The 2016 scientific society talks in London blogpost

by @JoBrodie, brodiesnotes.blogspot.com.Tweet this post.

I know it's still Summer (there are plenty of open-air cinema screenings in London before the end of September in London) but it's about this time of year that I start to keep an eye on the autumn science talks season. Here's what I've found so far...

• Blackheath Scientific Society - 2016 not published yet
• Chelsea Physic Garden - Thursday Supper talks
  
• Hampstead Scientific Society - DRAFT programme
• Highgate Literary & Scientific Institution - Lectures / Events (I've just displayed the ones that seem the most sciencey, there are plenty of other interesting events there)
• Kew Mutual Improvement Society (KMIS) - Information page (PDF) @Kewlectures)
  
• Linnean Society - Events (PDF) 
• Richmond Scientific Society - 2016 not published yet
• Worshipful Society of Apothecaries - Events (lectures free, booking advisable) 
• See also Interesting Talks in London 

There are also events from the Royal Institution and the Royal Society which are fantastic but it's almost impossible to copy and paste text from their website so I've not added them here.

Also, feel free to copy and paste this and put it in your own blog posts and listings. It's not my info, it's just culled from all these sources above. Share the science communication news :)

SEPTEMBER 2016
2 September 2016 - Friday
2-5pm - Linnean Society
RBG Kew – QMUL MSc Student Project Presentations: Plant and Fungal Taxonomy, Diversity and Conservation - PARTNER EVENT

15 September 2016 - Thursday
8:15 pm - Hampstead Scientific Society
A Personal History of 62 Years of Bioengineering - Prof. Emeritus Heinz Wolff (Brunel University)

15 September 2016 - Thursday
6-7pm - Linnean Society
Sex, Drugs, and Ecosystem Services: the Sweet Poisons in Nectar - EVENING MEETING - Professor Philip Stevenson FRES (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and University of Greenwich)

26 September 2016 - Monday
6pm - Kew Mutual Improvement Society (KMIS)
 ‘Keeping every cog and wheel – How can botanic gardens conserve all plant diversity for future generations?’ - Dr. Paul Smith (Secretary General BGCI)

29 September 2016 - Thursday
6-7pm - Linnean Society
Wild New Territories: Portraits of the Urban and the Wild - NATURE READER

OCTOBER 2016
3 October 2016 - Monday
6pm - Kew Mutual Improvement Society (KMIS)
‘Confessions of a show gardener’ - David Domoney (Broadcaster, Writer and Show Gardener)

4 October 2016 - Tuesday
5.30-7pm - Linnean Society
Why We Die - STUDENT LECTURE [A-level students can sign up to attend]
In this lecture, Simon Watt, biologist, writer, science communicator, comedian and TV presenter, will delve into the surprising science behind why we die.

6 October 2016 - Thursday
7pm - Chelsea Physic Garden
'Reduced to Almost Nothing: Londoners in the aftermath of the Great Fire of London' - Meriel Jeater

10 October 2016 - Monday
6pm - Kew Mutual Improvement Society (KMIS)
‘Californian native flora – The wonder of Calochortus’ - Solène Dequiret (Kew Diploma Student)

6pm - Kew Mutual Improvement Society (KMIS)
‘Living tree sculpture in the USA’ - Joe Clements (Kew Diploma Student)

12 October 2016 - Wednesday
6-7pm - Linnean Society
Sir Julian Huxley Lecture: Dosage Sensitive Genes in Evolution and Disease - PARTNER EVENT
Aoife McLysaght (Professor in Genetics and Head of Genetics in University of Dublin, Trinity College)

17 October 2016 - Monday
6pm - Kew Mutual Improvement Society (KMIS)
‘The relocation & development of the University of Bristol Botanic Garden’ - Nicholas Wray (Curator University Botanic Garden Bristol)

17 October 2016 - Monday
6pm - Worshipful Society of Apothecaries
Sydenham Lecture - “Life and death in chains: Streptococcus pyogenes and history” - Marina Morgan, FRCPath, Consultant Medical Microbiologist, Exeter

