Civic, Community, Cultural and Public Engagement & Outreach
Civic, Community, Cultural and Public Engagement
We are committed to impactful civic, community, cultural and public engagement and engage in such activities at the local, regional, national and international levels. A non-exhaustive list of activities include: collaborative research; committee service for learned & professional societies; committee service for funding agencies; editorial board membership for internationally peer reviewed journals, peer review of grants, journals and books; conference facilitation and organization; mentoring; outreach activities and media engagement.
Science Communication (SciComm) Events Organised
Dr Hardy is a STEM Ambassador. We are committed to Science Communication (SciComm) as a means of civic, community, cultural and public engagement and organise and facilitate events at the local, regional, national and international levels (typically through learned/professional societies). A non-exhaustive list of examples of the public and community engagement activities (e.g. lectures, pub quizzes, beer/gin/wine tastings) are listed below.
Academic Year 2024-2025
Prof. Hal Sosabowski: "We are all stardust – The Big Bang, Stellar and Nucleosynthesis and a Guided Tour of the Darker Reaches of the Periodic Table.".
Tuesday October 8th 2024. The Lecture Theatre at The Storey, Lancaster, Lancashire, England
Hal is Professor of Public Understanding of Science, and will deliver an insightful and entertaining public lecture.
Academic Year 2023-2024
Tuesday June 25th 2024. The Auditorium at The Storey, Lancaster, Lancashire, England
Sharon is Chair in Romanticism and current Head of the English Literature and Creative Writing department at Lancaster University, currently leads an AHRC-funded project to transcribe all of the Davy’s notebooks, and will deliver an insightful public lecture.
Tuesday June 4th 2024. Online.
Ed is an expert in energy and environmental science based at the University of Bristol, and will deliver an insightful and entertaining public lecture about the culture wars involving the climate.
Thursday May 16th 2024. Online.
Jonathan is an expert in Physical Sciences Education at the Open University and will deliver an insightful RSC Public Lecture.
Prof. Rachel Isba & Prof. Elena Semino: "Vaccination is a huge global health success, so why do people hesitate?".
Tuesday April 30th 2024. The Auditorium at The Storey, Lancaster, Lancashire, England
Rachel is Professor Of Children and Young People's Health & Elena is Professor of Linguistics and Verbal Art at Lancaster University, and will deliver an insightful public lecture.
Terry Howe and Frank Murray: "Top of the Firm Quiz.".
Tuesday April 16th 2024. Scholar's Bar, Foster Building, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, Lancashire, England.
An energetic and entertaining quiz.
Tuesday February 13th 2024. The Auditorium at The Storey, Lancaster, Lancashire, England
Zoe Cormier is an author, journalist, science writer, broadcaster and public speaker with an academic training in zoology coupled with an upbringing in the music industry, and will deliver an insightful and entertaining public lecture about the history of LSD.
Abstract: Most are familiar with Bicycle Day - when a Swiss chemist accidentally tripped balls cycling home from the lab in 1943 - and Timothy Leary's tiresome "Turn On Tune In Drop Out mantra". But the full history of LSD gets so much more colourful, so much more hilarious, and so much more disturbing. From CIA operatives agreeing to dose each other with "surprise acid trips", hookers hired to spike unwitting San Franciscan civilians, how the founder of AA achieved sobriety through a mind-bending trip, and medieval peasants losing all four limbs to gangrene, the history of acid has it all.
Bio-sketch: Born and raised in the east end of Toronto, in between Chinatown and Indiatown. She holds an Honours B.Sc. in zoology from the University of Toronto, which she received with high distinction in 2005. Thesis: How frogs communicate to each other with low frequency vocalisations. Zoe now lives in Clerkenwell, London. Her journalism has featured in Rolling Stone, The Times, Wired, Nature, New Scientist, The Guardian, The Globe and Mail, BBC Focus and many other publications. She has been shortlisted twice for the Canadian National Magazine Awards: first with a 2005 cover story on vaginal plastic surgery for Shameless, and for a 2006 feature for This Magazine on climate change spin doctoring. She was a columnist, compiling a digest of environmental news and trends for The Globe and Mail – Canada’s largest national newspaper – twice monthly between 2007 and 2009. Zoe is also a founder of UK science outreach organisation Guerilla Science, a rogue group of science communicators who create events and installations for festivals, museums, galleries, and other cultural clients: a New Scientist profile of Zoe as a “science impresario”. Her book "Sex, Drugs and Rock n’ Roll: The Science of Hedonism and the Hedonism of Science" was published by Profile Books in 2014, hand-picked by The Guardian as a “must-read science book”, and ranked as the 7th best book of 2014 by legendary record shop Rough Trade.
