Current and Past Projects

By Dr Lindsey Shaw Greening, CEO.

Overview:

I have always had a passion for science, I remember being at school in year 5 and realising that I wanted to be a scientist because it just made so much more sense than everything else. My career path was obvious and I went to university to study physics. While I was there I fell in love with astronomy research and decided to continue in this area. During my post graduate research I realised that being focused on such a small area of science was fascinating but not fulfilling enough and I took part in more and more work with schools and public workshops to fill my desire to learn more about all areas of science and share that knowledge with others. I completed my PhD in 2008 and since then I have been working full time as a science communicator on various projects. I work with schools, universities and businesses to help them fulfill their ambitions to share science knowledge.

Scientist-in-Residence, The Peele Community College, Lincolnshire

As Lab 13 Scientist-in-Residence I am working with the whole school (KS 3&4) to create non-curriculum STEM workshops. I am running events with individual departments as well joint projects including English, Drama and horticulture. The Lab 13 project aims to increased students awareness of the creativity of STEM subjects by encouraging the students to take control of project work.

Content Consultant, Science Alive, Harlow

Science Alive is a brand new science centre opening in Spring 2010. I am devising their rst year's exhibition content and creating bespoke curriculum relevant workshops related to the exhibitions for in centre and outreach delivery.

Open Unlimited Physics and Astronomy Zone:

In 2009 I was appointed as project manager for the Open Unlimited event as part of the 40th birthday celebrations of the University. I designed events to run, recruited and managed a team of volunteers, wrote risk assessments and worked with the central team on marketing and evaluation.

Creating Science Virtual Learning:

Working with staff and students at Waddesdon C of E school to create some scientific content for their virtual learning gallery. I have been exploring topics with years 12 and 13 around cosmology, year 8 about physics, year 7 have been looking at equations in science and years 9 and 10 about the scientific method.

Milton Keynes Science Festival

I am responsible for the smooth running of the Milton Keynes Science Festival. I create new projects for the festival around the science-art boundary on topics such as DNA, travel to Mars and outer space. The festival covers all STEM areas and works with local universities, schools, companies and STEM E\&E providers to create a free public festival every year.

Manchester Science Festival

In June 2008 I was appointed as the Festival Coordinator for the second Manchester Science Festival. I worked with the festival director and partners to support the development and delivery of the 2008 festival according to the project plan.

Research Student, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Open University

My research focused on looking for black holes in other galaxies using the X-rays emitted when they devour nearby stars. While at the Open University I also:

  • Gave 20 workshops to primary and secondary schools during the 2008 Milton Keynes Science Festival. 
  • Gave a number of talks and workshops for local guiding and scouting groups about the solar system or observing space, helping over 250 scouts, beavers, cubs and brownies to gain their astronomy badges. 
  • Satellites and Telescopes expert for the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust: Delivering Space for the new Science GCSE workshop November 2006. 
  • Active STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Maths) Ambassador in the Milton Keynes area. 
  • Created Our Sun website for the 2007 Milton Keynes Science Festival which included some images and films of observing the sun with solar telescopes at the Open University.

Memberships

Member of Institute of Physics and Royal Astronomical Society. Also a member of STEMNET, STEMPRA, BIG and Sense about Science.