• Question: what made you want to take part in this competition??

    Asked by embolina to Alex, Amy, Andy, Georgia, Ollie on 18 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Alex Munro

      Alex Munro answered on 17 Jun 2011:

      Hello embolina: two reasons really; firstly, I thought it was a great idea: I remember being at school and being too scared to ask questions; worried that either the teacher or my classmates would think it was a stupid question! This is great bc you can just type your question and ask exactly what you want!

      Also, I really enjoy talking to young people and passing on some of what I’ve learnt and also some of my enthusiasm! I have a 10 year old daughter, and I sometimes think of her as being almost ‘like a sponge’! She’s always really keen to learn new things and understand how things work, esp things about the body. She wants to be an author, not a scientist though!

    • Photo: Amy Reeve

      Amy Reeve answered on 17 Jun 2011:

      Hi embolina.

      I simply wanted to chat about science with people like you. I really enjoy the ideas that you guys have and the perspectives you can give us about our research. You make me think about my projects in a new way and it is really refreshing!

      Also like Alex says i remember being too embarassed to ask questions at school so it is cool that this competition gives you the chance to ask them and get an honest answer from us 🙂

    • Photo: Georgia Campbell

      Georgia Campbell answered on 17 Jun 2011:

      Hi embolina 🙂

      I was really keen to take part in this competition to get a chance to talk about science to people like you! I think its really important to give students a chance to experience science as more than what you learn in the classroom – it helps you to realise how much interesting stuff there is to study out there! Also, I think sometimes people have a set idea (and not necessariyl a very flattering one!) of what scientists are like, and I hope we’ve helped challenge that perception a bit 🙂

      I think for me, this was a great chance to talk about my work to people outside of my own lab too! Explaining ideas in a new way, to people who don’t work on the same things as you, sometimes helps give you a fresh perspective – so you’re all helping me, as much as I’m trying to help by answering questions 🙂

    • Photo: Andy MacLeod

      Andy MacLeod answered on 18 Jun 2011:

      Hello again embolina.

      Most science in the UK is ultimately funded by the government, so I think that scientists have a responsibility to be able to explain what they are doing and why they are doing it in a manner that can be understood by the general public. Plus, I enjoy talking to people who aren’t professional scientists, and that includes students like you!

      I have a couple of friends in the lab who took part in I’m A Scientist previously, and that was where I first heard about the competition. They said it was great fun, so I was keen to sign up. I’s a great way of forcing us to explain what we do in ways that we might not always think when just talking to other scientists. It’s always interesting to see what questions the students come up with too – makes me look at things in new ways. Plus the live chats really keep us on our toes, which is good. My typing speed had improved dramatically over the last week. 😀

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