Word to Rubidium Zone! Just wanted to pop in and say a humongous THANK YOU to all the people involved in I’m A Scientist June 2012 – the students, the scientists, the mods and all the sneaky behind-the-scenes people that we didn’t actually meet. You were all incredible, and I think we made the event a massive success.
It was a pretty intense two weeks of interrogations, and really highlighted to me how much there is about science that I don’t know! Some of the questions we got were just mind-blowingly clever (e.g. how do scientists know how to make a flu vaccine if viruses are different every year?), others were mind-blowingly hilarious (e.g. if a mysterious man-eating cockroach attacked what would you do?), and others were mind-blowingly profound (e.g. what is the point of life?). It was like being on some sort of crazy but awesome rollercoaster.
My reaction to winning was…well…just pure shock really. Being up against such a fantastic set of scientists, I really did not expect to win at all! I even did a little dance around the lab to celebrate, which did get me a few odd looks…
How Will I Splash the Cash?
Those of you who read my profile will know that I planned to give my prize money to Women into Science and Engineering (WISE) to support their work helping young women to get scientific work experience. I really valued the work experience I managed to get when I was studying, and it helped me understand more about the bits of science I really liked, and the bits I wasn’t so hot on. Sometimes it can be hard to get science employers to let you in for a nosey around, and WISE try and overcome this by pointing you in the direction of special ‘Try it Out!’ opportunities, dedicated to learning more about a particular career.
However…
During I’m A Scientist I met fellow scientist Tiffany, who was desperately hoping to win the prize money so that she could publish and distribute a book she has written, which aims to help primary school children understand more about inheritance and evolution (I’ve read it – it’s amazeballs). It was very clear to me how passionate she was about her project, and when it came down to me vs. Tiffany in the final, I decided that − if I were to win − I would split my prize money 50:50 with her.
So that’s what I’m doing!
Tiffany or I will be back with an update once the book is ready to roll – which should be sometime around the New Year. Exciting! Thanks again to you all, and all the best for the future, whatever you decide to do (although you should all become scientists, because we rule :b).