Ed Hutchinson, 3rd year PhD student in the Department of Pathology, has been awarded the New Researcher Category of the Biosciences Federation Science Communication Award 2008.

The Award recognises research-active bioscientists from UK universities or institutes who make an outstanding contribution to communicating science to the public.

Ed, who is studying the genetics of influenza A, completed the University’s Rising Stars public engagement course last year. The course aims to equip postgraduates, post-docs and early-career academics with the skills to communicate their research to non-specialists including school pupils, older people's groups, youth clubs and the general public.

He says: “Rising Stars has helped me develop as a science communicator by providing the incentive and opportunity to get involved in many different activities and gain new experiences”.

Ed has employed a variety of different methods - including magazine articles, podcasts, radio programmes, short talks for schools, and practical science sessions - to take biology to a wide range of audiences.

Ed admits that this can sometimes be challenging: “Judging what level to pitch the ideas at and when to stop explaining every detail of specialist problems are both frequently encountered issues. Finding good analogies and examples is also a challenge, but an enjoyable one”.

An approachable manner and the use of everyday objects as props have enabled Ed to cleverly tackle an assortment of subjects from the basics of DNA to complex virology. He has also covered such hot topics as Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), the importance of animal research, and the role of scientists and evolution.

Ed was nominated by the Society for General Microbiology. The £500 prize was awarded at the Biosciences Federation meeting in London on 12th November 2008. In the future he hopes to work particularly with school-age children.
 

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