James is a winner of the UK National Science and Engineering Competition. We interview him about his experience and looking forward to LIYSF in just a few weeks time.
Tell us a bit about yourself
My name is James Shaw, and I am from Liverpool in the North of England. Liverpool is a relatively large city, and many of you may have heard of it before as it is the origin of the band The Beatles. I have just finished my final A-level qualifications at Gateacre School Sixth Form, and hope to be starting an MSc Oceanography course at the University of Southampton in September. I am looking forward to visiting the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton with LIYSF, as the centre will be my learning base for the next four years!
After university I hope to proceed into a career of research. A particular dream would be to work for the British Antarctic Survey, and have the opportunity to live in Antarctica for a couple of months! Many of my hobbies surround Earth Sciences, and I am an avid reader of palaeontology books. Also, whenever given the chance, I love fossil hunting and have collected many fossils from North Wales. In addition to science I am also a huge fan of the Lord of the Rings/Hobbit, both the books and the movies, and cannot wait for the next movie in December! I also enjoy producing Claymation movies, a hobby which requires A LOT of time and patience!
So you're a winner of the UK National Science and Engineering Competition! Tell us about it, and your experience!
My experience at the National Science and Engineering Competition was phenomenal!
Last summer I was given the opportunity to complete a six week geophysical research project at the University of Liverpool, mentored by world renowned palaeomagnetist Dr John Piper. I had to assess the palaeomagnetic properties of certain rock samples from geological structures in Northwest Scotland. By doing this I was able to construct a palaeotectonic movement diagram for Britain in Early Devonian times around 400 million years ago, displaying both Britain’s movement path and its speed. However once we had constructed the diagram it was concluded that the results in fact did not display tectonic movement, but a much more significant global geophysical event. My results presented a True Polar Wander (TPW) event in Devonian times. True polar wander is a solid-body rotation of a planet or moon with respect to its spin axis, causing the geographic locations of the North and South Poles to change, or "wander".
After gaining the Gold Crest award from the British Science Association I decided to take my project further by entering the National Science and Engineering Competition (NSEC). The NSEC is part of the Big Bang fair; an annual event which attracts over 60,000 people! The NSEC is an event which showcases the best research from a select number of 11-18 year olds from over the UK. The Big Bang fair is again a national event aiming to make science more accessible to younger people, and highlight the growing need for science worldwide.
I successfully was chosen to present my research at the fair, and travelled down to London in March to do so. As one can guess I was extremely nervous, but excited about presenting my work, and the competition was a major learning curve. I learnt how to make scientific work assessable to those who had not studied a certain area of science in the past, learning many presentation skills. I presented my work over two days, displaying my work to both the public and various research scientists. My research was also displayed alongside many major scientific companies such as NASA, Shell, and the Royal Navy etc. Over these two days I also took part in many other activities. One highlight was Nobel Prize winning scientists presented their work on cell division and respiration in mitochondria; research that was present in my A-level Biology textbook! After the two days all participants were collected for the National Science and Engineering ceremony. Here I found out I had won a place and funding on the LIYSF! I was absolutely spell bound, and could not believe I had actually won a prize considering the high quality of many other projects. At first I had no idea what the LIYSF actually was, but as I learnt more about the forum I discovered how prestigious LIYSF is! I can confidently say the NESC was the best learning experience of my life! And I recommend the competition highly to any who wish to enter!
What are you looking forward to most during LIYSF 2013?
I cannot wait to get down to London to participate in the LIYSF 2013! It starts just 15 days away as I write this! Despite being born in London my parents moved back to Liverpool when I was about three, so I remember little about the capital. Having visited the city briefly in the past I can assure you London is not your typical city; it is a vibrant city rich in history, culture, and scientific research. I am 100% positive no one will be disappointed by their stay in London! I am looking forward to exploring more of my birthplace, and learning more about this marvellous city!
In addition to visiting London I am also extremely excited (but again slightly nervous!) about meeting all the other participants from the countless number of countries from around the world. I was informed that there are nearly 60 countries taking part! I can’t even name 60 countries! I hope I will make many long lasting international friends, and learn much about the countries in which all the participants originate from. I am extremely excited to be able to live in a diverse international community for two weeks all linked by one thing: A deep love for science!
This is a once in a lifetime opportunity!
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