Fame Lab

To view a biography select a FameLabber from the menu on the left, or simply scroll through all the biographies below

WINNER

Tom Whyntie is studying for a PhD at Imperial College London, having completed an undergraduate degree in Experimental and Theoretical Physics at the University of Cambridge. He is currently based at CERN working on the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment, a 12,500 tonne, cathedral-sized "digital camera" one hundred metres under the ground at what he likes to call the "coal face of blue sky science". When the machine starts up (again) in Autumn 2009, he'll be part of a team of around 3000 CMS physicists who will be trying to take pictures of what our universe might have looked like a few billionths of a second after the Big Bang. In particular Tom is involved in the laboratory-based searches for hypothetical "supersymmetric" particles, which provide a number of promising candidates for "dark matter" - the estimated missing fifth of the Universe. Tom has received awards from the Institute of Physics for his lecturing, performing in locations as varied as Cambridge, London, Portsmouth, Dublin, Enfield and Romania. He has also featured at the Cheltenham Science Festival as a NOISEmaker, an EPSRC-funded campaign aimed at promoting careers in science to 14-19 year olds. As Winner of NESTA FameLab 2009 Tom performed in the FameLab International Final and was given the chance to present two of his own 3-Minute Wonders on Channel 4.

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RUNNER-UP

Alistair is from the village of Painswick in Gloucestershire and is currently an undergraduate chemistry student at Durham University. He loves how almost all of chemistry can be explained by positive and negative charges which lead to magic happening! Despite having a reasonable understanding of chemistry and science he can't seem to make porridge in a microwave without it exploding. Aside from chemistry his interests include the theatre and improvised comedy. As NESTA FameLab 2009 runner-up Alistair won the chance to present his own 3-Minute Wonder on Channel 4 and was interviewed on BBC local television and radio news programmes.

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RUNNER-UP

Simon Foster lives in North London and is currently working as a science teacher as well as developing a website to help students pass their GCSE science examinations, www.studydoctor.co.uk. Simon studied Physics with Space science (so he's a qualified rocket scientist) at the University of Southampton and stayed on to undertake a PhD in Solar-terrestrial Physics. Simon developed models and reconstructions of solar irradiance to help climatologists explain how the Sun has influenced the climate in the past so that they can better explain and understand current changes in the Earth's climate. After completing his studies Simon moved back to London and took a post at Imperial College as an INSPIRE research associate. Through this role Simon acted as a science teacher in two inner-city London schools, as well as undertaking research in the Space and Atmospheric Physics (SPAT) group, again investigating solar variability and climate change. The aim of the INSPIRE scheme is to bring cutting edge research out of the laboratory and into the classroom. Simon has a real passion for communicating all areas of science and would love to develop a career in science communication helping audiences of all ages and interests to understand and fall in love with science. As NESTA FameLab 2009 runner-up Simon won the chance to present his own 3-Minute Wonder on Channel 4.

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FINALIST

Matthew Baker grew up in Dunedin, New Zealand, went to school in Sydney, Australia, and studied maths and chemistry at the Australian National University in Canberra. He won a General Sir John Monash Award to study a PhD wherever he wished and is now at Oxford University where he studies the bacterial flagellar motor - the outboard motor for the salmonella speedboat. Matt enjoys discussing and working on molecular motors, in that order, because they are remarkable machines honed by evolution. Matt has performed spoken word poetry in a variety of poetry slams in Australia and the UK and enjoys making a crowd laugh whilst learning. Since NESTA FameLab Matthew has been asked to perform in the UK All-Star Poetry Slam at the 2009 Cheltenham Literature Festival as well as being invited to perform at the Ledbury Poetry Festival. He is performing in the 2010 'Slam the Atom' Poetry Slam held at the Cheltenham Science Festival and hopes to continue performing poetic science and scientific poetry in due measure (and just poetry and just science).

"FameLab is a great way to encourage scientists to remain involved in communication and outreach, to train the next generation of communicators and to build networks of young scientists willing to volunteer and perform in the community. I think all scientists should be able to talk to a wide variety of people explaining why they love their work. I'd like to help make people think science is worthwhile."

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FINALIST

Lewis Dartnell is an astrobiology researcher at University College London looking into the possibility of microbial life surviving on the surface of Mars. Lewis started out with a Biology degree at Oxford before moving on to a PhD at UCL's interdisciplinary centre, CoMPLEX, and learning more about high-energy physics and computer programming than is probably healthy. Alongside his research Lewis writes freelance science articles for newspapers and magazines, including The Times and BBC Sky at Night magazine, and in 2007 published a popular science book introducing astrobiology, "Life in the Universe: A Beginner's Guide". He has also performed outreach work and talks at the National Space Centre, the Museum of Science and Industry and Cheltenham Science Festival, which resulted in press and radio coverage. Lewis still finds the hunt for alien life about the most thrilling thing imaginable, his research and lecturing have taken him all over the world, and at a conference in Finland last year he found himself discussing the origins of life on Earth in an oppressively hot sauna with twenty naked sweating professors...

