University hosts a series of Science Talks

The University of Derby will be hosting a series of talks from bee extinction and UV skin damage to the apocalypse as part of a series of Science Talks throughout May, in partnership with the British Science Association.

The first evening ‘The Child Driven Education’ will be held on Friday May 8 2015, at 6.30pm hosted by Professor Sugata Mitra who was a 2013 TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) prize winner for his work bringing western teachers to the slums through technology.

Professor Mitra from Newcastle University said: “I am looking forward to visiting the University of Derby to discuss one of the greatest problems faced by education today - that the best teachers and schools don’t exist where they're needed most.”

Whilst we may think we know skin damage, Professor Mark Birch-Machin from the Institute of Cellular Medicine will be heading up a talk 'Let there be Light: Sunlight, DNA and Skin Ageing' on Friday May 15 2015, at 6.30pm. With reference to his research on 'tanned whales', he will introduce a ground breaking sunburn DNA test that can tell us what we did to our skin last summer.

Are our days numbered? BSA Charles Darwin Award winner and University of Derby Invertebrate Biology Lecturer, Dr Michael Sweet, will ponder the question at the third evening in the series on Friday May 22 2015, at 6.30pm, titled 'Apocalypse Now (or maybe tomorrow)'.

Dr Sweet will assess the threats we face from famine to war, drought and disease. He added: “I’m very excited that we are hosting these talks. We have handpicked some of the best researchers in the UK covering a wide variety of topics, which will hopefully excite a range of people. My talk in particular fits well with the recent BBC TV programme on what will be the end of the human race and is topical highlighting some of the world’s most dangerous diseases like Ebola.”

Respected founder of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust and leading researcher in the ecology and conservation of bumble bees at Sussex University, Professor Dave Goulson, will be hosting the final evening titled ‘Bees, Pesticides & Politics’ on Friday May 29 2015, at 6.30pm. Midway through a ban imposed by the EU, Professor Goulson shall address fact and fiction associated with pesticides usage. With emphasis on the bumblebee, he will talk about impact on the environment. Professor Goulson is well known for his work on Bees and his book ‘A Sting in the Tale’.

He added: “I’m looking forward to giving my lecture at the University of Derby. Bees are never long out of the media these days, and I'll be giving my take on the causes of their declines and the controversy surrounding the effects of neonicotinoid pesticides on wildlife.”