While I too, have been very disappointed by the engagement from RSC central at last month’s GA, I was really encouraged by the level of support and enthusiasm demonstrated by the RSC’s volunteers at the event. There is an absolute treasure trove of committed individuals willing to sacrifice their spare time to promote the chemical sciences.  

After RSC HQ outlined some of their ideas for the IYC at last month’s General Assembly, (better late than never), there was a plethora of ideas put forward on how local sections, YMNs and interest groups alike could get involved.  The IYC offers a once in a lifetime opportunity to promote the chemical sciences, and other than the YMS, the International Year of Chemistry was the main topic of conversation for the YMF reps at the GA. We discussed and shared ideas for possible events, talked about how we could collaborate and maximise our impact during 2011. There were plenty of larger ideas, such as getting a chemist on prime-time TV: A member of D:Ream may telling us that “things can only get better” because of physics, (don’t worry, I groaned too),   but who’s flying the flag for chemistry?  Come on RSC HQ ,find us our Brian Cox!

Anyway my vote in the RSC’s Chemistry X-Ray Factor goes to Jimmy Doherty for his current “Jimmy’s Food Factory”  series. While the chemistry in the show maybe packaged as food science, he is promoting the chemical sciences in a very accessible, entertaining and more importantly (relatively) non-biased way.  Hot on his heels would be Stefan Gates for his recent show which dispelled some of the myths around E-numbers which amongst other things involved him undergoing liposuction to produce E422 (Glycerol).

As well as the big ideas, there were also plenty of more manageable ones that could be implemented locally.  One of which I’ve already started developing read[plagiarising] from YMF rep: Susan Parkhouse. This is to get involved with local civic groups (like the WI, Rotary Club, Round Table etc) and put them in touch with exciting science speakers to feature at their 2011 events. Having after dinner speakers talking about chemistry should be a great way of raising the profile and  public perception of the chemical sciences.  While we’re on the topic of key opinion makers, mums and dads are perhaps the most important group we should be engaging with. After all, who else has that level of influence with the next generation of scientists?  

While events at science festivals, Scout and Guide meetings and at science museums are a great way to enthuse the public with the joys of science, the families at these events tend not to be that hard of a sell. The interest is usually there already, and the participants/visitors tend to be a self selecting group.  IYC offers a great chance to promote science to the harder to reach families, taking the science to where it’s needed. Be it at parent and toddler groups, art galleries or out on the streets of the UK and beyond.

Here in Manchester, we’ll still be running our usual hectic schedule of events, (3-5 events per month is not uncommon these days), but we’re also planning to squeeze in some extra IYC events too.  As well as re-branding some of our educational and public engagement events we’ve come up with some new ones.  Plans for a Rutherford Centenary lecture are already underway, offering the perfect counterpoint to our biennial Dalton Lecture, and celebrating the centenary of the Rutherford Atomic Model to month, and where it was discovered. As for public engagement events, Youtube and Steven Spangler’s website are already racking up the hits while we look for new and exciting ways of making mess in the name of science. Note to self: must not get bright green elephant’s toothpaste on the museum ceiling. Again!  

Oh well, the risk assessments are calling.  Over to the YMF’s tamed Health and Safety Advisor. Some say that she’s the only person the HSE are afraid of, and that she can make non-essential journeys in the snow. All we know is she’s not the Stig.............Katharine!

OK, I might have been watching too much TopGear while typing.