20 October 2016 - Thursday
8:15 pm - Hampstead Scientific Society
Genetic Variation and Multiple Sclerosis - Dr Jessica Davies (University of Oxford)

20 October 2016 - Thursday
6-7pm - Linnean Society
The Feminisation of Nature - EVENING MEETING - Professor Charles R Tyler (University of Exeter)

24 October 2016 - Monday
6pm - Kew Mutual Improvement Society (KMIS)
‘Exploring Australian botanic gardens and plants in the wild’ - Nicola Lloyd (Kew Diploma Student)

6pm - Kew Mutual Improvement Society (KMIS)
‘A botanical excursion to North and South India exploring the flora and its medicinal plants - Anna-Lena Tack (Kew Diploma Student)

27 October 2016 - Thursday
6-7pm - Linnean Society
Wildflowers in the Western Mediterranean - NATURE READER - Chris Thorogood FLS

31 October 2016 - Monday
6pm - Kew Mutual Improvement Society (KMIS)
‘Ancient oaks in the English landscape - Aljos Farjon (Kew’s Conifer Specialist)

NOVEMBER 2016
1 November 2016 - Tuesday
8pm - Highgate Literary & Scientific Institution
Blowing Hot and Cold: the strange story of the earth’s atmosphere - Keith Shine, Professor of Meteorology and Climate Science, University of Reading

2 November 2016 - Wednesday
12-1pm - Linnean Society
Wildlife Live – A Springwatch Experience - LUNCHTIME LECTURE - James Smith

3 November 2016 - Thursday
12-1pm - Linnean Society
Darwin Lecture – Global De-Worming: A Darwinian Perspective - EVENING MEETING - David Rollinson FLS i(Natural History Museum London, Director of the World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre)

3 November 2016 - Thursday
7pm - Chelsea Physic Garden
'Tea, Cotton, Rubber and Quinine: The Garden at the Centre of Change' - Letta Jones

7 November 2016 - Monday
6pm - Kew Mutual Improvement Society (KMIS)
‘Education at Longwood Gardens – A continuum of learning’ - Dr. Doug Needham (Director of Education)

8 November 2016 - Tuesday
8pm - Highgate Literary & Scientific Institution
The Future of British Broadcasting: making the good popular and the popular good - Alex Graham, Chair of the Sheffield International Documentary Festival and Visiting Professor, University of Lincoln School of Film & Media Network

8 November 2016 - Tuesday
5.30-7pm - Linnean Society
Exploring Ocean Wonders - STUDENT LECTURE [A-level students can sign up to attend]
Oceans cover seven tenths of our planet and are home to a huge range of living things. Dr Helen Scales, marine biologist, writer and documentary-maker, will unveil the oceans’ living wonders, offer a glimpse into the life of a marine biologist, and show why there has never been a more important time to look after the marine realm.

14 November 2016 - Monday
6pm - Kew Mutual Improvement Society (KMIS)
‘An illustrated tale of another Royal Botanic Garden: RBG Melbourne’ - Richard Barley (Director of Horticulture RBG, Kew)

17 November 2016 - Thursday
8:15 pm - Hampstead Scientific Society
Gravitational Lensing - Dr Benjamin Joachimi (UCL)

17 November 2016 - Thursday
6-7pm - Linnean Society
Form, Function and Fisheries: The Scientific Legacy of Edward Stuart Russell - EVENING MEETING - Introduced by Gordon McGregor Reid, Past President of the Linnean Society. Speakers: Roger Downie, Professor of Zoological Education, University of Glasgow, with research interests principally in the life histories of amphibians and marine turtles; and Carl O’Brien FLS, DEFRA Chief Fisheries Science Adviser and the 2015 Buckland Professor.