Wednesday February 7th 2024. Online.
Sheryl is a food scientist at Ohio State University (USA) and will deliver an entertaining and insightful RSC Public Lecture.
Dr Vanessa Seifert: "Exploring the philosophical aspects of chemistry through the study of chemical reactions.".
Tuesday January 16th 2024. Online.
Vanessa is a research fellow based at the National & Kapodistrian University of Athens (Greece) and will deliver an entertaining and insightful RSC Public Lecture.
Dr Queenie Chan: "Sample return space missions: Unveiling the mysteries behind the delivery of outer Solar System organics.".
Tuesday December 12th 2023. Online.
Queenie is an astrobiologist/cosmochemist at Royal Holloway University of London and delivered an entertaining and insightful RSC Public Lecture.
Tuesday December 5th 2023. Online.
Mark is Professor of Electrochemistry and Electrochemical Technology at the University of Glasgow and delivered an entertaining and insightful RSC Public Lecture.
Tuesday November 14th 2023. Darwin Lecture Theatre, Darwin Building, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, Lancashire, England.
Stephen teaches chemistry at Heriot-Watt University, and delivered an entertaining and insightful RSC Public Lecture.
Tuesday October 31st 2023. Harrington Lecture Theatre, Harrington Building, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, Lancashire, England
Rob teaches chemistry and forensics (e.g., forensics of arson and ballistics) at Keele University, and delivered an entertaining and insightful RSC Public Lecture.
Prof. John Hepworth: "Notes from a small island about wines from a big island: a journey into the wines of North America".
Tuesday October 10th 2023. Broughton and District Club, Broughton, Preston, Lancashire, England
We enjoyed the most popular social event of the RSC Lancashire Local Section including wine tasting.
Academic Year 2022-2023
Tuesday May 30th 2023. The Storey, Lancaster, Lancashire, England
Professor Mike Thelwall of the University of Wolverhampton delivered an insightful and entertaining public lecture about "Social media analyses of YouTube influencers". Mike Thelwall studied at Lancaster University (BSc and PhD in Maths), and his research is broad ranging (Bibliometrics, sentiment analysis, online research methods), he is involved in all sorts of activities including for guidance on responsible research metrics use, and sometimes features in the Times Higher Education.
Tuesday May 9th 2023. Darwin Lecture Theatre, Darwin Building, University of Central Lancashire, Marsh Lane, Preston, Lancashire, England.
Conservation physiology integrates the measurement of hormones and other biomarkers that indicate physiological or pathological processes, to assess the health, well-being and reproduction of wildlife. Animal dung contains all sorts of useful information, and non-invasive monitoring of hormone metabolites is increasingly used in a wide range of species, both in zoos and in the wild. These techniques allow us to understand normal physiology and investigate when things aren’t as we might expect, helping us to provide optimal conditions for individuals and populations to thrive and maximize the contribution they can make to global conservation efforts. During the lecture she presented some of the common questions and challenges she faces at the zoo, and highlighted the importance of poo to support conservation breeding programmes and increase our knowledge of understudied species.
Tuesday May 2nd 2023. Online.
Simon is Professor of Agri Food Technology at the University of Lincoln, a TED talker, and was Co-Chair of the recent DEFRA Automation and Robotics Review for Horticulture. His lecture discussed the role of robotics and AI in the transformation of food production, including the latest research on crop harvesting robotics to harvest crops, novel platforms to phenotype and accelerate the breeding of crops as well as new approaches to sustainable pest and disease control.
Terry Howe and Frank Murray: "Top of the Firm Quiz.".
Tuesday April 18th 2023. Scholar's Bar, Foster Building, University of Central Lancashire, Lancashire, England
An energetic and entertaining science-oriented pub quiz.
