In order to raise awareness for STEM, people are being encouraged to get involved in science at a local Sheffield museum.
The Late: The Craft of Science event organised by lecturers at Sheffield Hallam University, will take place on Thursday from 7pm to 10pm.
Dr Sarah Forbes a senior lecturer in microbiology at Sheffield Hallam and Dr Melissa Lacey, an associate professor started the event in 2017 to raise awareness about science and get people involved in STEM.
Dr Forbes said: “We just want to show people what we are doing and try and get the local community to understand a bit more about what we are doing because science isn’t particularly accessible to the lay audience.”
The event will focus on craft alongs, where audiences will listen to 5-10 minute talks whilst doing a craft, drop in and out activities which are table based systems and more involved workshops that take longer.
Some of the activities include, crocheting, painting, bubble art, clay modelling and an organic chemist will be talking about the beer brewing process, whilst audiences will be beer tasting.
Dr Forbes added: “I think that when we are trying to get young people excited about STEM these kind of events really help that because people can come along and see that there is diversity there.
“It not just like middle aged white men anymore there is a lot more to our scientific community than that.”
Dr Kelly Capper-Parkin a microbiologist and postdoctoral research associate at Sheffield Hallam is running the crocheting activity where audiences will be crafting biofilms.
Dr Capper-Parkin said: “The whole idea is we are going to craft this biofilm together and its going to build up like it does in a biofilm where the individual bacteria comes together individual crafters are going to come together.”
She developed coatings to prevent urinary tract infections by e coli, “when a biofilm forms on a urinary catheter it can be absolutely devastating for catheter users, it causes horrific infections, makes them feel massively unwell.”
She started a research project called Unravelling biofilms, where they are visiting communities in Sheffield and discussing biofilms whilst knitting miniature bacteria, which will go on a poster and shown in a gallery.
Dr Capper-Parkin said: “We stitch them on and form this biofilm as a community so we form this microbial community with our macro community of knitters and crocheters across Sheffield.”
For more information about the event click here, Late: The Craft of Science – Sheffield Museums Trust
Information about Kelly’s research can be found here, Unravelling Biofilms – A crafted microbial community (wordpress.com)