Thank you so much for having me on I’m a Scientist! It was a fantastic experience.

The live chats were a great way of engaging everyone, even at a distance. People obviously enjoyed them – sometimes, the questions came so fast we scientists couldn’t even keep up! The students had a way of making us think differently about our disciplines; after all, I’d never spent much time before wondering how many atoms are in a bacterium or what the strongest fabric is for making clothes.

Of course, one topic clearly dominated the conversation – coronavirus. It’s clear that everyone had been paying attention to current events and, in some cases, it’s clear that people had been worrying. Although this year’s event took place under some degree of difficulty – with schools needing to rearrange schedules at the last minute because of unexpected absences and closures – I think it came at exactly the right time for students to connect with science and medicine professionals and get the answers they wanted most. I’m glad it worked out that way, and I hope we were helpful!

I’m also honoured to have been in the company of such fascinating fellow scientists – a scientist who works on cancer, a mathematician who models infectious disease, a physicist who does microscopy and another who controls lasers… what a great mix of people (and we’ll definitely stay in touch)! We definitely all owe the mods a huge thank-you for looking after the chats and making sure everyone was heard.

I hope it’s clear what a great time I’ve had on I’m a Scientist. I can strongly recommend it to scientists, teachers, and students alike – and I can’t wait to get started on my new science projects, all thanks to the students and I’m a Scientist!

Mick