Tuesday March 28th 2023. Broughton and District Club, Broughton, Preston, Lancashire, England
Channel 4's Food Glorious Food winner and cook, Rahila Hussain, teams up with Edinburgh Napier University’s chemist Professor Nazira Karodia to explore the science behind the nation’s favourite food dish, curry. Smell and see spices as you learn their chemistry and how they are beneficial to a healthy diet. Then sample Rahila’s freshly made food to taste why certain spice combinations are just so good. You’ll leave fragrant, warm and ready to start your own experiments with spices.
Tuesday March 7th 2023. Online.
Richard Oreffo is Professor of Musculoskeletal Science, co-founder of the Centre for Human Development, Stem Cells & Regeneration at the University of Southampton and founder / CSO of Renovos Biologics Limited, and delivered an entertaining and insightful RSC Public Lecture.
Tuesday January 10th 2023. Harrington Lecture Theatre, Harrington Building, University of Central Lancashire, Lancashire, England
Simona Francese is Professor of Forensic and Bioanalytical Mass Spectrometry at Sheffield Hallam University, and a TED talker, and delivered an entertaining and insightful RSC Public Lecture.
Tuesday November 22nd 2022. The Storey, Lancaster, Lancashire, England
Gabriela is Programme Director for the science courses in London College of Fashion (University of the Arts, London) and gave a great insight into the role of chemistry and materials science in cosmetics.
Tuesday October 11th 2022. Scholar's Bar, Foster Building, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, Lancashire, England
We enjoyed the most popular social event of the RSC Lancashire Local Section including wine tasting.
Academic Year 2021-2022
Tuesday May 24th 2022. Online.
Sara worked in the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industry and as a teacher before deciding it would be an exciting change to run a business; consequently she founded Sandgrown Spirits to produce Lytham Gin. The Gins produced have a variety of interesting flavours produced via innovative techniques and have won a multitude of awards, notably the “Lytham Original” was awarded the World's Best Traditional Gin in the 2021 Gin Guide Awards.
Sara delivered an educational and entertaining Gin tasting with her multi award winning craft Gins.
Tuesday May 3rd 2022. Online.
Alison has an interesting career (including academia, the Crown Prosecution Service, and IBM) and her research interests focus on social and organisational responses to the challenges of waste.
The amount of e-waste, i.e. discarded electronics and electrical equipment, is growing at a rapid rate due to a number of interactive phenomena, including global development, population increase, speed of innovation, cheaper consumable goods and diminishing non-renewable resources. In 2019 alone, the world generated over 50 million tonnes of e-waste. When we consider the cost of manufacturing electronic and electrical devices, the materials contained within them, the skills required to build and use them, it raises serious questions such as ‘Why do we discard them; Why are we not recapturing them; What alternatives are there?’. Alison provided an overview of a circular economy in the context of e-waste, including a look at the questions raised by current practices, as well as challenges, innovations and opportunities that management face when tackling this issue; considering how a circular economy - aimed at eliminating waste and the continual use of resources - might provide an answer to the growing problem of e-waste.
Professor Serena Cussen (née Corr) "Designing synthetic strategies and in situ monitoring for next generation batteries.".
Tuesday April 26th 2022. Online.
Serena (Chair of Functional Nanomaterials at the Departments of Chemical and Biological Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Sheffield) delivered an interesting lecture about efficient and sustainable energy storage technologies that will form a core element in decarbonising our energy system and batteries are one of those technologies which will enable that transition. Central to this is the development of new materials solutions which, for example, enable stable interfaces to improve power densities or mitigate degradation processes to improve energy densities. Serena discussed her group's latest efforts in the design and synthesis of new battery electrodes and solid electrolytes for next generation batteries, as well as recently developed methods for assessing ion diffusion.
Terry Howe and Frank Murray: "Top of the Firm Quiz.".
Tuesday April 5th 2022. Online.
An energetic and entertaining science-oriented pub quiz.
Tuesday March 22nd 2022. Online.
Lucie is currently a Professor of Physics at UCL studying solar activity, in particular eruptions of plasma and magnetic field known as coronal mass ejections. Her talk takes an in-depth look at her research. She focusses on understanding why the Sun produces the most energetic eruptions in the Solar System; events known as coronal mass ejections. Since their discovery in the early 1970s it has been realised that these eruptions occur due to changes in the Sun’s magnetic field. Lucie’s work investigates a certain magnetic field configuration known as a flux rope. Understanding how and where flux ropes form has unravelled some of the mysteries around coronal mass ejections and understanding their magnetic structure has not only helped explain why these eruptions occur, but also what their space weather impact might be if they are ejected toward the Earth.
