About us ...

Mary Arber

First things first: I'm not a scientist. My professional background is in law, policy development and teaching. I've worked for and alongside all sorts of organisations in the public sector and done a stint as a freelance writer. However, I'd definitely describe myself as an interested observer of scientific ideas and discoveries - an informed layperson. Professionally I've had to grapple with the legal and ethical impact of technological advances. On a more personal level, my interest has grown as developments shed new light on what it means to be human.

When I first heard about Junior Café Scientifique (JCS), I was teaching GCSE and A-level law at a local college. Obviously, my primary role was helping students succeed academically in externally assessed exams but I was increasingly interested in less tangible aspects of learning - intellectual curiosity, lateral thinking, creativity and self-expression. As a law teacher, I was forever dreaming up new ways of encouraging students to engage with topical issues. It can be hard within the constraints of a classroom - and the limits of an exam syllabus - to find time for this side of learning. JCS is an ideal opportunity to focus on what I enjoyed most about teaching: creating space for students to encounter, consider and discuss contemporary ideas and issues.

But why science, as a non-scientist? Well, unlike other topics I'm interested in, science seems to have been pushed to the margins of mainstream society. It's not easy to engage with new ideas and participate in debate. Part of the genius of JCS is the way science is taken out of the classroom, "thrown back into culture" and made available to everyone. Reading groups are old hat and film buffs have been getting together to discuss the latest releases for years. Why not meet working scientists and discuss challenging scientific ideas in a similarly informal, intimate context?
For me, JCS is an exciting approach to science, at an exciting time for scientific developments. As Project Organiser, my main aim will be to enthuse as many students, teachers and speakers as possible and support them to create a strong network of cafes.

Sarah-Jane Judge

I have always been the kind of person who was fascinated by finding out how things work (my Mum will testify to this by recalling the time I ripped her jewellery box apart to find out what was making the ballerina spin round and round). To me, this is what science is: the thing that makes everything work, from space rockets to biros and ecosystems to slugs. Science is simply everything!

As a student (reading for an honours degree in Aquatic Biosicence and then a Masters in Ecotourism) I was lucky enough to get a job at the Glasgow Science Centre working (if you can call anything that much fun work!) as a science communicator. During my five years at the Science Centre I learnt to translate complex issues into simpler forms and communicate them to the public. This often involved blowing something up and involved a lot of balloons. I decided I loved science (and talking) too much to become a research scientist, so I decided to make a career out of it (science communication, not blowing things up!). I went on to research and develop science exhibitions at another science museum, the Centre for Life in Newcastle. You can see two of the exhibitions I worked on there: the Climate Change area in the Futures Zone and Wasted: the trouble with rubbish (also in the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry).

I have a huge appreciation of the natural world and, being a sub-aqua diver, I have a special place in my heart for the underwater environment. My favourite animals are turtles; while at university, I set up a conservation project for leatherback turtles in the West Indies. I love going back to Tobago and seeing my friends (human and turtle) but my climate-aware conscience does not allow this too often. A lot of my work as a communicator has centred on environmental issues, especially climate change; at the moment I am managing the web communities for the British Council's Low Carbon Futures programme.

I want to make other people as excited about science as I am and realise that scientist does not have to equal "geek" . Or, that if it does, then everything is geeky, from Formula One cars to Hollywood movies. And, of course, jewellery boxes.

Betty Kituyi

I jumped at the chance to become Project Co-ordinator for Café Scientifique in Uganda, because I sensed that science cafes could be the saviour of science here. People's attitudes to science can be negative and yet science and technology are increasingly becoming an intricate part of people's lives: phone masts are being erected in our towns and cities, genetically modified crops are promoted as a way out of hunger and poverty, the Government advocates DDT spraying campaigns, polythene bags are scattered everywhere, and more. I hope that science cafes will give Ugandan people an opportunity to understand these issues and begin to make responsible decisions concerning emerging technologies.
I am excited to be at the forefront of science communication, helping people across Uganda have simple everyday conversations with science experts, on equal terms.

I have taught in secondary schools, mentored student teachers and taught basic science courses to undergraduate students and in-service secondary and primary school teachers at Kyambogo University, Makerere University School of Education and the Distance Education Department at Makerere University, Uganda. I have an MSc in Chemistry (for a study of algal toxin levels in Lake Uganda), a BEd and a Diploma in Secondary School Education.

My other passion is creative writing. I am an active member of FEMWRITE, the Uganda Women Writers Association, and have written and published my works in anthologies such as I dare to say; testimonies of Ugandan women living positively with HIV/AIDS. I am currently working on a short story on female genital mutilation, based on women's experiences in Kapchorwa, and a novel. My poetry has been published locally and internationally and on poetry websites. I am an alumni student of the Crossing Borders cultural exchange programme, organised by the British Council, linking Ugandan and British writers and I regularly write for Ugandan newspapers on science, education and other social issues.

My early attempts at science communication began when I took part in programmes for writers, broadcast on Ugandan radio and television. I was often asked how I juggled science and writing. I seized the opportunity to tell the listening audience that science is for everybody and that scientists can find their creative meaning in their work and the world around them.

I am committed to helping women's groups in my village and co-ordinate fundraising activities to raise seed capital for small projects, such as those run by the Nabweya women's group and the Bushunya farmer's association. Together we explore sustainability, organic farming and bee-keeping and other income-generating ventures.
I grow oyster mushrooms in a grass-thatched enclosure at a family house in Kisasi, Kampala and occasionally cook rice using a solar cooker in my backyard. I am the proud mother of a lovely four-year old boy, Matthew Mumbere Kamoti.
I want to end by sharing a poem by one of my former students:

Sodium Dance
Like lightning,
group one metals react
Fast dashes
made by sodium,
in a zig zag dance
with cold water, its friend,
dancing vigorously
while floating on it
but dangerous if used in big amounts
to annoy it to explosion
remember the yellow flame
of sodium which is envious.
 
(Christine Nabachwa, student at Kyambogo University, 2001)