The Edge of Forever at Attenborough Arts Centre (Jan-Mar 2022)- brings together key works from Loz Atkinson’s ‘Imagined Nebula’ series, which began in 2015 as an outlet for Loz’s increasing interest in exploring the relationship that human beings have with the universe. I provided some introductory material for her gallery guide, and participated in a discussion group on the intersection between art and science.
Royal Astronomical Society/British Association of Planetaria workshop on The Planets 360, an immersive planetarium show based around Holst’s “The Planets.” This is freely licensed by National Space Centre (NSC) Creative, for any UK planetarium thanks to the help of the RAS. I provided a 15-minute presentation on Jupiter exploration for planetarium experts (May 5th 2021), and participated in extended Q&A sessions on the latest news in planetary exploration.
Leicester City Festival 2019: During August 19th to 23rd, Jubilee Square in Leicester’s city centre was transformed into a celebration of all things space, with “aliens”, astronaut suits, meteorites and model rockets all housed under a giant dome. Activities were centred around the theme of “Out of this World” to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, with the Department’s staff and students taking part in the “Ask a Space Expert” event.
Planets 2018: Reimagining Holst’s Planets Suite a Century On: I was invited to work on a Live Music Sculpture event produced by Sound UK and funded by Arts Council England, National Lottery and RVW Trust. I was tasked with working with composer Richard Bullen to create a new composition of Holst’s Jupiter, inspired by our scientific discoveries over the past century. These were performed to a live audience in four planetariums (Greenwich, Winchester, Bristol and Birmingham) by the Ligeti Quartet, and I provided an introduction to planetary science at the Thinktank Museum, Birmingham, on October 2nd 2018. The website for the events is here, the music is now available via SoundCloud, the Leicester press release is here, and the 4* Guardian review is here.
Royal Society Book Prize (2018): I served as one of five judges for the Royal Society’s Science Book prize of 2018, reviewing a large number of books from April to September 2018, and attending both the Hay Festival (July) and the Winners Announcement in London (October) as a member of the judging panel. Full details of the book prize can be found here.
Royal Society Summer Exhibition (July 2018): Worked on the James Webb Space Telescope stand at the Royal Society, speaking with hundreds of members of the general public over the course of two days. Full details about our display can be found here.
Science Museum Lates (August 2017): Presenting Cassini and Juno imaging on a big screen to hundreds of ‘SML’ guests.
Stargazing: Oxford! A full-day event at Oxford’s department of physics to accompany the BBC Stargazing Live events. I organised the planetary science contributions and provided ‘Flash Talks’. Read my blog entry here January 2012.
Philip Wetton Telescope Evening (January 10th 2012): Exploring the solar system presentation, making a comet, and observing Jupiter’s dark belts, barges and icy moons from the Oxford Astrophysics telescope. The audience was a group of 20 Year 9 students from Wallingford. More details about the telescope can be found here.
SET for Britain 2011: Selected as one of thirty early-career scientists to present my research in the Terrace Marquee of the House of Commons, March 14th 2011. I displayed a poster on “Unravelling the Mysteries of the Giant Planets”, discussing my work on gas giant dynamics and planetary impacts with peers and MPs.
Family Science Saturday at the Sheffield Winter Garden - March 11th 2006: The Centre For Science Education based at Sheffield Hallam University organised this special event as part of Science Week 2006 as an opportunity for the public to meet young scientists and engineers and find out about the exciting work they do.
Lab in a Lorry - Oxford August 2005: Roving laboratories from the Institute of Physics. I volunteered for two days as the lab parked up in Broad Street, Oxford.
Exhibitions and Museums
