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Eviction Won't Stop Louise Getting The Excitement Of Science Across

Louise Buckley’s untimely eviction from “I’m a Scientist Get Me Out Of Here” has done nothing to dampen her enthusiasm for getting the excitement of science across to the next generation.

She reached the final of the online competition, only falling at the last hurdle when voted out by her school student audience.  It meant someone else received the £500 on offer to be spent on promoting research.

Louise so hated science at school she was “removed” from the class, with a note sent home to her mum.  Today she is at SAC doing a PhD in animal welfare on diet choices by broiler creeders. A relative latecomer to the science lab (she was a veterinary nurse for 12 years) Louise is passionate about communicating about science and how it benefits society.

The competition, carried out over two weeks, was held online through chat rooms and discussion forums. It gave Louise a captive audience of up to 2,000 enquiring minds while sitting in the office with her cuppa. But, she warns, the students can be boisterous and some of the questions ‘interesting’, needing a good sense of humour and the ability to think on your feet.

“Some of the questions are hilarious,” said Louise “My  favourite was - What happens if you put a rabbit in a centrifuge?- I replied it breaks the centrifuge. You need two rabbits to balance it! However some of the questions were thought provoking though and a couple of the students asked questions which attacked the central assumption of my whole PhD and I really had to be careful how I answered these. I wouldn’t want these kids at my viva!” 
 
If Louise had won she would have set up a behaviour experiment for schools using hissing cockroaches. As it was, the winner spent his money on science teaching material for a school in Uganda. 

If Louise has got you interested you can find out more by checking out the 'I’m a Scientist Get Me Out Of Here' website. The previous competition is still visible (Louise’s profile is in the hydrogen zone) and a YouTube video is also available. The organisers are running another competition in June.

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