21 November 2016 - Monday
6pm - Kew Mutual Improvement Society (KMIS)
‘Q and A session with; Head Gardener of the American Ambassadors House, London – Horticulture with diplomacy’ - Stephen Crisp (Head Gardener Winfield House)

23 November 2016 - Wednesday
6pm - Worshipful Society of Apothecaries
Monckton Copeman Lecture - “Death by Water: Rethinking John Snow and Cholera” - Dr Richard Barnett, Writer, Teacher and Broadcaster

28 November 2016 - Monday
6pm - Kew Mutual Improvement Society (KMIS)
‘Conservation in action- British Virgin Islands’ - Miranda Janatka (Kew Diploma Student)

6pm - Kew Mutual Improvement Society (KMIS)
‘Ecuador, from the jungle to the Andes’ - Mathew Rees (Kew Diploma Student)

DECEMBER 2016
2 December 2016 - Friday
7pm - Chelsea Physic Garden
'A Christmas Carol: an evening' - Carol Klein  

2 December 2016 - Friday
6-7pm - Linnean Society
The Invention of Nature - FOUNDER’S DAY - Andrea Wulf FRGS
5 December 2016 - Monday
6pm - Kew Mutual Improvement Society (KMIS)
‘Acorns as food in human history: Myth or Reality?’ - Béatrice Chassé (Plant Hunter)

7 December 2016 - Wednesday
12.30-1pm - Linnean Society
The Botany of Christmas - LUNCHTIME LECTURE - Mark Nesbitt FLS, curator and ethnobotanist at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

8 December 2016 - Thursday
8:15 pm - Hampstead Scientific Society
Non-Native Invasives in Fresh Water - Joe Pecorelli (Zoological Society of London)

12 December 2016 - Monday
6pm - Kew Mutual Improvement Society (KMIS)
‘What do we mean by ‘natural’ planting?’ Fundraising lecture: £8 entry £4 students/staff
Dr. Noel Kingsbury (Garden Designer)

JANUARY 2017
9 January 2017 - Monday
6pm - Kew Mutual Improvement Society (KMIS)
‘Botanic gardens in Central Honshu, Japan’ - Misako Kasahara (Kew Diploma Student)

6pm - Kew Mutual Improvement Society (KMIS)
‘Bhutan, the last paradise’ - Christopher Brown (Kew Diploma Student)

16 January 2017 - Monday
6pm - Kew Mutual Improvement Society (KMIS)
‘Small bulbs in the winter garden - snowdrops and more’ - Dr. John Grimshaw (Director Yorkshire Arboretum)

17 January 2017 - Tuesday
8pm - Highgate Literary & Scientific Institution
Future Challenges for Palliative Care - Irene Higginson, Professor of Palliative Care and Policy, King’s College London

19 January 2017 - Thursday
8:15 pm - Hampstead Scientific Society
Origin, Evolution and Extinction of the Dinosaurs - Prof Paul Barrett (Natural History Museum)

23 January 2017 - Monday
6pm - Kew Mutual Improvement Society (KMIS)
‘No dig abundance; fewer weeds, save time’ - Charles Dowding (Writer and Vegetable Grower)

26 January 2017 - Thursday
6pm - Worshipful Society of Apothecaries
Gideon De Laune Lecture - “Thinking, Learning and Teaching, An essential role of Apothecaries everywhere” - Dr Christopher Gardner-Thorpe, MD FRCP FRCPE FACP, Deputy President of the Faculty and History Courses Director at the Society of Apothecaries, Consultant Neurologist in Exeter

30 January 2017 - Monday
6pm - Kew Mutual Improvement Society (KMIS)
‘Collecting in the mountains of northern Vietnam’ - Bleddyn Wynn Jones (Crûg Farm Nursery)

FEBRUARY 2017
6 February 2017 - Monday
6pm - Kew Mutual Improvement Society (KMIS)
‘Is the nutrition in crops declining?’ - Fundraising lecture: £8 entry £4 students/staff - James Wong (Ethnobotanist, TV Presenter)

6 February 2017 - Monday
6pm - Worshipful Society of Apothecaries
Osler Lecture - “The Foundation of Taunton and Somerset Hospital (1812)” - Mike Davidson, FRCS, DHMSA,Semi-retired Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon

