Staffs BioSciences Student Stories – Meet Gemma (BSc (Hons) Human Biology)

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In the Biological & Biomedical Sciences department we always want to hear from our students throughout their course as we value them and their thoughts and experiences with us at Staffordshire University.

As part of our new series of Staffs BioSciences Student Stories, we’re pleased to introduce Gemma who is currently on our Human Biology course. Find out how Gemma is getting on with her studies as she shares a little about herself and her experiences with us.

I’m a part time student and a full-time mum to three children. I decided to come to university as a hobby in the beginning, I hadn’t thought about a career at the time. Now I can honestly say it is one of the best decisions I made. I’m about to start my final year and I’m so proud for what I’ve achieved in the past four years. The people I’ve met along the way have been fantastic. I’m truly happy that I decided that this was right for me.

Why did you choose to study Human Biology with Staffordshire University?

My honest answer is distance from school in case they rang, and I had to leave. With that said I’m glad I chose Staffs. The lectures and technical staff are fantastic, any problems or questions I’ve had they’ve always been happy to help in any which way they can. A massive thank you to all the Bioscience staff. Continue reading →

Wildlife In The Garden

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by Dr Dave Skingsley (aka the ‘bugbotherer’)

With summer started (honestly!) many people turn to the public green spaces around them (such as gardens, parks, towpaths, the moorlands) for a place in which to relax. It’s only then, when listening to the natural world, that people become aware of the background buzz of the workers toiling in these places. The question many are now asking (Hallman et al 2017) is has that noise become quieter? The evidence is mounting that there are fewer insects in the ‘wilder spaces’ but that private green spaces such as home gardens provide places where insects (and I must admit to favouritism here) can call home, or a workplace. Just a quick search of the internet shows most of the wildlife charities (links below) recognise the value of garden green spaces and the needs to, just ever so slightly, rewild them.

All of these charities recognise some key ideas to help insects and thus all the other creatures (including humans).

So what can you do with the space outside your house, flat, parking lot.

Try some of these approaches

Bird boxes

These offer shelter and spaces for those nesting places lost to tree felling and hedgerow removal. Birds, and all the other wildlife would prefer the hedgerows and trees but if they have been lost where could they go? Old bird boxes are often colonised by bees. Check out the RSPB’s advice on creating a wildlife-friendly garden.

Dunnock on Bramble Continue reading →

Big Bang Fair West Midlands 2019 – Biological Sciences Edition

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The Big Bang Fair invites students and companies from around the West Midlands to celebrate all things STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics). This is the second year that Staffordshire University has hosted the Big Bang Fair, after a very successful first year. This year was even bigger and better than before!

This year the event was an astonishing success with a whopping 3000 visitors on campus! There were all sorts of workshops and activities in which the students visiting could get involved with. One of the most popular stands in the event was ran by two PhD students about plastics in the ocean. Visitors were offered biodegradable glitter face painting as part of their activity. At one point there were over 30 students queuing to have their faces painted!

Another very popular stand at the event was the virtual reality activity. The VR stand was ran by our Psychology Department to show how the brain could be tricked into thinking you are walking along a plank suspended in the air, rather than the reality that you were stood on the floor. This was not only popular with the students but also with their teachers as well, everyone wanted to experience it! 

Continue reading →

Staffs BioSciences Student Stories – Meet Thaleia, BSc (Hons) Forensic Biology

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In the Biological & Biomedical Sciences department we always want to hear from our students throughout their course as we value them and their thoughts and experiences with us at Staffordshire University.

As part of our new series of Staffs BioSciences Student Stories, we’re pleased to introduce Thaleia who is currently on our BSc (Hons) Forensic Biology course. Find out how Thaleia is getting on with her studies as she shares a little about herself and her experiences with us.

I’m from Greece and live in Stoke-on Trent. I work for a hospitality agency located in Cardiff. My only family in the UK is my boyfriend who lives in Cardiff, so I spend most of my free time volunteering, reading books and judging crime-related movies based on my knowledge.

Why did you choose to study Forensic Biology with Staffordshire University?

Staffordshire University was one of my first five choices due to factors like the RSB (Royal Society of Biology) accreditation, the high employability rates and the high ranking in biosciences. I received positive answers from all five Universities I applied for, so I had to think of further factors in order to decide which one to choose. Staffordshire University seemed more demanding in terms of skills that we will have to develop throughout the course, therefore I accepted the challenge. Continue reading →

Staffordshire University’s Biological Science Students Visit Tampere University of Applied Sciences

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Staffordshire University’s biological science students have just returned from Finland’s picturesque city of Tampere – following the indulgence of some great Finnish cuisine, amazing views across lake Pyhäjärvi, and a VERY hot sauna. Aside from Tampere’s strong devotion to art and conserving the natural environment, Tampere is home to vast biological facilities; focusing on the advancement of science and the attainment of a sustainable future. After touring TAMK’s research facilities it is no surprise the university is considered one of the largest multidisciplinary universities in Finland – offering students a vast range of opportunities. Continue reading →

Screen time for children: the WHO’s extreme new approach may do little to curb obesity

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Dr Sarah Rose, Senior Lecturer at Staffordshire University, writes for The Conversation

Get children more active. That’s the aim of the World Health Organisation’s new guidelines on physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep for children under five years of age. The guidelines make specific recommendations about the amount of sleep, physical activity and screen time children should have each day.

