Discussions about zombie fungi, exoplanets, and vegetarian spiders; seamless segues; and Taylor Swift. All to be expected during a typical live Love & Science show on local Bristol radio station, BCfm Radio. Love & Science was started by former UWE Bristol SciComm lecturer Malcolm Love, many years ago. Now, it’s run by Andrew Glester, current Lecturer in Science Communication at UWE Bristol, and a collective of science enthusiasts with a wide range of interests and backgrounds. Many of the episodes are aired live, with sparkling discussions about science stories that have been making h ..read more

In our last blog post we updated you on our 2023 Infographic data gathered from 55% (n=165) of graduates who completed the MSc Science Communication programme between 2003 and 2022. We also contacted a number of graduates requesting their participation in a case study. In this second blog post we capture some further points from these case studies. One potential career area that’s often popular with students starting our programmes is the media, and we’ve met more than one budding ‘Sir David Attenborough’ over the years, but working in the media can take a variety of forms and 13% of our gradu ..read more

In 2016 we published an infographic that explored the career paths of our students after they completed their MSc. In 2024 we will be celebrating 20 years of our MSc science communication at UWE Bristol and we thought it would be timely to catch up with our graduates’ careers now and we’re even more impressed. You can view our updated infographic below. UWE-2023-MSc-Sci-Comm-Infographic-FINALDownload To gather the data for the infographic we took a couple of routes. Just over 300 students have graduated from our UWE science communication postgraduate programmes since 2003 and whilst we aren’t ..read more

Students on the Science on Air and on Screen module in the 21/22 academic year made a 7 minute film to fit in a magazine programme like The One Show or Countryfile. Students were given free reign to choose, research, storyboard and film their sequence before heading to the post-production house Films@59 in Bristol to work with industry editors to complete their films. Secrets of the Avon gorge Delving into the stories and science of Bristol’s Avon Gorge, Holly Stevenson, Aimee Milne, Cerys Baker, Laura Thomas, Yi-Hsuan Lee and Jayasuriva Perera made this film.Reconnecting with nature Inspire ..read more

Many people in the science communication field have an educational background in natural sciences (in my case biology), and subsequently found a passion for science communication. I had my insight during the time I was working in a botanic garden. I had begun to do guided tours, outreach, and public engagement activities, when I realised that I would like to focus my career on connecting people with plants/nature. Thus, I commenced studies toward a PhD in science communication. I explored a range of options for such study and the Science Communication Unit (UWE Bristol) stood out among all of ..read more

Like most people I spend a lot of time in my home; on average we spend 80% of our time in our homes, much more than they spend in any other environment.  This makes our homes very important for our health but, despite this importance, relatively little is known about air pollution in the home.  This is partly due to the huge range of different homes (I mean, what is a “typical home”?) and partly because it is rather obtrusive for researchers to collect data in homes where people are living!  Citizen science offers a powerful solution to this problem; by empowering people to take ..read more

Policy briefs exploring the impact of COVID-19 on people and the planet have been published by researchers from UWE Bristol’s Science Communication Unit. During the global pandemic, children’s lives were changed by both the presence of the virus and measures put in place to control it e.g., closure of schools and play spaces, move to online learning, and social distancing. The Voices in a Pandemic project (VIP-CLEAR) highlighted the importance of capturing children’s voices, which are often missed, about the impacts of these mitigations on their lives. The interdisciplinary research team from ..read more

By Dr Margarida Sardo  Homes Under the Microscope (HOMEs) is a multidisciplinary project that brings scientists, participants and the textile industry together to develop a new way to measure microplastics in the home. It is a collaboration between the University of West England, the University of Leeds and the University of Edinburgh. The researchers involved have a wide range of backgrounds including environmental research, laboratory analysis of microplastics and social science researchers who work to evaluate research projects. Led by Dr Ben Williams (Air Quality Management Resource C ..read more

by Mic Palmer A Youth Climate Café that took place in St Marks Church in Easton in April 2022 invited young people across Bristol to come and share in climate discussions and activities.  It was organised by UWE Bristol researchers, community members and charitable groups in Easton. Audience engagement activities on the day included an immersive climate dome, seed pot making, presentations, conversations, an air pollution workshop and walk, and a fast fashion dance. The creative input was supported by Baggator Nexus, St Mark’s Baptist Church, Peace of Art, Easton Community Memb ..read more

Today marks the launch of a new year-long programme that aims to inspire and motivate young people in the West of England to pursue green career pathways. Known as Inspire Sustainability, it is one of three West of England Combined Authority (WECA)-funded initiatives as part of the Green Futures Fund, that, if successful, could be replicated and scaled to meet the region’s Climate Emergency Plan and Net Zero ambition. This announcement builds on recent WECA support of other green skills initiatives in local schools, with West of England Mayor Dan Norris awarding the first g ..read more