"FameLab really opened up my eyes to the broad range of ways of engaging people in the science I research, and I've got to know a fantastic bunch of people that I'll definitely be working with again in the near future".

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FINALIST

Born in London and moving to south Shropshire as a teenager, Georgina now lives in Glasgow. She completed a BSc and MSc by research at Edinburgh University and stayed on in Edinburgh for two years working for the NHS. Keen to return to scientific research she then enrolled at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine to complete an MSc in infectious diseases, where she was offered a research assistant post working on malarial drug resistance. This led to her current position at the University of Glasgow where she is nearing the end of her PhD on malaria in mosquitoes. She is committed scientist and a keen science communicator, working in Glasgow schools and winning a national science communication competition at the Liverpool Science Festival in 2008.

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FINALIST

Matt Parker is best described as a Stand-Up Mathematician who does everything in his power to make more people excited about mathematics. After studying Mathematics and Physics in Australia Matt now works as a maths teacher in a London secondary school. Around this he takes every opportunity to give talks to friends, family and strangers about mathematics and why he is so passionate about it. Matt was voted winner of the Audience Award at the NESTA FameLab 2009 Final and performed as one of the ‘Boffins' in the comedy science game show ‘Not Rocket Science' at the Cheltenham Science Festival. Matt's favourite number is currently 496.

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FINALIST

Andrew Pontzen, born near Oxford, is about to complete his doctorate and has just been appointed to a Junior Research Fellowship at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. During his PhD he has worked on the cosmic microwave background (remnant light from the very early Universe) and the formation of galaxies (collections of hundreds of billions of stars, like our own Milky Way). He's also been extensively involved with outreach work, indulging a passion for discussing cutting edge physics with anyone, anywhere. Andrew hopes to combine a research and communication career, sharing new steps in scientist's understanding with the wider world. At the end of the NESTA FameLab 2009 competition Andrew received the MasterClass Award, being chosen by the MasterClass trainers as the Finalist who demonstrated the highest level of ability, development and team work at the science communication training weekend.

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FINALIST

Zoe is a final-year postgraduate chemistry student at the University of Bristol and for the last three years she has being growing nanowires of electronic materials using nothing but heat and seaweed. Outside of the lab Zoe gives talks and demonstrations to school groups for the Bristol ChemLabS outreach project, encouraging students to look at chemistry in a completely different way. As winner of the Bristol Regional Heat Zoe appeared on the BBC local television news programme, Points West.

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FINALIST

Becky West studied Zoology at Bristol University before moving to London to communicate science to the most critical and hard to please audience - secondary school children. Whilst in Bristol she presented animal encounter sessions to the public at the zoo and volunteered for the zoo's outreach team. Becky specialises in A-level Biology and Psychology teaching but also runs a number of extra-curricular activities, including a gardening project and a science discovery club. At home, she shares her living space with a menagerie of over 20 animals ranging from imperial scorpions to hamsters.

"I hope that FameLab will give me the opportunity to bring science alive to those who so unsuspectingly immerse themselves in it every day but will be the first to say ‘I don't get science'."

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WINNER

When Nicholas won NESTA FameLab he was studying towards a physics PhD at Imperial College London. His research was about trying to understand the strange quantum behaviour of very small things and investigating how this strangeness can be used to try and create new types of communication and computation. In particular he'd like to know why only small things are strange and whether or not the moon is there when he doesn't look at it.... Nicholas likes to juggle things that are on fire and regularly plays air guitar to sold out imaginary audiences.

"FameLab was a great experience; the chance to get feedback on my presenting skills from professionals was invaluable. I was worried that the judges might be a bit aggressive but they were really friendly, everyone was able to enjoy themselves. Winning the London heat was fantastic and completely unexpected, but I still would have got a lot out of it even if I hadn't won. Anyone who's passionate about their science should take up this great opportunity."

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RUNNER-UP

Jan Schnupp grew up in Munich and spent a year in Paris before coming to England to study Genetics at UCL. This is where he met his wife Sheelah. Fifteen years ago he moved to Oxford to take up a career in Neuroscience. He now co-directs the Auditory Neuroscience Group at the Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics.

"I have often been surprised by the suspicion that many ordinary people seem to feel towards scientists. The truth is, most successful scientists are fairly ordinary people who are driven by a childlike fascination with the world around them, but often they are not very good at communicating their insights to others. As a facts about the things that go on inside our heads, and I thought it would be fun to share them with more of the public (who, after all, pay for much of this scientific research through their taxes!). NESTA FameLab seemed like a great opportunity to get involved, and it has proven to be fun, as well as useful. It's a great initiative and I hope there will be more like it."

