Date & Time: Thursday November 16th, 9am to 3pm
Location: St Brendan’s Monastery School, Birr, Co. Offaly.
Event : The Reptile Zoo
A unique opportunity to get up close and personal with animals that would normally only be seen on TV. Safe handling and small groups makes sure that children have the chance to learn close up about snakes, tarantulas and tortoises, among many other species. This event is now fully booked.
Date & Time: Thursday November 16th, 9am to 3pm
Location: Daingean National School, Co. Offaly.
Event: Waterways Ireland Eco Show
A fun day exploring Ireland’s waterways and the science behind their development and conservation. This event is now fully booked.
Date & Time: Thursday November 16th, 9am to 3pm
Location: Mount Lucas Wind Farm, Co. Offaly.
Event: Curiosity Day in association with Bord na Mona
A day of curiosity and science exploration at Mount Lucas Wind Farm with the Rediscovery Centre, the go Fly a Kite team and ecologists leading a bioblitz walk. This event is booked out in advance and is presented in association with Bord na Mona.
Date & Time: Monday November 13th 8pm
Location: Athlone Institute of Technology, Dublin Road, Athlone, Co. Westmeath
The Science of Dogs, From Wolf to Woof
There’s a lot of science to the dogs in our lives, everything from how to care for them to how they think and how they evolved from wolves. Join us for a fascinating evening with a Veterinary Scientist and an Evolutionary Biologist as they explore the world of canines. What’s it like to be able to smell not just every bit of open food in the house but also to smell sadness in humans? What is it like to hear the bodily vibrations of insects or the hum of a fluorescent light? Learn about the secrets of their tails, and their skill at reading our attention. We’ve been joined by the evening by some four-legged friends Albert, Benji and Maude with their owners, as we seek to understand an animal that there is still so much to know about.
Booking link https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/from-wolf-to-woof-the-science-of-dogs-tickets-38726418761
Date & Time : Monday 13th November, 9am to 3pm
Location : Scoil na gCeithre Maistri, Athlone, Co. Westmeath.
Event : Exploration Dome
Exploring the night’s sky and some underwater worlds too in Ireland’s largest mobile planetarium. This event is now fully booked.
Monday November 13th
Time : 9am to 3pm
Location : Scoil Bhride, Harpers Lane, Knockmay, Portlaoise, Co. Laois.
Event : Junior Einsteins
Explore the science of everything from elephant toothpaste to the effect of electricity on Barbies, smoke rings and plasma balls, Junior Einsteins make science fun and interesting and hands on ! This event is now fully booked.
Saturday November 11th
Time : 10am to 2pm
Location : St Mel’s College, St Mel’s Road, Longford, Co. Longford.
Event : Discovery Day
An open event for families with The Reptile Zoo, Dinosaur Science with Dale Treadwell, Anyone 4 Science Shows, Science Energy Drinks Workshop, Coding Robots & Drones, Careers & Subjects Workshop. Suitable for aged 8 and up and young children must be accompanied by an adult. This event is presented in association with Abbott. Booking on https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/discovery-day-tickets-38230096247
Fancy your chances of winning an ipad? Check out this cool University of Limerick competition… Its open to all students in Ireland and the link is here:
http://www.sspc.ie/crystal_growing
We were delighted to have Chris Coombs from Tullamore Physio in to speak to students at Tullamore College last week. Chris is also a lecturer in the Sports Science department at AIT and gave students a whole host of tips on sports injury prevention during their ‘Healthy Living Week’ as well as advice on facilities and courses at AIT. We had a chat to Chris to find out more about his career and what inspired him to study physiotherapy!
Chris, what was it that first inspired you to pursue a career in physiotherapy? I know you are sports mad, could that be something to do with it?
I was always fascinated with sports performance. I was playing rugby and judo in wales and was constantly trying to get the best out of myself but for various reasons I kept getting injured (Now I know why!) – So for me it was a no brainer if I couldn’t play top level sport it provided a great chance of being involved in high level sport!
Can you tell us a bit about your background, where you studied and what course you took?
My first degree was in Sports Science, I studied this at Glamorgan University and this gave me a good background in sports performance testing and training elite athletes. Following this I attended Cardiff medical School and completed a Degree in Physiotherapy. I then undertook post graduate courses looking at running mechanics, athlete load monitoring and various courses to help treat different conditions. At present Im studying a Masters in Clinical Physiotherapy which is based out of Curtin University, Australia!
Did you like science in school?
Yes I quite liked science it was better than maths! At school I probably wasn’t the most dedicated student but as I got a little older I found I enjoyed it more!
We are delighted to hear you are now sharing your expert knowledge and lecturing in the Midlands third level institution, AIT? What courses are you teaching there?
Fortunately, I was lucky enough to be appointed lecturer in Athletic Therapy & Rehabilitation. I’ve been lucky enough to attend some of the best universities in the UK and Australia but I was blown away by the sports facilities in AIT – They have some great cutting edge technology there.
There aren’t enough future scientists! What can we be doing to encourage more young people to pursue a science related qualification at third level?
I think Science is a great gateway for students. It allows students to branch off into so many different areas such as sport, hospital based jobs to researching cancer etc. My advice to students is to pursue science related jobs ..not only are there many well paid jobs but there is such a different range of jobs that you can go into. It also allows you to travel the world. I never have imagined I’d end up working in elite sport and now lecturing at AIT.