The John Innes Centre receives strategic funding from BBSRC
The John Innes Centre receives strategic funding from BBSRC
JIC researcher recognised for her contribution to public engagementJuly 19th 2010 Fiona Corke, a Research Assistant in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology at JIC has received a Public and Community Engagement Award from CUE East and the University of East Anglia for her long-standing work in public engagement and communicating the John Innes Centre’s science to the wider community. 'I am really honoured to gain this award, as my ongoing reward is the enthusiasm of the children I meet through my outreach work,” said Fiona. “To make science and the natural world exciting to young people is crucial for the future.” Fiona’s passion has been for conveying the crucial role plants play in our lives; she has developed a series of plant-based quizzes that convey the importance of plants in a fun and interactive way. Working with the Communications Team at the JIC, she has taken the quizzes to numerous events for families and children around Norfolk, Suffolk and beyond. Such has been the popularity of these quizzes, such as ‘Which Part of a Plant Do We Eat?’ that they have been adopted by others and frequently requested by teachers. Fiona has also been a very active member of the Teacher Scientist Network, forming a partnership with Hethersett Junior School, where her regular visits help make the science lessons fun, interesting and relevant. She has also hosted visits by school groups to the site and by members of the public to Friends of John Innes Centre events. Fiona has been key in establishing a work experience programme at the JIC, based on her own experiences hosting school students wanting to get a taste of laboratory work. Previously these visits were carried out on an ad hoc basis, where although students were able to work in the labs, many more were left disappointed and the students and their hosts scientists were not getting the most benefit from the visits. Fiona proactively worked with teachers, scientists and JIC administrators to put together a programme and policy that allows the students to experience a range of labs and working environments. Most recently Fiona was instrumental in the development of a play for the John Innes Centenary, Blooming Snapdragons. Working closely with the writer and lead actress she helped significantly with her research into the daily life of a research assistant and also provided many of the props for the production, including plant material. This took a significant amount of time as she also repeated the exercise with the play director and the actress who played the part of the Research Assistant, both of whom specifically commented on how invaluable that insight had been. Fiona received her award from CUE East at the UEA Congregation Ceremony on 16th July 2010. CUE East is one of six higher education national Beacons for Public Engagement. The Beacons are leading the effort to foster a change of culture in universities, assisting staff and students to engage with the public. They aim to provide an informed climate within which universities are all better able to improve quality of life, support social and economic regeneration and instill civic values.
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