Professor Paul O'Shea "Science & Healthcare: This Time It's Personal!".
Tuesday February 1st 2022. Online.
Paul is Chair of Biomedicine at Lancaster University and delivered an insightful and timely lecture on advances in science and healthcare as we move towards the era of personalised medicine.
Tuesday January 11th 2022. Online.
Anaïs studied in France and Switzerland, undertook postdoctoral research in England and began her independent career at the University of Bradford in 2019, and returned to France for a position at the University of Paris in summer 2021. Anaïs delivered an educational and entertaining lecture marrying molecules and music.
Professor Hayley Fowler "Anthropogenic intensification of short-duration rainfall extremes and increasing flood risks.".
Tuesday December 7th 2021. Online.
Hayley is Professor of Climate Change Impacts in the School of Engineering at Newcastle University, her research focuses on improved physical understanding of changing precipitation extremes and providing better projections for climate adaptation to flood risks. Short-duration rainfall extremes can cause serious damage to infrastructure and loss of life through rapidly developing flash floods. These are intensifying with warming at a rate consistent with, or higher than, atmospheric moisture increase, increasing the incidence of flash flooding at local scales, particularly in urban areas. These findings call for urgent measures to manage increasing flood risks, including rethinking the ways climate change is incorporated into flood estimation guidance.
Tuesday November 23rd 2021. Online.
The Lancashire Wine School is run by WSET-qualified tutors, with an infectious enthusiasm for their subject and the ability to communicate this to their audience without the use of confusing (& boring!) technical facts. The events concentrate on the flavours and aromas of the wines, focusing on the taste profile of each wine and explaining the characteristics of the grape variety, the climate, and the winemaking, showing you with maps and photos where they came from and how they are made. The events are, above all, fun & entertaining with a relaxed atmosphere - no previous wine tasting experience is required. The best & most enjoyable way to learn about wine is comparing the tastes of different wines side-by-side. The evening involved tasting 3 carefully selected ports (White Port, a Tawny port, a Late Bottle Vintage Port), and 3 different cheeses to try with them. This was a relaxed and eye-opening evening helping us learn how Port is made and the principles behind matching food to sweet wines like Ports.
Tuesday November 2nd 2021. Online.
Kevin studied environmental science at the University of London, did his PhD at King’s College London. Kevin has pioneered world leading science investigating the sources, fate, behaviour and effects of persistent organic pollutants (POPs), and is one of the most highly cited scientists in Environment and Ecology. He is currently a Distinguished Professor at Lancaster University and Senior Visiting International Professor with the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Kevin delivered an insightful lecture about Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), a class of chemicals of high concern in the last few decades and for which Kevin has been working on and well-known for many years, on a global scale.
Dr Jess Wade "You spin me right round: chiral molecules and changing the world, one Wikipedia page at a time .".
Tuesday October 12th 2021. Online.
Dr Jess Wade is a multi-award winning Imperial College Research Fellow working in the Department of Materials at Imperial College London. Outside of the lab, Jess is involved with several science communication and outreach initiatives, and is committed to improving diversity in science, both online and offline. From wearable sensors to personalised medicines and solar panels, nanostructures made from functional molecules are already enhancing our lives. Nonetheless, science is still playing catchup as nature has been nailing nanostructures for hundreds of millions of years. Whether it is peacock feathers or butterfly wings, scientists can only dream of manipulating matter with such elegance. Jess reveals that the most miraculous molecular structures of all exist a pair of non-superimposable mirror images; where the left and right-handed forms can have remarkably different materials properties. Jess also talked about her efforts to celebrate scientists from historically marginalised groups, and how science needs to change to support the next-generation of scientists.
Academic Year 2020-2021
Terry Howe and Frank Murray: "Top of the Firm Quiz.".
Tuesday April 20th 2021. Online.
An energetic and entertaining science-oriented pub quiz.
Tuesday March 2nd 2021. Online.