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RUNNER-UP

Marieke received a first class degree in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Sheffield in 2000. She then spent a year earning followed by a year burning (following the sun around the world) as well as 6 months teaching science in Ghana, to return to Sheffield for a PhD in 2003. She is now writing up her thesis on scintillator for a neutrino oscillation experiment. Last year she spent 6 weeks helping to repair a huge underground water neutrino detector deep in the Japanese Alps. Marieke's hobbies are learning Japanese and sign language, singing in the University choir and meditating.

"It took me a year to pluck up enough courage to enter NESTA FameLab, and I spent the two weeks before panicking about my talks! But it was definitely worth it and the day although exhausting was so exciting and I am so thrilled to win! The judges gave me such excellent feedback and all the organisers were incredibly helpful and friendly."

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FINALIST

Nick studied biology at Imperial College, and has a DPhil in genomics/bioinformatics from Oxford. Since then he has worked on research to understand the genetics of obesity, type-2 diabetes and heart disease. Nick now works in a leukaemia group at the Institute of Cancer Research (Sutton) where they are trying to improve diagnosis and treatment of various types of leukaemia. His work utilises biology, computers and statistics, trying to bring together information in a useful way - a bit of a MacGyver of biomedical research! In his spare time Nick is a bit of a movie buff and loves being outdoors - especially walking, which he finds relaxing and gives him time to think!

"NESTA FameLab has a friendly and warm atmosphere, even when I stood up in front of the judges and the abject terror kicked in - I can't think of anything negative. Feedback from the judges was encouraging and friendly and even when they were trying to be more probing at the final they were amiable and positive. The MasterClass was an excellent addition, it gave me a lot to think about before my second talk but I think it helped."

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FINALIST

Phil holds his PhD in Biophysics at the University of St. Andrews, and is now working as a research fellow. His research involves the use and development of Laser based techniques to diagnose and study the development of cancer and Alzheimer's disease. Away from the lab Phil likes to play cricket, golf and watch other sports from the comfort of a bar stool, as well as just taking it easy.

"With a Science meets X-factor feel, getting up under the spotlight and in front of the camera was a nerve wracking business but after the presentation was over it was good to discover no Simon Cowells on the judging panel. Rather the judges were really positive and gave some great pointers for improvement. After the second presentation there was a nervous wait for the judge's final decision and I was rather surprised to win as all the contestants gave really interesting presentations. FameLab was a fun day and I would highly recommend taking part even if you're a bit shy as you will get some great feedback and tips to improve so if you find yourself trying to tell your mates down the pub or over dinner about some great science you heard about, then NESTA FameLab is for you."

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FINALIST

Caroline graduated with her BSc in Marine Biology and Coastal Ecology at the University of Plymouth. While already surfing and snorkelling it was here that her Scuba Diving hobby took off and her passion for the marine environment flourished. After university she worked at the Bermuda Biological Station for Research, (where she published her first piece of work in the Journal of Crustaceana) and MOTE Marine Lab in the Florida Keys. Caroline has since returned to Plymouth and is currently working at the National Marine Aquarium as the Senior Learning Co-ordinator. She was lucky enough to be granted a sabbatical in 2008 when she worked on a reef monitoring project in Fiji and helped set up Marine Protected Areas with local fishermen through Reef Doctor in Madagascar. Since NESTA FameLab Caroline continues to present at science festivals and schools sharing her love of the marine environment and raising awareness of the life within our oceans.

"NESTA FameLab was an exciting opportunity to see if I had what it takes to communicate science. I am passionate about our planet and enjoy sharing what I know with others, it was too good an opportunity to miss. The competition was great fun and I highly recommend people have a go even if it's just to challenge themselves! Thank you NESTA FameLab."

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FINALIST

Peter Zeidman has a first class degree in Artificial Intelligence and Computer Science from Birmingham University and is now studying for a Masters Degree in Natural Computation. His current research considers what we can learn from the brain to create intelligent robots, and how we can learn about ourselves by building intelligent machines. Away from his computer Peter enjoys representing his University at debating competitions, playing the violin and making the most of student life.

"NESTA FameLab is a fantastic concept. Science is exciting and doesn't need to be out of reach of "normal people", and yet it can sometimes seem cold and impenetrable. By encouraging people working in science to communicate their field in a fun and gripping way, anyone can be inspired."

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RESERVE

Annabel Cartwright has had a varied and fascinating science-based career since studying Mathematics and Electrical sciences at Cambridge. In the 1980s she founded a company with three friends which is now the leading supplier of 'motion capture' technology to Hollywood and the Computer Games industry. More recently Annabel has graduated with a PhD in Astrophysics from Cardiff University and has been awarded a prestigious Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Research Fellowship in order to continue research into patterns in physics; she is currently looking at interstellar clouds, the way that tears crystallise, and the patterns of gas eruptions on the seabed. Annabel is also working on science-based theatre projects. She is married, to a Professor of Geophysics, with two daughters and a dog, and enjoys forcing them to visit castles.

