Britain needs scientists: The Maynard can supply them!

“Single sex schools help women become scientists because there is nobody to tell them that they should not be in the lab,” Dame Mary Archer, the current chair of the trustees of the National Science Group, once said.

And if ever there was a case in point, the recent activities at the Maynard School in Exeter reinforce this! On Wednesday 6 July, whilst most of the school were competing at Sports Day, five of the top Sixth Form scientists attended the ‘Britain needs Scientists’ conference at the University of Exeter. They enjoyed lectures from leaders in various scientific fields on a range of topics, such as DNA barcoding and extrasolar planets as well as the statistics of disease outbreaks and the developmental process of new antibiotics to combat these.

Meanwhile, earlier in the week, a group of Lower Sixth geographers attended the annual ‘Girls into Geoscience’ conference at Plymouth University where they were treated to an exciting series of lectures about the potential for careers in Geology and Geosciences. They learned about numerous topics including geophysical oil and gas exploration, the use of bubbles in mineral processing and they looked at microfossils to assess climate change.  A highlight of the day was inspecting some stunningly beautiful meteorites in the Planetary Geology workshop.

Conferences such as these aim to inspire the next generation of scientists and geologists by providing fascinating insights into future career opportunities within these spheres. Given the number of girls in attendance just goes to reinforce the Maynard theory that ‘This Girl Can’!