Dr Afarinkia (Head of Medicinal Chemistry at the Institute of Cancer Therapeutics at the University of Bradford) delivered an insightful lecture on finding a cure for cancer. The last 50 years have seen great strides in treating patients with cancer. This has led to fantastic improvements to survival rates, as well as quality of life of patients, both during and after treatment. Sadly, these advances have not been uniform across all types of the disease and there is still a need to discover better treatments. The lecture discussed how new cancer medicines can be developed, their journey from an idea to the clinic, and research in the discovery of a treatment for glioblastoma, a form of primary brain cancer.
Tuesday February 16th 2021. Online.
Marine plastics, and their potential environmental impacts, have seen an explosion in research and public interest over the last 5 years. Plastic debris is now found globally, from the poles to the deepest ocean trenches, and we are only just starting to understand the processes by which plastics move through and break down in the environment and their implications for planetary health. This lecture discussed the amounts and sources of plastics reaching the oceans, and (focusing on microplastics) the processes by which they may be trapped and accumulate in river and coastal environments, their potential impacts, current knowledge gaps, and methods of reducing the ocean plastic burden.
Tuesday January 12th 2021. Online.
Exciting Chemistry to delight and fascinate the audience. This lecture demonstration explored some processes in chemistry which either produce or use light energy under four themes of "reactions", "combustion" and "rates" with lots of colourful and sometimes dramatic demonstrations - with the occasional whoosh and even bang!
Tuesday December 8th 2020. Online.
Professor Lorch delivered an entertaining overview of the Periodic Christmas Dinner Table.
Tuesday November 24th 2020. Online.
The Lancashire Wine School led the highlight of the social events of the RSC Lancaster & District Local Section, a wine tasting with wines from the Rhone Valley.
Maire Nolan "Intellectual Property and Commercialisation.".
Tuesday November 3rd 2020. Online.
Maire Nolan (Head of Research and Enterprise Contracts at Lancaster University) delivered an insightful talk on the topic of Intellectual Property and Commercialisation.
Tuesday October 27th 2020. Online.
Firefighting foams are key tools for the control and extinction of liquid fuel fires. John's talk traced the origins of PFAS (per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances) use in foams, the switch from long to short chain PFAS, and the development of PFAS-free foams, with an emphasis on the physical chemistry processes that underlie foam properties and performance.
Tuesday October 6th 2020. Online.
Professor Stefan Bon (University of Warwick) delivered an insightful and entertaining overview about polymers and their impact on our daily lives.
Academic Year 2019-2020
Tuesday March 10th 2020. The Storey, Lancaster, Lancashire, England
Erica McAllister (curator of Diptera at the Natural History Museum and author of a book entitled "The secret life of flies") delivered an educational and entertaining lecture.
Tuesday March 3rd 2020. Harrington Lecture Theatre, Harrington Building, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, Lancashire, England
Professor of Chemistry and Fire Science, Richard Hull of UCLan delivered a fascinating talk about the Grenfell Fire in London.
Tuesday February 11th 2020. The Storey, Lancaster, Lancashire, England
Dr Libby Gibson delivered an insightful lecture on printable solar cells and prospects for solar fuels.
Tuesday November 12th 2019. Harrington Lecture Theatre, Harrington Building, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, Lancashire, England
Prof. Kurtz (University of Central Lancashire), who was Vice-President of the Royal Astronomical Society, delivered an entertaining lecture. Tides are mysterious. Why are there two tides per day? What causes Spring and Neap tides? What are Earth tides? Tides on other bodies in the solar system can lead to moons disintegrating – this is where the rings of Saturn come from. Stars have tides and there are now the amazing, new tidal "Heartbeat Stars". Tides from some black holes would tear a person apart, so don't get too close! This richly illustrated lecture looked at tides from the Earth to colliding Galaxies.
Tuesday October 29th 2019. Scholar's Bar, Foster Building, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, Lancashire, England
We enjoyed the most popular social event of the RSC Lancaster and District Local Section including wine tasting.
Tuesday October 8th 2019. The Storey, Lancaster, Lancashire, England
Adam (50th Anniversary Lecturer in Data Science in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Lancaster University) researches time series analysis, spatiotemporal and GPS tracking data, continuous-time stochastic processes, frequency-domain analysis, applications in oceanography and biomedical data. Adam delivered an insightful and entertaining overview about how we measure and model the ocean, which contribute to our environment, health and wellbeing.