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RESERVE

Martin works in the Centre for Theoretical and Computational Neuroscience in Plymouth University on computer models of development in auditory cortex, musical perception, and auditory scene analysis. At the moment his work is part of an EU funded collaboration (called ‘SCANDLE') with scientists in Hungary, Germany, Cyprus, and Switzerland to build an artificial system that can interpret the world through sound. Before his PhD in Neuroscience he gained a masters degree in Computational Intelligence, and a long time ago (ancient history) he did a degree in Chemistry which was, scientifically, his first love. Apart from his research he spends some time spreading the word about LaTeX, which is a cult dedicated to the overthrow of word processors. If you have never heard of Ultimate (a team game played with a frisbee) there is no room to explain it here, but this arcane pursuit keeps Martin relatively sane outside the office. Since Famelab Martin has been recruited to SCANDLE - but he is still active in the science communication appearing at science events, food festivals, and primary school maths events, among many others!

"NESTA FameLab is a genuinely good idea in a world where there are very few - kudos to whoever got it off the ground and to those who keep it running. Friendly atmosphere, uncomplicated format and like all good ideas, simple but simultaneously immensely challenging."

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RESERVE

Fiona Dunlevy has a BSc in Biochemistry from University College Dublin and is now doing a PhD studying inflammation in Cystic Fibrosis at Queens University Belfast. When not in the lab looking after cell cultures, Fiona can be found outside walking or sailing (although only when it's not raining - which unfortunately isn't really that often in Ireland!).

"NESTA FameLab is a great competition for scientists who would like to take science (and themselves occasionally) out of the lab and into the public arena. It was a good day although at the start it was a hundred times more nerve-wracking than presenting my research to seasoned experts. Thanks to all the very enthusiastic and friendly NESTA FameLab crew for a great day."

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RESERVE

Steve Mould Studied Physics at Oxford University and since graduating has become a freelance technology consultant and a stand up comic as part of geeky comedy double act Mould & Arrowsmith. He appears on television as the BBC Blue Peter Scientist and performed in four shows at the Cheltenham Science Festival 2009. Steve launched the Planet SciCast North East competition in Newcastle and hosted the award ceremony. He attracted local press coverage as part of Planet SciCast and has received national press coverage in a science education comment in The Independent.

"If you get a kick out of explaining things, NESTA FameLab is the ultimate competition. It's great fun trying to work out the best way to convey a tricky idea. Doing it as part of a contest is both thrilling and terrifying. It felt great to win a place at the MasterClass, especially against such stiff competition! FameLab introduced me to the Science Communication community which I didn't know existed! It's a great network of people and very inspiring and supportive."

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RESERVE

Jon studied Chemistry at The University of Hull and obtained his PhD in bio-inorganic chemistry in July 2006. After a period as a post-doctoral researcher at Hull he moved to Cambridge to become a technical editor with the Royal Society of Chemistry. Jon is now a science teacher working in Manchester. He has been interviewed several times for local BBC radio stations and has given a series of lectures in schools.

"Teaching has given me many ideas for popularising science and making it accessible to the public, and has allowed me to practise science communication on a daily basis. I now see public engagement as an important part of my daily life, and experiencing NESTA Famelab has made me think of ways to make my lessons as interesting, relevant and captivating as possible."

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RESERVE

Steve Steer is studying for a PhD in experimental nuclear physics at the University of Surrey. His work involves the transmutation of nuclei with the intention of learning about the mechanisms of the manufacture of heavy atoms during the evolution of the universe. When not delving into his alchemy, Steve can be found running hills of the Guildford downs training for the London Flora Marathon to help The Beacon Appeal, a local charity, and also spinning his devil sticks about the university campus. He is a member of the Institute of Physics Nuclear Group Committee and manages seminars within his department.

"It was an unexpected day; it was a day of awesome fun. The folks organising FameLab are out to make sure everybody has a good old time and that's just what they managed to do in Oxford. There were plenty of entertaining people taking part. Even if you can't bring yourself to take the forum then simply watching will make for a great day out. Highly recommended."

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RESERVE

Ed gained his Masters in zoology at the University of Sheffield but is currently leading a double life in Edinburgh. By day, he runs murder-mystery science workshops for the Scottish Institute of Biotechnology Education. By night, or at least afternoon, he works on his PhD in evolutionary biology at the University of Edinburgh. He's studying nature's version of the creatures from the Alien films - tiny wasps that eat their way through living hosts. Being a biologist has given him some amazing experiences. He recently spent 6 weeks in Oman driving through deserts, camping on beaches and diving in search of clownfish for Project NEMO. He's worked with damsel flies in Sri Lanka, bats in Indonesia and sea turtles in Greece. When he's not diving or running after a football, he's trying to find new ways to go travelling and finally get over his fear of heights - bungee jumping didn't work!

"Science is often seen as boring, irrelevant or even slightly suspect. Part of the problem is that we scientists generally aren't very good at explaining ourselves. NESTA FameLab offers a great chance to have a go and whilst putting yourself through those 3 minutes is a huge learning curve, everyone I spoke to enjoyed taking part and said they'd definitely do it again."

