2013 Press Releases
Science talks for UCC Postgrad
Science will do the talking for BEES PhD student Fergus McAuliffe as he takes up a regular slot on RTÉ’s The Science Squad and prepares to speak at TEDxDublin 2013.
UCC environmental scientist McAuliffe, recently declared a world champion communicator at the international Famelab science competition, is set to appear regularly on RTÉ’s The Science Squad, which starts this Friday 6 September. The PhD student, who hails from Farran in Cork will also take to the stage at TEDxDublin 2013 on 14 September.
McAuliffe is an individual who casts firmly aside the stereotype that scientists remain aloof from the rest of the world. Rather he is playing his part in a larger push to make science and research more accessible to the wider public. He did this to great effect at the Cheltenham Science Festival back in June, when he won the international final of Famelab, a science communication competition that is run worldwide in conjunction with the British Council and NASA.
As Ireland’s first ever entry, the PhD student in the School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences (BEES), UCC saw off competitors from 23 countries to win. The subject of Fergus' talk was the strange physiology of the wood frog (Rana sylvatica), which has the capacity to freeze solid over winter while remaining alive and is capable of 'defrosting' and continuing its lifecycle in spring (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eL4gfoTXuzQ).
Also a previous winner of the Higher Education Authority 'Making an Impact' competition (2012) and the UCC 'Science for All' competition 2013, it is no small wonder then to learn McAuliffe will feature regularly in the second series of RTÉ’s The Science Squad, which begins this Friday 6 September at 7.30pm. The show, which will be presented by Aoibhinn Ni Shuilleabhain, Kathriona Devereux and Jonathan McCrea, aims to highlight that Ireland’s researchers are still very much at the top their game when it comes to international scientific advances. It will showcase numerous fronts where Ireland is leading the field, including drug developments that could improve treatment of sepsis, scientists who plan on sending their research to space and those involved in the controversial world of genetic testing. McAuliffe will feature in episodes one, two, four, six and seven of the series, bringing his own take to the more unusual and unlikely stories from the wonderful world of science in the 'Weird Science' slot.
UCC research also features prominently in episode one, which will focus on food science and molecular gastronomy with Prof. Alan Kelly, Dept of Food Science. Episode seven features Prof. Tony Lewis and the Hexwind Project at Beaufort Research (HMRC).
Fergus, who has a degree in environmental science, will also take to the stage on Saturday 14 September at TEDxDublin 2013, which will be hosted by the Science Gallery in the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre. He joins an inspiring list of speakers with ‘ideas worth spreading’, as the TED jingle goes (see http://www.tedxdublin.com/2013-speakers/). Fergus will discuss his work at the interface of the man-made world and the natural world and his research on using plants to sustainably protect our environment from harmful wastes; how we can learn new techniques from nature; how to communicate meaningfully with the public.
Prof. John O’Halloran, Head of the School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences (BEES) UCC, comments: “Fergus is a wonderful science communicator, a real leader when it comes to convincing the wider public that research can be accessible to all, and more so that it can also be exciting. This is critical in building a knowledge-based society. Good communication skills are actively encouraged amongst all our students in the School of BEES here in UCC. Thanks to TEDxDublin and RTÉ’s The Science Squad, an even larger audience will now get a real taste of what communication research should be all about.”