Academic Year 2018-2019
Professor Ryan Donnelly: "Microarray patches for high-dose drug delivery: Addressing global challenges in healthcare".
Tuesday May 7th 2019. The Storey, Lancaster, Lancashire, England
Professor Ryan Donnelly holds the Chair in Pharmaceutical Technology and is Director of Queen's University Belfast’s pioneer research programme Materials & Advanced Technologies for Healthcare, comprising 55 academics from Pharmacy, Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, Biological Sciences, Nursing and Medicine. His personal research centres on design and physicochemical characterisation of advanced polymeric drug delivery systems for transdermal and intradermal drug delivery, with a strong emphasis on improving patient outcomes. His research group develop a range of novel microneedle technologies through independent research, but also in collaboration with several major pharma companies.
Microarray patches are minimally-invasive delivery systems that painlessly and without drawing blood facilitate drug delivery into and across the skin. Traditionally, vaccines have been the main focus in the field, and the Donnelly group concentrates on delivery of high doses of drugs, particularly technologies that can potentially help address the HIV epidemic and also extend the useful lifetime of existing antibiotics.
Terry Howe and Frank Murray: "Top of the Firm Quiz.".
Tuesday April 9th 2019. Scholar's Bar, Foster Building, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, Lancashire, England
An energetic and entertaining science-oriented pub quiz.
Tuesday March 5th 2019. Harrington Lecture Theatre, Harrington Building, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, Lancashire, England
Liz (Head of Scientific Services at Public Analyst Scientific Services Limited, part of the Eurofins Life Sciences Group) is a public analyst with 25 years experience in the testing of food and animal feed, the fields of consumer safety, forensic toxicology and environmental testing. Specialist areas include food fraud, food labelling, the adulteration or substitution of food with lower quality or harmful foods and contamination of food and feed. Studying part-time on day release, she graduated from Liverpool John Moores University with a BSc. in Applied Chemistry in 1999 and an MSc. in Instrumental Chemical Analysis in 2002. She was awarded the Mastership in Chemical Analysis (MChemA), the statutory qualification for appointment as a Public Analyst, in 2006. Liz was Past President of the Association of Public Analysts and Chair of the APA Training Committee; and a Chartered Chemist; Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, and is a member of the RSC Membership and Qualifications Board. She was an examiner for the MChemA qualification and a member of the Institute of Food Science and Technology (IFST). In 2014 Liz was named in the UK Top 100 Practising Scientists by the Science Council. In 2016 she was included in the 175 Faces of Chemistry to mark the 175th anniversary of the Royal Society of Chemistry.
Tuesday February 26th 2019. The Storey, Lancaster, Lancashire, England
Professor Millar (Queen's University Belfast) delivered an insightful lecture on astrochemistry.
Tuesday January 15th 2019. The Storey, Lancaster, Lancashire, England
David Mottram (Emeritus Professor of Pharmacy at Liverpool John Moores University) specialised in the subject of doping in sport and was involved in the development and delivery of medical services at major sporting events, including the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and Rio 2016. He designed and delivered online education programmes for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), and edited the book “Drugs in Sport”, first published in 1988.
His talk on the use of drugs in sport, is an issue that all too frequently captures the attention of the international media. He explored the circumstances through which athletes may take drugs, with particular emphasis on doping. The international regulation of doping was outlined, including the procedures for testing and sanctioning of offenders. Finally, he speculated on the extent of doping in sport and what the future may hold.
Tuesday November 27th 2018. Scholar's Bar, Foster Building, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, Lancashire, England
We enjoyed the most popular social event of the RSC Lancaster and District Local Section including wine tasting.
Dr John Hudson: "Colourful Chemistry in Carlisle".
Tuesday November 13th 2018. The Storey, Lancaster, Lancashire, England
Dr John Hudson spent most of his career teaching chemistry in Cambridge at Anglia Ruskin University. He also taught in a secondary school and in a Community College in California. Throughout his career he was always interested in the history of chemistry, and incorporated aspects of the history of chemistry into his teaching whenever possible. In 1992 he published a book on the history of chemistry, intended as a course text to accompany a module he devised and taught on the BSc chemistry course. He was for many years been a member of the Council of the Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry, serving as its Secretary for nine years. He was also a long-standing member of the Committee of the Historical Group of the Royal Society of Chemistry and was the Group’s Chairman. He lived in a farmhouse in the Lake District, where he spent his time walking, renovating his property, and restoring old books. He researched the history of chemistry, and the activities of chemists employed by the railway companies in the nineteenth century (on which topic he co-authored a book in 2012), and the life and work of Dr William Brownrigg, an eighteenth century physician and chemist who lived in Whitehaven.