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WINNER

Jonathan has a PhD from the School of Biology at the University of Leeds, where he tried to work out how some biological molecules (RNA and protein) fit together in a virus. Before that he gained a degree from Cambridge, mostly for persevering with their physics course. He now works for a scientific journal that covers the latest in materials science and so is called Materials Today. While he likes to think he plays viola well, he demonstrates a real flair for sleeping, watching TV, and talking about football. But not at the same time - that would be impressive.

Jonathan on winning FameLab 2006: "I would encourage everyone with an interest to enter - the benefits are enormous. I've gained a real confidence and drive to go out and find the opportunities to speak, perform, and have fun with the science that interests me. It is a brilliant experience, and it's not only about the opportunity of fame and fortune. FameLab forces you to think more carefully about how science works and what catches the imagination."

Since winning Jonathan has:
• Had regular appearances on BBC Radio Oxford for science phone-ins
• Been Interviewed on BBC Radio 5 Live
• Judged Institute of Ideas debating competition for sixth formers
• Visited Copenhagen with British Council for Sixth Form Conference
• Visited Sri Lanka with British Council to talk to school children

And appeared in events at:
• Cambridge Science Festival 2007/2008
• Institute of Physics ‘Physics in Perspective' residential course
• University of Bath in Swindon Schools Lectures
• Rutherford Appleton Laboratory public lectures
• Two lectures on communicating science to University of Cambridge students
• Manchester Science Festival 2008
• Talk for school teachers at Bury St Edmunds
• Cheltenham Science Festival 2007/2008
• Science Oxford cabaret
• Talk to London International Youth Science Forum 2006
• Talk to 2006 BIG (British Interactive Group) Conference

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RUNNER-UP

Sima Adhya studied Natural Sciences at Cambridge and a PhD at UCL on how spacecraft wobble in their orbits because of sunlight. She now lives in London and works for QinetiQ, in their Space Department as a Space Mission Scientist. She's recently been trying to model how we might deflect asteroids by crashing into them with spacecraft for a European Space Agency Project. Sima harbours hopes of one day going into Space herself, but in the meantime occupies herself with learning to fly and Bollywood dancing.

"One of the best things about FameLab is meeting so many passionate, like-minded people, with completely different areas of interest. It was inspiring, and a whole lot of fun."

Radio
• BBC Asian Network - science news stories
• Interview on BBC Radio 4's Material World
• Interviews on BBC local radio

TV
• IET film - website and Teachers TV
• Pilot for series for Discovery channel
• Contestant on ‘Super Human' series, Channel 4

Talks
• British council organised South Africa tour - 14 schools and Sri Lanka tour - 5 schools
• Café Scientifique London
• Science Communication workshop in Bulgaria
• 4 live events for IET
• Cambridge, Surrey and Cheltenham Science Festivals
• Talk at INTECH, Winchester
• London Youth Science Conference
• Nature Careers Conference

Prizes
• UKRC Outstanding Women in Science Communication 2007
• Short-listed for Women in the Future Prize in science Nov 2006

Newspapers
• Interviewed by The Guardian, The Times, and The Independent about job/careers. Has received local print coverage

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RUNNER-UP

Lindsay graduated in Zoology from the University of Edinburgh in 2002 and completed her PhD in Molecular Parasitology from Moredun Research Institute / Glasgow University. Since FameLab, Lindsay has been an invited speaker for a number of conferences and events and continues to get a buzz out of communicating science. Lindsay has been working as a guest science presenter on a stream about non-native species which threaten Scotland's flora & fauna for a rural affairs programme. Her day job is an Operations Business Analyst for Oil and Gas UK in Aberdeen.

"I dragged myself along to the NESTA FameLab audition feeling incredibly nervous, wondering why on earth I was putting myself through this! But I figured that if I could present the findings of my PhD at a conference with every expert in my field in the same room, then surely it couldn't be any more frightening than that!? Once I was up there I just really enjoyed it and you can use the adrenalin to your advantage. The judges were really great, giving friendly advice and encouragement."

Experience since NESTA FameLab:
• Cambridge Science Festival (schools outreach programme)
• Talks at Cheltenham Science Festival
• London International Youth Science Forum
• Famelab International Conference
• Science and Engineering Ambassador with SET Point
• BBC Scotland freelance science presenter. Appearance on BBC Scotland's ‘Landward'
• Event organiser, Aberdeen project 'Hungry for Energy' for Engaging Cogs

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FINALIST

Davina Bristow is currently a researcher working on a new popular science series for the BBC. Previously she studied a PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience at UCL, having done a degree in biology at Oxford. Her research took her from studying why we don't notice our blinks to the lip reading abilities of two month old babies. Before her present post she did work experience with the BBC, on Child of Our Time and Horizon, and with the Daily Telegraph, and she also wrote science stories for the London Student Newspaper. For the FameLab auditions she talked about the neuroscience of love, and why monkeys will pay to see photos of female monkeys' bottoms.

