Postdoctoral researcher Rebecca Evans has been announced as an Award lecturer for this year’s British Science Festival, which will be hosted in Liverpool this September.
The Award lectures are the first part of the Festival programme to be confirmed, aiming to showcase early-career researchers who are committed to sharing their work with non-specialist audiences.
Dr Rebecca Evans, who is a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Psychology, will deliver a lecture entitled ‘Game on, snack more’, which will explore whether digital gaming affects what we eat. Brands are everywhere on videogame livestreaming platforms, targeting young people with ads for food high in fat, sugar and salt. Rebecca will show how this marketing affects eating habits, asking what we should do to protect gamers from junk-food marketing.
Rebecca said: “I'm honoured to have been selected to deliver the Social Sciences Award Lecture at the British Science Festival. This is a really exciting opportunity to share our important research with a new audience - including young people, who are most targeted by this marketing - in a fun and engaging way.”
James Brown, the British Science Association’s Head of Festivals and Director of the British Science Festival said: “The Award Lectures are always a highlight of the British Science Festival programme, shining a spotlight on the very best early-career researchers working in the UK. We were incredibly impressed by the quantity, quality and diversity of brilliant ideas submitted through this year’s Award Lectures open call. Our winning speakers have been chosen for their innovative and impactful interdisciplinary research as well as for their passion for communicating their work and engaging new audiences. I can’t wait to attend their events in September. “
The full programme of events will be available in July. You can keep up to date with news about the Festival here.