13 February 2017 - Monday
6pm - Kew Mutual Improvement Society (KMIS)
‘Adventures in gardening’ - Andy McIndoe (Consultant, Lecturer and Author)

16 February 2017 - Thursday
8:15 pm - Hampstead Scientific Society
The Acoustic Bubble: From Whales To Other Worlds - Prof Timothy Leighton (University of Southampton)

20 February 2017 - Monday
6pm - Kew Mutual Improvement Society (KMIS)
‘In search of hidden treasures in the woodland garden’ - John Anderson (Keeper of the Gardens, Crown Estate, Windsor)

23 February 2017 - Thursday
6pm - Worshipful Society of Apothecaries
Keats Lecture - “Keats and Medicine, an exploration of their relationship” - Emeritus Professor Sean Hughes, MS FRCSEd (Orth) FRCS FRSCI DHMSA DPMSA, Orthopaedic Surgery, Imperial College London

27 February 2017 - Monday
6pm - Kew Mutual Improvement Society (KMIS)
‘Wisley - A new chapter for the RHS flagship garden’ - Matthew Pottage (Curator RHS, Wisley)

MARCH 2017
6 March 2017 - Monday
6pm - Kew Mutual Improvement Society (KMIS)
‘Rubus - wild raspberries and blackberries’- Barry Clarke (Botanist, Hillier Gardens)

13 March 2017 - Monday
6pm - Kew Mutual Improvement Society (KMIS)
‘Remnants of the Brazilian Atlantic rainforest’ - Will Spoelstra (Kew Diploma Student)

6pm - Kew Mutual Improvement Society (KMIS)
‘A desert in bloom – Journey through the Western Cape’ - Tom Pickering (Kew Diploma Student)

16 March 2017 - Thursday
8:15 pm - Hampstead Scientific Society
Diamond – More Than a Girl's Best Friend - Dr Katherine B Holt (University College London)

20 March 2017 - Monday
6pm - Kew Mutual Improvement Society (KMIS)
‘Placemaking and planting’ - Fundrasing lecture: £8 entry £4 students/staff - Tom Stuart-Smith (Landscape Architect, Designer)

APRIL 2017
20 April 2017 - Thursday
8:15 pm - Hampstead Scientific Society
Lost Worlds of the Solar System - Prof. Hilary Downes (University College London)

25 April 2017 - Tuesday
6pm - Worshipful Society of Apothecaries
Sir Hans Sloane Lecture - “William Turner – Tudor Physician” - Marie Addyman, BA B.Phil D.PhilFreelance Lecturer and Researcher

MAY 2017
18 May 2017 - Thursday
8:15 pm - Hampstead Scientific Society
The Medical Implications of Space Flight - Steven Cutts FRCS (James Paget University Hospital)

JUNE 2017
22 June 2017 - Thursday
8:00 pm - Hampstead Scientific Society
AGM: Wine & Cheese £zzz + scientific entertainment

29 June 2017 - Thursday
2-5pm - Worshipful Society of Apothecaries
Flavell Symposium - tbc
29 June 2017 - Thursday
6pm - Worshipful Society of Apothecaries
John Locke Lecture - “Compassion in Healthcare: Practical Policy for Civic Life” - Dr Joshua Hordern, MA PGDip MSt (Oxon) PhD (Edinburgh), Associate Professor of Christian Ethics, Faculty of Theology and Religion, Harris Manchester College, University of Oxford

Here are the talks you missed last year (or not, if you went to them)
The 2015 scientific society talks in London blogpost (August 2015)

The 2015 scientific society talks in London blog post

I know it's still Summer (there are about 180 open-air cinema screenings in London before the end of September in London) but it's about this time of year that I start to keep an eye on the autumn science talks season. Here's what I've found so far...