Talks
• Cheltenham Science Festival
• Manchester Science Festival
• Café Scientifique
• British council talk in Athens

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FINALIST

Karl Byrne from Dromara, Northern Ireland, did his undergraduate degree in Virology at Edinburgh University and is currently in the final year of a biochemistry PhD at Queens University Belfast, looking at a novel drug treatment for viral exacerbations in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. Outside of study, he enjoys swing dancing, karaoke and watching films (occasionally muttering to himself about the bad science that turns up in them) as well as occasionally pretending to be a superhero. When not engaged in a flight of fancy he really wants to make science more accessible to non scientists and show that scientists aren't all cackling madmen (regardless of what appears above).

"Everyone was really friendly, which helped me relax a bit before the competition started. I had been worried that the judges would be of the Simon Cowell variety, but this couldn't have been further from the truth. They gave all of us really helpful feedback about where our strengths may lie and things which we could change to improve our presentation skills."

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FINALIST

After completing her A-levels Sarah Curtis embarked upon a Masters degree at the University of Leeds, the deadline for which was six days after 2006 FameLab final! In the FameLab auditions Sarah talked about using tea as a pH indicator and the mini chemistry set that is a glow stick. Since then she has been busy finishing research, writing her dissertation and preparing for the final presentation of her degree. Away from the lab she's helping some undergraduates make a film - she is the person they're interviewing which has meant (much to the amusement of her friends) a camera following her around the Chemistry department! Socially, Sarah loves dancing: she did ballet until she was 18 and now enjoys pursuits such as belly dancing, street dance and carnival classes.

"Everyone involved with the event (contestants, judges, FameLab staff) were so supportive and best of all very vocal, letting me know that they hadn't noticed my mistakes and that yes, they did understand what I was trying to explain! The judges do read like a who's who of science communication but they are incredibly understanding and supportive. The opportunity to take part in FameLab is one that you shouldn't miss out on. I've already had emails from the other contestants I met so this genuinely is a fantastic way to meet like minded people. Also, you get your name put into the FameLab database (a kind of alumni system) so if there's future science communication events in your area then they get can get in touch. Above all I had a fun day, learnt a lot and best of all... it didn't cost me a penny!"

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FINALIST

Dr Sarah Forbes-Robertson studied biology at Bristol, and then a PhD at University College London, on pattern formation, or 'how you get toes in the right places'. She now works at the School of Medicine in Swansea University, looking at breast and thyroid cancer, and the effects of radiation. As a result of this, she has been lucky enough to visit some of the world's most irradiated places! She is a molecular biologist, working on DNA and RNA, and her particular fields of interest are development, cancer and ageing: how we go from a single fertilised egg to a fully-formed human being, and then how it goes downhill from there on in! In her free time Sarah teaches salsa dancing and is learning rock-and-roll jive.

"I learnt a lot about presentation skills, just from watching the other contestants. All the judges were fantastic - they gave really positive feedback, and not a single Simon Cowell moment! It was a marvellous opportunity to get feedback on my presentations from people who do that sort of thing for a living."

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FINALIST

David Loong currently resides in London. He has an undergraduate degree in chemical technology from Massey University, New Zealand and a PhD in organic chemistry from the Australian National University, Australia. Currently, he is a postdoctoral research associate at Imperial College London working on new ways of making molecules with unusual optical properties. He entered Famelab by talking about how jelly gels and explaining the great mystery of how fake-tan cream works. In his spare time, David likes to cook. He thinks it's rather like chemistry except eating it won't kill you - or so he hopes.

"I had a fun experience at FameLab, despite feeling so very ill-prepared. The judges gave very encouraging and worthwhile criticism after my first presentation to help me structure my second one - they really want to hear about the hard science and how good we are at communicating complicated ideas without resorting to incomprehensible jargon. It was a real high to speak for 3 minutes, desperately hiding my nervousness. Even if you think you're not prepared, just turn up and give it a go - you never know if your enthusiasm might shine through despite everything."

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FINALIST

Stewart McPherson is a geographer at Durham University and has been fascinated by the natural world from an early age. His scientific interests concern the diversity of life and the ability of organisms to survive under extreme conditions. Following expeditions to South America and South East Asia, he has published two reference books examining carnivorous plants and life on the summits of remote, mountain-plateaus in the heart of South America's rainforest. He studied at Yale University for one year as a Rotary Ambassadorial scholar and has held over 20 presentations documenting his research. His FameLab topics included survival strategies of plants living in the most extreme environments on Earth.

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FINALIST

Steve Robertson is a scientist at Durham University where he specialises in investigating soil and developing new techniques to clean up contaminated land. He entered FameLab in 2006 and tried to convince the judges that fungi and charcoal were far more interesting than you'd think. He's not sure he succeeded (and still reckons fungi are a criminally under-rated group of organisms), but really enjoyed the FameLab experience. Since then he's given talks at several science festivals including Cambridge, Manchester and Cheltenham in 2007, worked with local schools in science lessons and credits FameLab with landing him his current job. Well, FameLab plus years of study and research, but the job description did include "a strong interest in discussing science with non-academic audiences."

