A team from LSTM will be exhibiting, for the very first time, at the prestigious Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition in London in July 2016. The Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition is a week-long annual 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.
The exhibition, entitled: The Mosquito Diaries – keeping the bloodsuckers out of bed, 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 involves the work of Josie Parker's supervisor, Dr Philip McCall, and ETCH team’s Dr Marlize Coleman, Dr Edward Thomsen and colleagues from the University of Warwick.
Through a range of interactive hands-on activities and computer games the exhibit will demonstrate three key messages to the public: mosquitoes transmit malaria; insecticide treated bednets protect against malaria transmission; and insecticide resistance threatens mosquito control efforts. In particular, Josie Parker will demonstrate her research utilising new technology to track the flight of individual mosquitoes and how they interact with a long lasting insecticide treated bednets.
The new 2D tracking system, developed in partnership with the University of Warwick, offers the first real insight into mosquito behaviour in this way, enabling the team to track mosquito flight on a large scale in controlled conditions. In addition, the ETCH team will also demonstrate how their serious gaming work can communicate the complexities behind large-scale malaria control programmes and insecticide resistance management.
LSTM’s Public Engagement Manager, Dr Elli Wright, commented: “Exhibiting at the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition 2016 is a fantastic opportunity for LSTM and its researchers. As we develop our public engagement program 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. Josie Parker’s work is visually stunning and provides a real insight into the life of one of the world’s most important disease vectors.”
The Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition is the Society’s main public event and is open to members of the general public as well as schools, students and members of the media. It runs from the 5th - 10th July 2016 at the Royal Society in London.