• Blackheath Scientific Society - http://www.bss.btik.com/LectureProgramme
• Hampstead Scientific Society - http://www.hampsteadscience.ac.uk/hss_prog.htm
• Highgate Literary & Scientific Institution - http://www.hlsi.net/events_Level2.aspx?level2_ID=567
• Kew Mutual Improvement Society (KMIS) - http://www.kew.org/discover/news/kew-mutual-improvement-society (PDF) @Kewlectures 
• Linnean Society - http://www.linnean.org/Meetings-and-Events/Events
• Richmond Scientific Society - http://www.hampsteadscience.ac.uk/rss_prog.htm
• See also Interesting Talks in London http://interestingtalks.in/London/ 

Also, feel free to copy and paste this and put it in your own blog posts and listings. It's not my info, it's just culled and re-ordered from all these sources above. Share the science communication news :)

Wednesday 9 September 2015
8pm - Richmond Scientific Society
Fusion power - safe, clean, inexhaustible nuclear power: do we need it, and is it possible? - Dr Alan Costley

Thursday 17 September 2015
6pm - Linnean Society
The Global Oil Supply: Implications for Biodiversity? - Professor Chris Rhodes (advisor on low-carbon energy to the European Commission and director of Fresh-lands Environmental Actions)

8pm - Highgate Literary & Scientific Institution
Discussion on scientists reporting experiments - Prof. Vivian Moses in conversation with Prof. Sir Colin Berry, Queen Mary College

8:15pm - Hampstead Scientific Society
Your hand is a miracle! - Prof Heinz Wolff (Brunel University)

Monday 21 September 2015
6pm - Kew Mutual Improvement Society (KMIS)
The slippery and the slimy; how pitcher plants trap their prey - Dr Ulrike Bauer (University of Bristol)

Monday 28 September
6pm - Kew Mutual Improvement Society (KMIS)
Wrest Park - A garden revealed - Sheila Das (Garden Manager, RHS Wisley)

Monday 5 October
6pm - Kew Mutual Improvement Society (KMIS)
Madagascar, not the movie - Paul Eguia (Kew Diploma student)

Wednesday 7 October 2015
8pm - Richmond Scientific Society
 New Horizons: space-probe mission to Pluto - Dr Mike Goldsmith, Science writer
Preceded by the Annual General Meeting. Wine & Nibbles after the talk.

Monday 12 October 2015
6pm - Kew Mutual Improvement Society (KMIS)
Woody plants of North Carolina - Alex Hoyle (Kew Diploma Student)

Thursday 15 October 2015
6pm - Linnean Society
Evolution from beyond genetics? - Dr Ovidiu Paun (University of Vienna)

8pm - Highgate Literary & Scientific Institution
Energy storage in the electricity supply industry - Discussion led by Frank Escombe, EscoVale Consultancy Services

8:15pm - Hampstead Scientific Society
Pollen and forensic science - Dr Michael Keith-Lucas (University of Reading)

Friday 16 October 2015
7:45pm - Blackheath Scientific Society
The Cassini-Huygens mission - Dr Adam Masters (Imperial College London)
A talk on the space probe mission to uncover the secrets of the Planet Saturn, its rings and planets

Monday 19 October 2015
6pm - Kew Mutual Improvement Society (KMIS)
Jeju - Wandering through one of the new 7 wonders of nature - Katarzyna Babel (Kew Diploma student)

6.30pm - Linnean Society
The 2015 Darwin Lecture in partnership with the RSM - Prof Sir John Bell
- note venue is Royal Society of Medicine

Wednesday 21 October 2015
8pm - Richmond Scientific Society
Cold atoms: from fundamental physics to precision measurements - Dr Vera Guarrera, National Physical Laboratory

Monday 26 October 2015
6pm - Kew Mutual Improvement Society (KMIS)
Growing furniture, re-thinking our relationship with trees - Gavin Munro (Designer, artist, Full Grown Ltd)

Monday 2 November
6pm - Kew Mutual Improvement Society (KMIS)
The secret of sacred Lotus - Biodiversity and technical innovations - Dr Wilhelm Barthlott (University of Bonn)