"Although the competitive bit has the highest profile, it's actually been the communication training and the finding out about opportunities that have had the biggest impact for me. That and meeting lots of brilliant science communicators!"

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WINNER

Dr. Mark Lewney, originally from Liverpool, studied physics at Edinburgh University before gaining a PhD in acoustics from Cardiff University, where he now lives. He currently works as a patent examiner at the UK Patent office near Newport, in the field of telecoms, and pursues sociological and anthropological research in his spare time by appearing in pubs throughout South Wales playing guitar in local band ‘Fire Down Below'. Since winning NESTA FameLab 2005 Mark has been touring schools, colleges and scientific institutions across the country with his science show ‘Rock Guitar in 11 Dimensions', which he has played to 25,000 people in the last year alone. Mark has just completed a Masters in Law and is currently working on a range on new science communication projects including new shows, a theatre production and a book, as well as appearing at science festivals in the USA and Japan this year.

Radio
• BBC Radio 4 Material World
• BBC Radio 4 Leading Edge
• BBC Radio 5 live
• BBC Radio Wales Something Else (regular studio guest)
• 100+ local radio and press interviews throughout UK and Ireland

TV
• CBBC Xchange guest appearance
• BBC Newsnight
• BBC The money Programme
• BBC The ONE show

Talks
Many including:
• Institute of Physics Lecture Tour (10,000 kids nationwide)
• Institute of Education
• Cambridge Science Festival
• Cheltenham Science Festival
• BA festival of Science

Print
• Article on science communication in Physics World

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RUNNER-UP

Since Famelab, David has been inspired to communicate science to several venues and audience demographics. Working for the British Council and NESTA he gave a series of lectures on the subject of Evolution both via web-cast and in person with a lecture tour of China. For the BAAS he worked with veteran broadcaster Quentin Cooper on the programme Xchange, which was a focus for the "best of the fest" with nightly discussions on topical science. He has also been working with Sentinus as a science ambassador for Northern Ireland judging the yearly Young Scientists and Engineer awards.

In TV and Radio David has tried to keep a diverse portfolio of presenting work from Great Unanswered Questions with comedian Colin Murphy and guests on BBC1 NI (BBC3/4 later in the year), BBC radio 4 and radio Ulster (The good); The Big Bumper Science Quiz with Eamonn Holmes and Christine Bleakley on BBC 1 NI (The bad); and Beauty and the Geek on Channel 4 (The ugly). David is currently recording a comedy/science talk show for BBC2 and will be presenting a range of programmes on BBC Radio Ulster/Foyle in 2010 as part of the year of science and science week.

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RUNNER-UP

Matt Wilkinson is a zoologist and a Junior Research Fellow at Clare College, University of Cambridge. At the moment he is working on pterodactyl flight, with the view to creating a full-scale radio-controlled gliding model.

Radio
• Radio 4
• Canadian Radio
• Naked Scientists

Talks
• Cheltenham Science Festival 2006/2007/2008
• Cambridge Science Festival
• Brighton Science Festival
• Café Scientifique
• Various school workshops

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FINALIST

Maggie Aderin-Pocock is a scientist who has spent her career making novel, bespoke instrumentation in both the industrial and academic environments. These have ranged from hand held land mine detectors to satellite sub-systems designed to monitor wind speeds in the earth's atmosphere with the aim of improving short and long term climate predictions. In her spare time Maggie conducts "tours of the universe", a scheme she set up to engage school kids in the wonders of space.

Radio
• BBC Radio 4: Woman's Hour, Girls in Physics
• BBC Radio 4: PM Program Closing interview discussing the future of space
• BBC Radio 2: Simon Mayo Program 50 Years in Space
• BBC Radio 5 Live: Richard Bacon debate ‘is space worth it?
• BBC Radio 4 Live: Anita Anand/Richard Bacon - regular panellist
• BBC World Service: Europe Today - Women in Science
• BBC World Service: Africa Today

TV
• BBC News 24: New Scientific Sign Language
• BBC1: Breakfast TV New Scientific Sign Language
• BBC4: Sputnik's Children
• Teachers TV
• BBC News 24: Endeavour Space walk
• BBC: The Cosmos - A Beginners Guide
• BBC News 24: Steven Hawkins parabolic flight
• BBC1: Breakfast TV
• CBBC Resident scientist - making rockets and other experiments for kids
• BBC News 24: 50 Years of Space

Talks, many including:
• Role Model Talks in schools, science cafes, Dana centre, At-Bristol
• ‘Tour of the universe' talk in many schools
• Various science festivals, schools and universities
• Royal Society, Royal institution, BA, IET, IOP, WISE, Rutherford

UKRC Woman of outstanding achievement in SET

MBE for Services to Science

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FINALIST

Andrew Bebb is a physicist who now works for the UK's Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council in their public engagement programme. Before joining EPSRC, he obtained his PhD in solid state physics from the University of Warwick, spending his time exploring the unsolved mysteries of magnetism. He has also worked as an NHS hospital physicist. Andrew is a lover of all things science; unable to decide between being an astronaut, a marine biologist, or a fiction writer as a child. His wife, Dr. Sophie Blanch, works in the area of feminist english literature, making conversations at home quite interesting!