The topic of the talk refers to the fact that a company weaving fabrics in Carlisle was dependent on dyes imported from Germany, and its supplies were cut off when WW1 broke out. The dyes in question were novel products of BASF, and had never been made in this country. The owner of the Carlisle company, James Morton, tried to get British companies to make the dyes for him, but they said that to do so was quite beyond their capabilities. Morton resolved to make the dyes himself in Carlisle, and recruited a team of chemists who not only replicated the German syntheses but made new dyes. By the end of the war the Carlisle operation was making dyes in tonnage quantities and supplying other textile manufacturers. Morton was determined to continue making dyes after the war, He bought 80 acres of land at Grangemouth in Scotland and floated the dye-making operation as a separate company - Scottish Dyes Ltd. He built a large plant on the Grangemouth site. The Grangemouth site was eventually to become an important part of ICI, employing around 1800 people at its height. Of possible interest to a Lancashire audience is that when Morton expanded and moved his dye making to Scotland, he moved his fabric dyeing and printing to Lancaster, forming a separate company called Standfast Dyers and Printers Ltd. He owned houses near the locations of all three of his companies, and for his Lancaster abode he unsuccessfully attempted to buy Bailrigg, which subsequently was the site of Lancaster University.
Academic Year 2017-2018
Tuesday May 1st 2018. The Storey, Lancaster, Lancashire, England
Dr Young (of Lancaster Environment Centre at Lancaster University) delivered a lecture on atmospheric chemistry. Carbon dioxide is the most important cause of human-driven climate change, but it is rather inert and boring from the point of view of a chemist. Paul explained how more reactive gases have contributed to climate change, including those from car exhausts, factories, and your old fridges and aerosol cans that also cause air pollution and destroy the ozone layer. We also saw the importance of atmospheric chemistry in the web of connections and interactions between life, land and the oceans, that all make up the Earth system. Finally, Paul discussed what we need to consider if we want to understand what the future might hold for our atmosphere and climate.
Terry Howe and Frank Murray: "Top of the Firm Quiz.".
Tuesday April 10th 2018. Scholar's Bar, Foster Building, University of Central Lancashire, Lancashire, England.
An energetic and entertaining science-oriented pub quiz.
Tuesday March 6th 2018. The Storey, Lancaster, Lancashire, England
Dr Powner (University College London) described the great advances that have been made to elucidate the molecular basics of evolution and the evolutionary trajectory of life, and explored the self assembly of metabolites.
Tuesday February 13th 2018. Scholar's Bar, Foster Building, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, Lancashire, England
We enjoyed the most popular social event of the RSC Lancaster and District Local Section including wine tasting.
Dr Steve Le Comber: "Murder, Maths and Malaria".
Tuesday January 16th 2018. Harrington Lecture Theatre, Harrington Building, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, Lancashire, England
Dr Le Comber's (Queen Mary University of London) research covered a wide range of subjects within evolutionary biology, including mathematical and computer models of molecular evolution. Much of his work focussed on the mathematics of spatial patterns, and in his talk he explained how has pioneered the introduction of geographic profiling – a statistical technique originally developed in criminology to prioritise the investigation of serial murders – to biology: for example, trying to find the breeding sites of mosquitoes that spread malaria. In a talk spanning mathematics, Jack the Ripper and great white sharks, Steve explained how he used geographic profiling to investigate the identity of the artist Banksy and how he reanalysed a Gestapo case from the 1940s that formed the basis of a famous novel.
Tuesday December 5th 2017. The Storey, Lancaster, Lancashire, England
Dr Coxon (University of Cambridge) delivered a lecture on energy. Paul gave a history of how we have used the sun's energy throughout the ages, how the current solar revolution began and expanded, and a glimpse at how scientists are mimicking natural structures to enhance the efficiency of the solar cells of the future.
