Chemistry World, a monthly magazine I receive for being a member of the Royal society of Chemistry, I came across an article about Martyn Poliakoff, a professor of Chemistry at the University of Nottingham. He is the foreign secretary of the RSC, meaning he has an influential role in the international business of the Royal Society. Despite this, he is most famous for his insightful and entertaining Youtube videos on the channel 'Periodic Videos'. Poliakoff and his team at Nottingham worked to produce informative videos on every element in the periodic table and have now moved on to even cooler chemistry concepts and experiments such as heating up Creme Eggs (an absolute must-see) and the classic experiment; the Iodine clock.

Heating a creme egg. 

 Professor Poliakoff himself is the epitome of  your 'stereotypical scientist', his wild grey hair and glasses make him the received idea of a scientist we've all come to know. But, as Poliakoff states 'Part of my mission is to show that not all scientists look like me'. Whilst Poliakoff acknowledges his own appearance, he makes viewers aware that there are people out there in the field of science who do not look like him at all. His team at the University of Nottingham comprises of men and women of different backgrounds and ages. It is good that he acknowledges the stereotype and recognises that there needs to be more diversity. His work in Ethiopia has been invaluable in getting more African scientists into the international community and he has said 'My long term vision is that Ethiopian scientists should go to an international conference and nobody should think it surprising'. He is truly an ambassador for diversity.

When you picture a scientist you probably think of an old man with crazy Einstein-like hair and glasses, wearing a white lab coat, not unlike Professor Poliakoff. Whereas if you look at real people who have careers in STEM fields, they come in all shapes and sizes, different ethnic backgrounds and of course, different sexes. I believe that challenging the stereotypical image of a scientist is the one of the most effective ways to introduce more diversity into the fields. If you have this view of what someone in a chosen career path 'should' look like then you are alienating everyone who doesn't look that way. Therefore, girls and ethnic minorities may be less inclined to take up science if they are unable to see how they 'fit in' and if there is no one who they can relate to. The image of a scientist we have all grown up with is an ageing white man, yet first and foremost, a scientist is a person, someone with passion and curiosity. That's it. These preconceptions of what a scientist is, damages the opportunity to diversify the scientific industry. I am glad that there are people like Martyn Poliakoff in the world who want to confront this out of date vision.

I'm a scientist! No grey hair to be seen!

Obviously, I am passionate about getting more girls into STEM subjects and I just wanted to let any girl reading this know that you can be a scientist/engineer/mathematician, regardless of your appearance. Science doesn't care about how you look, it cares about your mind and how you think and your passion for the subject. People shouldn't be scared of following their dreams because they can't relate to the image of what they should be. There are so many fabulous female scientists and organisations, such as the Stemettes, who promote diversity and gender equality in the field, so why are we still stuck on this grey haired character who is so obsolete in today's society? The days of balding men in suits sat round a table discussing gravity is long gone. It's time to make way for a new 'face of science', one that represents all cultures and backgrounds.