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FINALIST

Trevor Cox was born in Bristol, UK in 1967. He received his BSc (Hons) in Physics from Birmingham University and went on to achieve a doctorate at the University of Salford. He currently is Professor of Acoustic Engineering at Salford University, where he teaches room acoustics and signal processing. His research concerns room acoustics, and he is best known on his work on specialist diffusing surfaces; his designs have been used in spaces word-wide. Trevor has been involved in many public understanding of science activities from work with schools to media stories about duck quacks.

RADIO
Many but highlights include:
• Resident scientist on BBC Radio Manchester
• Presenter BBC Radio 4 Sounds of Science documentaries

TV
• Richard and Judy
• Channel 4 news
• Channel 5 news
• BBC News 24
• BBC1 North West Tonight
• Madlab, National Geographical TV x2
• Connections, Discovery Channel
• Teachers TV, How Science Works
• Channel M evening news
• Sky News
• BBC1 (UK's Worst)

TALKS
Many but highlights include
• 2 shows to 4500 kids at Royal Albert Hall - Beautiful Music Horrible Sounds - Royal
• Percival lecture for the Manchester Philosophy & Literature Society

EPSRC Media Fellow

Judge at Manchester Heat of NESTA FameLab 2009

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FINALIST

Luke Jerram is an inventor, artist and science communicator. He designs and builds science exhibits whilst creating multimedia installation artworks which he tours internationally. In 2002, he was awarded a fellowship from NESTA (National Endowment of Science, Technology and the Arts) to explore the properties of space and perception. In 2000 Luke taught in war torn Mostar, Bosnia and he continues to teach and lecture in the UK and abroad. Luke has recently secured a post as researcher at ISVR, University of Southampton, and continues to work on a range of art projects for which he regularly receives print, radio and television press coverage.

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FINALIST

Bex Lloyd-Evans recently graduated with a first in Human Sciences from UCL. In her final year she specialised in the neurobiology of mental illness and creativity and her findings have been published in "Recent Advances in Creativity". Since graduating she has worked on a BBC science documentary, a sci-art film funded by the Wellcome Trust and for a social and political film set in the Middle East. She is currently working part-time for a biotechnology and medical health consultancy in Cambridge and part-time at FreshMinds in London.

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FINALIST

Chris Rowlands is currently studying Chemistry at Imperial College London. Although he has no formal training in science communication, he has experience as a part-time magician, juggler and amateur cellist. He is also the author of a series of articles about juggling entitled "Ten Things I Can Do That You Can't" for Imperial's student newspaper. Chris is a member of the Goldman Sachs Global Leaders (Class of 2003) and was the recipient of an Ernest Oppenheimer Studentship to study for a PhD at Cambridge.

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FINALIST

Shini Somarathne completed a BEng (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering in 1999. She then immediately continued to study at Brunel University to complete an Engineering Doctorate (EngD) in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) by December 2004. Shini has always been involved in very diverse and often contradictory pursuits including fashion modelling and ballet, but has always had a natural curiosity for science. During her doctorate she realised that she enjoyed the lecturing and public speaking at academic conferences the most and decided to pursue a career in science communication after qualifying. Since then she has spent 6 months visiting schools explaining maths and history. Shini has also worked for various independent science-orientated TV production companies, including Fulcrum TV, Oxford Scientific Films and Windfall Digital.

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FINALIST

Simon is an evolutionary biologist originally hailing from Northern Ireland, but now based in England. After taking part in Famelab and being introduced to the field of Science Communication Simon went on to set up his own science communication company, "Ready, Steady, Science!" which has been creating and performing science "edutainment" shows to audiences ranging from toddlers to academics. As such Simon regularly appears at science festivals around the country including the Newcastle, York, Cheltenham and Cambridge science festivals and in schools, museums, universities, on radio and on television. More recently he has worked as a presenter on "Inside Natures Giants," shown on Channel 4.

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FINALIST

David Wharton is Principal teacher of chemistry in a comprehensive school located in a large housing estate in Dundee, although he is fortunate enough to live with his wife and dogs (and children whenever they condescend to come home) in a farmhouse on the edge of the Scottish Glens. Prior to being a teacher he was a youth worker with a Christian youth organisation, and prior to that he was a chemical engineer in the pharmaceutical and oil industries. David developed a keen interest in communication while working in youth clubs and churches, and has been passionate about science for as long as he can remember. In his spare time he loves hill walking, bird watching, fishing and is active in his local church.

Radio
• Series of experiments for science week on BBC Radio Scotland

Talks
• Sensation, Dundee
• Cheltenham Science Festival

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