Education
The H5N1 influenza controversy: information is power, sharing information is powerful
By Professor Wendy Barclay, Chair in Influenza Virology, Imperial College London. Wendy spoke at last week’s Society of Biology Policy Lates debate on dual-use bioscience. The debate is summarised in a Storify. H5N1 is a worrisome strain of bird flu that currently does not spread between us because of the ‘species barrier’ created by virus-host … Continue reading
The role of codes of conduct in the amateur biology community
By Dr Catherine Jefferson, freelance consultant on bioweapons policy and researcher at the Department of Social Science, Health and Medicine, King’s College London. Catherine will be a member of the panel at next week’s Society of Biology Policy Lates debate about biosecurity. Codes are established to guide acceptable standards of behaviour and their importance as … Continue reading
“Sorry James, this is not my cup of tea”
Guest post by Dr James Revill, Research Fellow with the Harvard Sussex Program, SPRU, University of Sussex. The issues raised in James’ post will be discussed at our ‘Bioscience to Bioweapons’ Policy Lates event next Thursday, and on Twitter with the hashtag #PolicyLates. The strategic use of disease in warfare has been subject to a long … Continue reading
Not by good intentions alone
Guest post by Tatyana Novossiolova, a Wellcome Trust doctoral candidate studying the governance of biotechnology in post-communist Russia at the Division of Peace Studies, University of Bradford. The issues raised in Tatyana’s post will be discussed at our ‘Bioscience to Bioweapons’ Policy Lates event next Thursday. In May this year, Science reported the creation of … Continue reading
Diverse initiatives to promote diversity in science, engineering and maths: Part 2
By Paul Richards, BBSRC Policy Fellow at the Society of Biology This post is the second part of a blog signposting some of the various current initiatives aimed at increasing the diversity of people studying and working in STEM, to coincide with today’s Parliamentary Links Day. The first post covered a broad range of diversity … Continue reading
Diverse initiatives to promote diversity in science, engineering and maths: Part 1
By Paul Richards, BBSRC Policy Fellow at the Society of Biology Tomorrow, Parliamentary Links Day will bring together policy makers and representatives from the STEM community for talks and discussions about ‘science and diversity’. The run-up to Links Day presents a timely opportunity to highlight some of the excellent initiatives aimed at promoting greater equality … Continue reading
Using British Sign Language (BSL) in science education
Guest blog by Jon Hickman, teacher – science teacher at Ferndown Upper School in Dorset I have been using British Sign Language (BSL) as a visual learning tool in my science classes for the past year. As a kinaesthetic process it is excellent for visual and tactile learners to reinforce key concepts. The majority of … Continue reading
Should science novels and films be introduced at schools?
By Vydeki Shanmuganathan, Senior Scientist (Microbiology) at Affinity Water Shared Services We all dissected Charles Dickens novels at school to great length and watched plays based on his novels. However, we were rarely introduced to science novels or films at schools. With the education system evolving, is now the time to introduce science novels and … Continue reading
Species of the week- The Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita)
Lauren is a recent graduate in microbiology interning at the Society of Biology until June 2013. She is interested in a career in science communication and writes for her own blog, Science Says as well as for the Student Hubs blog. The long-awaited spring is finally here. And what better to bring with it than … Continue reading
Shout louder
Karen Patel, communications assistant at the Society of Biology and organiser of the Science Communication Awards, blogs about the Science is Vital campaign For me growing up in London meant school holidays included a day out to museums and galleries. Hands on activities and enthusiastic explainers made the Science Museum a favourite. Taking part in … Continue reading