The Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition opened today with LSTM's Mosquito Diaries as one of the exhibitors. The exhibition is a week-long display of the most exciting cutting-edge science developments in the UK, where the public can meet scientists, try some of the hands-on activities or attend inspiring talks and events.
LSTM's exhibit, which was previewed at Liverpool's LightNight in May, is led by Vector Biology PhD student Ms Josie Parker and LSTM’s Engaging Tools for Communication in Health (ETCH) team’s Ms Charlotte Hemingway. It invokes the work of both teams along with collaborators at the University of Warwick.
The exhibit involves a demonstration of live adult mosquitoes, a competitive buzz-wire game, the computer games developed by the ETCH team and a mosquito mask-making craft activity for younger visitors.
LSTM’s Public Engagement Manager, Dr Elli Wright, commented: “Exhibiting at the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition 2016 is a fantastic opportunity for LSTM. It is great to showcase our research alongside some of the best science in the UK. Today we have been open to the media and to many, many excited school children and we look forward to welcoming visitors throughout the coming week."
Dr Wright continued: "As we develop our public engagement programme at LSTM it is important that people outside the organisation get to understand a little more about the fantastic, life-saving research that we undertake.”
The team is grateful for the support from a number of sources including the MRC, Avecnet, the Awesome Foundation, the Royal Entomological Society and the Royal Society, as well as support in kind from Manta Ray Media in London and CDP Print Management in Liverpool.
The Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition is the Society’s main public event and is open to everyone. It runs from the 4th - 10th July 2016 at the Royal Society in London.