Monday 9 November
6pm - Kew Mutual Improvement Society (KMIS)
The royal kitchen garden at Hampton Court Palace - Vicki Cooke (Kitchen garden keeper)

Wednesday 11 November 2015
8pm - Highgate Literary & Scientific Institution
Rare Earths - Discussion led by Dr Adrian Jones, University College London

8pm - Richmond Scientific Society
Colour Perception - Bill Stevenson, Society of Dyers and Colourists

Monday 16 November
6pm - Kew Mutual Improvement Society (KMIS)
The role of horticulture in education (Fundraising lecture: £8 entry - £5 for students) - Alys Fowler
(Horticulturist and journalist)

Thursday 19 November 2015
5.30pm - Linnean Society
Darwin's Ark: Should Evolutionary History Inform Species Conservation?

8:15pm - Hampstead Scientific Society
The curious world of rotations - Prof John Humberston (University College London)

Friday 20 November 2015
7:45pm - Blackheath Scientific Society
Television, gathering the strands - Mr Paul Ryan (BT Sport)
Integrating the disparate sources that are gathered together to make a programme

Monday 23 November
6pm - Kew Mutual Improvement Society (KMIS)
Exploring the flora of the Outer Hebrides - Elizabeth Newman (Kew Diploma student)

Monday 30 November
6pm - Kew Mutual Improvement Society (KMIS)
My life in horticulture - 65 years - Jim Buttress (VMH, RHS judge, BBC Big Allotment Challenge judge)

Wednesday 2 December 2015
6pm - Linnean Society
The Lord Treasurer of Botany - Tom Kennett

Monday 7 December 2015
6pm - Kew Mutual Improvement Society (KMIS) 
The National Botanic Garden of Wales and it’s honey bees - Lynda Chrystie, Bee-keeper, NBG, Wales

Wednesday 9 December 2015
8pm - Richmond Scientific Society
Non-native invasives in freshwater - Joe Pecorelli, Zoological Society, London
(Christmas meeting with wine and nibbles)

Thursday 10 December 2015
8:15pm - Hampstead Scientific Society
Adventures and advances in medical physics - Dr Alan Calverd (State Registered Clinical Physicist)

Monday 14 December 2015
6pm - Kew Mutual Improvement Society (KMIS)  
Herbaceous plant communities as a toolkit in the sustainable urban landscape - James Hitchmough (Professor University of Sheffield, Olympic Park planting designer)

Thursday 17 December 2015
6pm - Linnean Society
Pearls and Unicorns – Myth and Magic in Jewellery - Geoffrey Munn OBE, FLS

Thursday 14 January 2016
8pm - Highgate Literary & Scientific Institution
LEDs, low energy white light and its applications - Discussion led by Nigel Parry, Array Lighting, and Susie Wheeldon, Solar Aid

Monday 11 January 2016
6pm - Kew Mutual Improvement Society (KMIS)  
Growing against the odds in Australia - Rupert Harbinson (Kew Diploma Student)

Wednesday 20 January 2016
8pm - Richmond Scientific Society 
Future of wireless communications: higher frequencies, higher data rates, shorter distances - Prof Alwyn Seeds, University College London

Monday 18 January 2016
6pm - Kew Mutual Improvement Society (KMIS)
Space, an illusion & other mysteries - Paul Hervey-Brookes (Landscape designer)

Thurdsay 21 January 2016
8:15pm - Hampstead Scientific Society
The artificial heart; a new ending? - Prof Martin Elliott (Great Ormond Street Hospital)

Monday 25 January 2016
6pm - Kew Mutual Improvement Society (KMIS)
An exploration of South Africa’s Western Cape flora - Iain Middlebrook (Kew Diploma Student)

Monday 1 February 2016
6pm - Kew Mutual Improvement Society (KMIS)
Hardy's plant nursery - Rosy Hardy (Hardy's cottage garden plants)

Monday 8 February 2016
6pm - Kew Mutual Improvement Society (KMIS)
The effect of pesticides on bees - Dr Beth Nicholls (University of Sussex)

