Young scientist Ceri Harrop of Pulford wins coveted science award

Dec 3 2009 Chester Chronicle

A YOUNG scientist from Chester has won a coveted Society of Biology Science Communication Award.

Ceri Harrop grew up in Poulton, near Pulford, and now works in the Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell-Matrix Research at The University of Manchester.

Her energetic efforts to bring science to the public include writing and presenting a short television series, presenting a radio show and working as an ambassador for her subject in the national New Outlooks In Science and Engineering campaign.

During all this, she was also developing a 3D in vitro model of the human airways to study how respiratory diseases can lead to changes in their structure and function, with cash help from a charity that funds research to replace the use of animals in experiments.

The Science Communication Awards recognise research-active bioscientists from UK universities or institutes who make an outstanding and consistent contribution to communicating science to the public.

Ceri, who won the Young Researcher category, said: “The taxpayers, or charity donors, fund our research. It is public money and they have a right to know what we are doing with it.

“I don’t think we give people enough credit – they are interested in health and other science issues and we, as scientists, should make research accessible to the public.

“Secondly it’s highly rewarding to take your research to a different audience. It gets you away from the lab bench and helps you see your work from a different perspective.

“Filming the educational TV series was a blast and I was amazed by how much hard work it took to make a 40-minute episode.”