School of Life Sciences Seasonal Lectures
Sixth form pupils from across Liverpool recently attended the School of Life Sciences for the School’s annual Seasonal Lectures. Around 100 pupils heard talks from Dr James Hartwell, Dr Alice Maher and Professor Mike Speed.
‘Plants to save the world!’ by Dr James Hartwell
Modern agriculture is barely managing to meet the current food demands of the world, and it has been predicted that a 70 % increase in crop yields will be required by 2050 in order to keep pace with population growth. This talk highlighted some of the ground-breaking research that is currently underway to help address the global food security crisis, and the need to make agriculture more sustainable and resilient in the face of the rapidly changing climate.
‘Body shape evolution: how adaptation improves survival' by Dr Alice Maher
Charles Darwin once said: 'It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change'. Through natural selection, the shapes of vertebrate species have been moulded through time from their first arrival on to land over 300 million years ago to the age of dinosaurs and to species alive today. Dr Maher’s lecture described how vertebrates have evolved body shapes to adapt to their environment and enhance their survival.
‘Why are some infectious diseases nastier than others’ by Professor Mike Speed
Some diseases, like the common cold, can make us feel poorly, but don't threaten to kill us. Others, like malaria, cholera and rabies can be very dangerous. This short talk explained some of the fundamentals of disease biology and evolution that can explain why, some diseases are unpleasant, but not dangerous, while others are a threat to life.
The pupils and teachers also had the opportunity to talk to the speakers and students over refreshments.
Dr Elliott Stollar, who organised the event said: “We were delighted to welcome pupils to our Seasonal Lectures. As ever, the lectures proved extremely popular with pupils and staff were only too happy to share their expertise as well as hopefully inspire pupils as to what they could achieve.”
Feedback from pupils
The lectures were interesting and diverse in what was covered. Exciting to see what studying at university has to offer and feel inspired about applying for university (Kim, Cronton Sixth Form)
Enjoyed the body shape lecture – makes you understand more what I have been studying within my A Levels (Briony, Cronton Sixth Form)
Plant lecture was insightful and enjoyed learning about new things. Attending the seasonal lectures has made me think of new options about what I would like to study at university. (Ola, Winstanley College)
The lectures allowed me to learn about new areas that you don’t hear about when studying at college. Showed me the areas of science that you can specialise in when studying at university (Hannah, Winstanley College)