For screen time, the guidelines state that children under two years old should get no screen time and children aged two to five should get no more than an hour a day.

While childhood obesity is a global crisis, cuts lives short and has significant economic costs the WHO guidelines on screen time are oversimplified. Continue reading →

Why some people can’t stop running, according to sport psychology

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Dr Andrew Wood and Dr Martin Turner, lecturers at Staffordshire University, write for The Conversation

Alex has a problem with running; he has become addicted to it. “I have to get out and run, whether my family like it or not,” he says. “It’s just who I am.”

Running three times a week has become ten times a week, and when life gets in the way of his running, Alex becomes irritable and racked with guilt. He has gone from what was a healthy pursuit, to an unhealthy overindulgence. His body is shot to pieces and is mentally and physically exhausted. But still, he keeps running.

The physical and mental benefits of running are indisputable. But runners can have too much of a good thing. This is especially true for long-distance runners as they tend to increase their training loads and become increasingly competitive. They’re at risk of making a shift from healthy perseverance (“I want to run”) to unhealthy and pressured overindulgence (“I have to run”).

Continue reading →

Big Biology Day 2019 – The planning has commenced!

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As the planning for BBD19 gets underway we wanted to take the opportunity to remind ourselves of the feedback that the attendees and exhibitors left for us at Big Biology Day 2018 to see what worked well and what we can improve for next year.

Last year’s event was a big success with over 500 people in attendance to see the stands and participate in the workshops and activities.

Feedback from the visitors was overwhelmingly positive,

here are just a few of the open comments we received from visitors:

  • “It’s been a great day, enjoyed it. Very informative”
  • “An excellent idea for children to attend and foster their love of science.”
  • “1 a month would be awesome (though probably impossible)”

It’s great getting feedback like this, and the middle feedback quote represents the ethos of the whole event really well. Unfortunately, if we tried to implement the last request we’d never get anything else done!

We did note that some in attendance would have liked better on campus signage, so we’ll work on making sure that we do that better for the 2019 event.

Overall Big Biology Day 2018 was a resounding success with more attendees than ever before.

 

Looking forward to BBD19 we’re gearing up to make this bigger and better than ever before. We’ll be continuing with the Great Biology Bake Off and our many and varied stands, activities and workshops. We already know that we’ll have new content that has not been seen before and there’s even a rumour about having a program of talks in the big lecture theatres.

Whilst we can’t spill the beans just now, we’ll add new blog entries as we confirm the event details.

 

    Early Childhood Studies Degree Network Conference

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    We had an opportunity to share our small-scale study, “Early Years Teacher Status: Constraints, Implications and Reforms required for a 21st Century Early Years Workforce” with a wide audience of academics and students at the 2nd ECSDN research conference in London on 25th January.

    Our study was borne through the enthusiasm of Amy an Early Years Teacher Status Staffordshire University graduate who was passionate about the status of Early Years Teachers who train to work with children aged from birth to 5 years old.

    Continue reading →

    Port Vale F.C. Foundation Trust – Coach Development Event

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    BSc Football Coaching & Performance students joined Port Vale F.C. Foundation Trust for their recent Coach Development Event

    The first-year cohort of the BSc Football Coaching and Performance course were invited by Tom Sheratt, Head of Port Vale Foundation Trust, to visit Vale Park and participate in their in-house Coach Development Event for sports coaches.

    The day started early for the students with an 8.30am meet at the Roy Sproson statue (popular player from the 1950’s and 60’s) directly outside Vale Park in Burslem. The first action of the day was to shake off the effects of the -2 degrees Celsius temperature with warm refreshments. After a short while meeting and greeting the club coaches and coach educator, the in-house training event started in earnest. The students were purposefully mixed with the club and community coaches to ensure that there was a variety of backgrounds and experiences to draw upon in the subsequent activities.

    The activities on the day all revolved around effective coaching and how coaches can add their own ‘flavour’ when coaching. Coaching is a social activity, conducted in teams, and it always benefits to have the coach put their own stamp on what they do, making it unique and personal to themselves, whilst also focusing on the needs and development of the participants. The students enjoyed the coach development session, which was delivered by Tom Peever, F.A. Coach Educator, particularly because of the insight that it provided to students surrounding the type of CPD training they may have to undertake when they graduate from the course and gain employment in a football club. This was invaluable for the students and only provides them with more knowledge of the inner workings of a football club. Continue reading →