Anna Edmondson is a Ph.D. student in John O’Neill’s group, which aims to understand mammalian circadian rhythms at the cellular level. Anna’s research focuses on how glucocorticoid steroid hormones tells our cells what time it is. In the last two years, Anna has taken part in a variety of public engagement initiatives. She been shortlisted in two science communication competitions: FameLab and the MRC Max Perutz Award. Here, Anna shares her experiences, reflecting on the benefits of connecting with a non-specialist audience, and encourages others to explore the different engagement opportunities the LMB offers.
Why are you interested in public engagement?
For me, public engagement is an integral part of scientists’ work. At the end of the day, what is the point of scientific knowledge if it cannot be shared or communicated? Part of my role as a scientist is to communicate scientific knowledge to a wider audience and engage with the public. Also when I’m finding experimental research difficult, engaging with the public reminds you of why you’re doing this. As you’re gaining excitement from the public, you’re also gaining excitement for your subject yourself again.
What was your first contact with public engagement?
My first experience in public engagement was in 2022, an outreach workshop with a group of Year 9 students who were visiting a scientific symposium event, the Flipped Science Fair. I created an activity for the students to rotate around. I planned the content of the activity and then executed that first hand. And it was very beneficial for me at the time, as I had just moved into my lab, so I wasn’t so familiar with the subject area myself. And so actually, teaching it to Year 9 students helped me ensure I understood my new research area.
How was your experience in the FameLab competition?
By that time, I had done several public engagement events, but sometimes I struggled in the spur of the moment to talk about my subject area in an accessible way. I saw FameLab as an opportunity for high-quality public engagement training, and at the end of training, they ask you to submit a video based on what you’ve learned. I didn’t find it as difficult as I had expected thanks to Neil’s support (LMB VisLab videographer), and I gave it a go. I got selected for the East of England and London regional final. I was very surprised to be selected because I’d always been a very shut-yourself-in-a-study sort of person. Stage is something I had never done before. I realised that it was a great opportunity for a new challenge as a different skill set is needed. But it was a challenge I was very glad I took on because I enjoyed it so much and felt a great sense of achievement.
You were shortlisted for the MRC Max Perutz Award, which recognises outstanding science communication from Ph.D. students. How was your experience submitting a video to this competition?
When I saw this competition advertised, I felt it was a good opportunity to put into practise what I had learned through FameLab.. I had a good idea of what I was doing, so I designed the content, scripted it, filmed it, learned how to edit the video together, and made some quick animations. For this competition, I had to produce a one-minute video, and that was the hardest challenge. Trying to tell a story, a narrative within one minute, convey the scientific knowledge, and hook the audience.
Can you tell us about the circadian rhythms activity that you helped develop for the LMB Open Day?
Last year, John O’Neill and Michael Hastings’ groups together created the “Time of Your Life” exhibit, a more sophisticated stall for the Open Day, that later we brought to the Cambridge Festival. This involved multiple activities that allowed us to have a bit more of an in-depth conversation with the public, from different age ranges, backgrounds, levels of education, and different levels of interest in biology. It was a great learning experience for engaging such a large variety of people in those activities, and I learned what most people are interested about. So, for my subject area, I learned you can get people hooked by talking about sleep. People love talking about their sleep, and so you’ve just got to find that topic, that relates to your research, that everyone’s interested in and wants to talk about.
Has anything surprised you from your experience in public engagement?
Even as an introverted, shy individual, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed, and gained so many skills from public engagement. Public engagement training and taking part in events has helped me gain confidence and have improved my scientific communication skills for both a non-science and science (i.e. conferences) audience.
What do you think are the benefits of public engagement for the public?
Transparency about research. Letting people know what you do, is very important. Not only do people want to learn about science, but they also want to get to know the human behind the science, and this helps build more trust in science. In light of big events like the pandemic, it’s crucial that the public trusts scientists, so that politicians back science and make data-informed decisions in a crisis.
What would you say to a person who would like to take part in public engagement for the first time?
Just give it a go. Start with something small and non-committal, and just see whether you like it. There are so many public engagement opportunities that don’t involve that many hours of commitment. I bet you will not regret it. If you’re having a bad lab week, doing some public engagement will raise your spirits!
Further references
LMB welcomes over 2500 visitors to an action-packed Open Day
Cambridge Festival 2024: Circadian rhythms, fireflies, and tuberculosis research
FameLab UK
MRC Max Perutz Award