Thank you so much to everyone who voted for me! I am so thrilled to have won. I had such an amazing time talking to all the schools and answering all the smart, well thought out questions that every student had for me. I learned a lot from the students as well (did not know about Pinocchio Syndrome until I’m a Scientist!!). Thank you to the other scientist in the Neon Zone, you made these two weeks incredibly interesting and full of evidence-based information. To the I’m a Scientist team, thank you for running this incredible event, it has been a very special experience!

I also want to thank the INFANT centre and University College Cork for recognising the importance of STEM engagement and for encouraging all their scientists to participate.

Participating in I’m a Scientist has been a really worthwhile experience and I love how I always learn so much from doing STEM engagements. The kids had such a vast amount of questions that ranged from ‘when will the sun explode’ to ‘how can we best look after developing brains’. These kids are already amazing scientists and I learnt a lot about space the last 2 weeks!

I would highly recommend that every scientist participate in I’m a Scientist. It is fun, interesting and lively and takes you outside your comfort zone! It is also an incredibly rewarding experience and allows you to show how many different jobs there are in science! For now, I am off to work with the National Council for the Blind on the science programme! Thank you everyone!

Scientists! If you’d like the chance to win funding for your own public engagement work, apply for the next I’m a Scientist, Get me out of here: iasie.ddev.site/scientist-apply