Chemistry Outreach: An Introduction

Student experience 8th March 2018

Hello all. Today is International Women’s Day, a worldwide event where we #PressForProgress towards gender parity and celebrate the achievements of women from all walks of life. In the spirit of today we are hearing from Toria Stafford, one of the enthusiastic Women in STEM advocates in the department. Toria is a final year PhD student in the research group of Dr Louise Natrajan and has regularly taken part in various public engagement and science outreach events throughout her undergraduate and postgraduate degrees. Toria will be releasing a series of blog posts relating to all things public engagement and outreach here in the near future so keep an eye out for them but today we are finding out a bit more her.

Can you start by telling us how you came to be in the School of Chemistry here at Manchester?

I have only been here for my PhD, before that I was doing my MChem at the University of Warwick, although I did almost come here for that too. I visited here on an open day and absolutely loved the department/course but I spent a lot of my childhood growing up in rural Wales so everything outside of the department scared 17/18 year old me. It was all a bit too big and not enough grassy green areas for me at the time so Warwick was a nice little halfway point between Wales and here. After 4 years there I was ready to move on to somewhere bigger and also closer to my partner so when the PhD I eventually got was advertised it was a bit of a no-brainer to apply. I was actually born around Manchester too so it was nice to return to somewhere kind of familiar. I now love the city life and everything Manchester has to offer (still not managed to do half of what I wanted to do!) so it is a bit odd for me when I go back to Wales.

How did you first get interested in outreach work?

During my undergraduate degree I was introduced to Nick Barker, a member of staff and former teacher based at the chemistry department. He was in charge of the school outreach programme and ran a whole host of activities as well as doing the Flash-Bang shows at open days. Outreach work had been something I wanted to get involved in even before I started university so I approached him about helping out and the rest is history. He was so enthusiastic about it all and really easy to talk to so I think that helped the shy, country girl in me. I also did some volunteering where I would go in to local schools to help out with science lessons. With the introduction of social media platforms now it is actually a lot easier to get in to outreach work and the range of different activities, events and work you can do means you can easily find something to suit you.

What is the most exciting outreach project you’ve been involved with so far?

Depends on what you mean by the most exciting! I have done a lot of Flash-Bang type shows and they are definitely exciting to watch no matter how many times you have seen them. I am always amazed every time I see someone put a new twist on an old experiment to keep things different. If I had to choose one project though I think it would Soapbox Science, an event somewhat appropriate for today too! Soapbox Science aims to make women scientists more visible by bringing science to the people, showing everyone (parents and children alike) that we do some pretty awesome science. They have events all over the country and even internationally now, it is pretty amazing to see how fast it has grown. I love it so much I am actually taking part in my 4^th event this summer! Keep an eye on the Soapbox Science website for more details.

Can you tell us who or what first inspired your interests in science?

This is a bit of a tough one because I don’t actually remember not being interested in science, I have pretty much been brought up on it. I had a very supportive family that put up with me when I wanted to explore the practical side of science, I was taken around many museums during the school holidays and I got numerous science themed presents or books for birthdays and Christmas. One of my earliest memories of my interest in science is being given an ‘I Wonder Why’ encyclopaedia and I just could not put it down. I got it taken off me so many times for reading it by torchlight after I had been put to bed and I am pretty sure some of the pages were starting to fall out I had read it that many times…

Could you tell us about your other interests? What do you get up to in your spare time?

Since I am writing my PhD thesis and the rest of the time I am ‘taking a break’ by doing public engagement things I don’t really have that much spare time at the moment! Having said that I am a huge bookworm and I absolutely love reading so I try to make some time for that, especially if I am stressed or need to unwind a bit. I also like to bake (especially anything with chocolate in) and I recently got in to listening to podcasts, something a bit different to just listening to music.

Finally, what can we expect from your series of blog posts?

I was fortunate enough to have someone enthusiastic and obvious to contact that led to me getting involved in outreach and public engagement work, similar to the situation here at Manchester. However, I know it is not that easy for everyone so I will be talking about my experiences here in Manchester, work and events I have got involved with that have taken me all over the country (and how you can get involved), and also a post dedicated to the social media side of outreach and public engagement.

Thanks Toria, looking forward to hearing from you again in the future!