Page 19 - PERIODIC Magazine Issue 6

U nderstanding Theoretically

media reporting speaking

of science

Dr Holly Reeve, David Ormrod Morley and Tim Burd,
Project Manager students in the Theory and Modelling in
and Co-Investigator Chemical Sciences Centre for Doctoral
of the HydRegen Training, are podcasting to make
Project, has been theoretical chemistry accessible to people
working with the all over the world.
Daily Mirror Science What is theoretical chemistry? This is a question that we
and Technology team get asked all the time when we try to explain to people
as part of a British what we do for our PhDs. Everyone seems to have an
Science Association idea about what a chemist does, going about their lab in
initiative. The scheme aims to give scientists a white coat synthesising exciting new molecules, and
and engineers the confidence and willingness equally people can picture a theoretical physicist with a
to engage with the media and to tackle issues blackboard full of equations, or standing in a tunnel at
of trust and misrepresentation, as well as CERN. However, in the middle of these there lies a huge
to give journalists access to new scientific and diverse field of research, which few people seem
expertise. to know about, in which scientists like us are trying to
use theory and computation to try and answer the big
During my time at the Mirror I wrote more than 20 articles, questions chemists are asking in the lab. So we set out to
including a feature piece and a science podcast. The feature, correct this and to give people an insight into the world
‘Why Love Island is turning you into a scientist’ describes of theoretical chemistry. The result was our podcast
Love Island from the perspective of evolutionary biology Theoretically Speaking.
and was inspired by a conversation with researchers from
Oxford’s Zoology department – it’s been well received by Series 1 was released in January this year and the format
scientists, I’m not sure about Love Island fans… was simple. Each week we discussed the theory behind
one of the hot topics in the field, and interviewed a
I learnt a huge amount about how researchers can better leading academic about its use in their research and
interact with the media and about the importance of working the future of science. With subjects ranging from
with University press teams to frame research projects and biomolecular simulation to quantum computing and even
promote them to journalists. Being at the Mirror in particular using virtual reality in chemistry, we really hope there
challenged me to use a new writing style to keep people was something for everyone to get excited about! We
engaged to the end of a story. certainly had a great time producing it, and it has been
amazing to interact with listeners around the world who
During the podcast session (where we got a little distracted
at times!), we discussed how Chemistry is often the hidden have got in contact through social media. So if you have a
science in journalism. Readers show a significant preference spare 20 minutes you can find Theoretically Speaking on
for Physics, Space and Biology. During our outreach projects, SoundCloud, iTunes or your favourite podcast app, and
we already try to focus on showing audiences how critical be sure to let us know what you think!
chemistry is to all of our daily lives, but this experience https://soundcloud.com/theoreticallyspeaking
has shown me that we need to do more to capture the
imaginations of the public and to make our science more
relatable.

You can listen to Holly’s podcast at:
www.mirror.co.uk/science/future-file-podcast-special-
edition-12937155

19
Periodic
The Magazine of the Department of Chemistry