Tuesday November 7th 2017. Harrington Lecture Theatre, Harrington Building, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, Lancashire, England
Prof. Kurtz (University of Central Lancashire), who was Vice-President of the Royal Astronomical Society, delivered an entertaining lecture. The sky has many beautiful phenomena caused by the interaction of light with the air: blue skies, red sunsets, rainbows, glories, haloes, green flashes, sun dogs and blue moons. We saw pictures of these and learned where to see them and how they are formed. We also saw and learned about a blue sky on Saturn, murky sunsets on Mars, the black skies of many moons, and speculations about the skies on some of the more than 5000 exoplanets that have been discovered in recent years.
Monday October 2nd 2017. The Storey, Lancaster, Lancashire, England
Sir Professor Holman (University of York) has won a multitude of prizes, was knighted for services to education, and was President-Elect of the RSC. Sir Holman described an international study which led to ten benchmarks for good practical science in secondary schools.
SCI Materials Science Early Career Forum: Networking Event.
Friday September 8 2017. Society of Chemical Industry, Belgrave Square, Belgravia, London, England.
Speakers included: Dr Magdalena Titirici (Queen Mary University London), Gareth Conduit (University of Cambridge), Maria Lebedeva (University of Oxford), Louis Chungong (University of Aston), James Wixey (AkzoNobel), Dr David Payne (Imperial College London).
Academic Year 2016-2017
Tuesday May 23rd 2017. Frankland Lecture Theatre, Lancaster University, Lancaster, Lancashire, England
Professor Smith (an award-winning academic at the University of York) an out, gay chemist (a relative rarity in 2017), talked about sexuality in science. His LGBT identity is integral to his research and work on public understanding of science activity, which made him one of the most visible out gay scientists.
Terry Howe and Frank Murray: "Top of the Firm Quiz.".
Tuesday April 11th 2017. Scholar's Bar, Foster Building, University of Central Lancashire, Lancashire, England
An energetic and entertaining science-oriented pub quiz.
Tuesday March 7th 2017. Frankland Lecture Theatre, Lancaster University, Lancaster, Lancashire, England
Dr Holland (University of Sheffield) delivered an entertaining overview of Nature's 400 million years of R&D into silk.
Tuesday February 17th 2017. Harrington Lecture Theatre, Harrington Building, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, Lancashire, England
Prof. Kurtz (University of Central Lancashire), who was Vice-President of the Royal Astronomical Society, delivered an entertaining lecture that answers such questions as: Does Earth harbour the only life in the universe? Do planets orbiting double stars such as Luke Skywalker's home planet Tatooine really exist?
Tuesday January 17th 2017. Harrington Lecture Theatre, Harrington Building, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, Lancashire, England
Professor Niamh Nic Daéid (University of Dundee), a leading researcher in forensic science (based at the University of Dundee) presented an interesting and entertaining lecture on forensic science and it's impact on society.
Wednesday December 7th 2016: Lancaster Brewery, Lancaster, Lancashire, England
Dr George Philliskirk spent almost all his working life in the brewing industry and before joining the Beer Academy in 2004 (an educational trust dedicated to helping people understand and appreciate beer) he was Head of the Technical Department for Carlsberg UK. He was a Fellow of the Institute of Brewing and a past Chairman of the Board of Examiners of the Institute of Brewing. He lectured for the Institute of Brewing and Distilling, the Beer Academy and the Scandinavian Brewing School and presented beer tastings in the media, most notably on the Richard and Judy Show, Sky, and various radio programmes. He wrote on beer and brewing and was a member of the British Guild of Beer Writers. For several years he presented at the BBC’s Good Food Show where he was introduced to the audience as ‘The Beer Doctor’! and delivered an enjoyable beer tasting.
Wednesday 23 Nov 2016. Scholar's Bar, Foster Building, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, Lancashire, England
An evening of comedy as part of Chemistry Week supported by the Royal Society of Chemistry. Compere: Khalil Benkhalil. Acts include: Haz El-Sharif, Sarita Jane Robinson, Will Stockburn, Ben Stutchbury, Catherine Jayne Tennick, Adam Wilcox and Sub Reddy.
Tuesday November 15th 2016. Scholar's Bar, Foster Building, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, Lancashire, England
Professor Hepworth delivered the most popular social event of the RSC Lancaster and District Local Section including wine tasting.