Monday 15 February 2016
6pm - Kew Mutual Improvement Society (KMIS)
Seed banking, the forest & mountain flora of New Zealand - Gareth Porteous (Kew Diploma Student)

Wednesday 17 February 2016
8pm - Richmond Scientific Society 
Applied plasma physics: the new frontiers of space propulsion and medicine - Dr Thomas Harle, Fourth State Medicine

Thursday 18 February 2016
8pm - Highgate Literary & Scientific Institution
Animal - computer interaction / dogs in science - Discussion led by Dr Clara Mancini, The Open University

8:15pm - Hampstead Scientific Society
Puzzles & paradoxes in science & mathematics - Tony Mann (University of Greenwich)

Monday 22 February 2016
6pm - Kew Mutual Improvement Society (KMIS) 
The Chelsea Flower Show - Tom Harfleet (RHS Chelsea Flower Show manager)

Monday 29 February 2016
6pm - Kew Mutual Improvement Society (KMIS)
Windsor Great Park - Mark Flanagan (Keeper of the Garden)

Monday 7 March 2016
6pm - Kew Mutual Improvement Society (KMIS)
Lessons from great gardeners - Matthew Biggs (Radio 4 Gardeners' Question Time panellist)

Thursday 10 March 2016
8pm - Highgate Literary & Scientific Institution
Weather forecasting: how and why is it ever right? - Discussion led by Dr Peter Inness, Reading University

Monday 14 March 2016
6pm - Kew Mutual Improvement Society (KMIS) 
Logan Botanic Garden, Scotland’s most exotic garden - Richard Baines (Curator, Logain Botanic Garden)

Wednesday 16 March 2016
8pm - Richmond Scientific Society
Inter-stellar chemistry observed from the Herschel space observatory 2010 - Prof Geoffrey Duxbury, University of Strathclyde
Lecture for National Science Week

Thursday 17 March 2016
8:15pm - Hampstead Scientific Society
The hydraulics of beaver dams - Matthew Duckett (BuroHappold Engineering)

Wednesday 13 April 2016
8pm - Richmond Scientific Society
Electronic Music - Andrew Hanson, Outreach Manager, NPL

Thursday 14 April 2016
8pm - Highgate Literary & Scientific Institution
Why do we sleep? - Discussion led by Prof. Derk-Jan Dijk, Surrey University

Thursday 21 April 2016
8:15pm - Hampstead Scientific Society
Is Pluto a planet? - Jerry Stone FBIS (Spaceflight UK)

Wednesday 11 May 2016
8pm - Richmond Scientific Society  
Sustainable livestock grazing systems - Jamie McFadzean, Rothamsted Research,
North Wyke and University of Exeter

Thursday 12 May 2016
8pm - Highgate Literary & Scientific Institution
Driverless cars/trucks - Discussion led by Paul Turner, Ricardo plc

Thursday 19 May 2016
8:15pm - Hampstead Scientific Society
Geological highlights of the Andes - Dr Tony Waltham (Engineering geologist)

Thursday 9 June 2016
8pm - Highgate Literary & Scientific Institution
to be arranged

Thursday 23 June 2016
8:00pm - Hampstead Scientific Society
AGM: Wine & cheese, £3 and scientific entertainment

London talks at various scientific societies

Included so far are talks from

• Blackheath Scientific Society
• Hampstead Scientific Society
• Highgate Literary & Scientific Institution 
• Kew Gardens (Kew Mutual Improvement Society - KMIS lectures) 
• Linnean Society events
• Richmond Scientific Society

Not added (too many!)

• Royal Institution (Ri)
• Royal Society

2015
February 2015
2 February 2015 - Kew Gardens, KMIS lectures
The Native And Endemic Flora Of South West Sri Lanka
Chris Hudson (Kew Diploma Student)

9 February 2015 - Kew Gardens, KMIS lectures
Plants & The Imagination
Richard Mabey (Nature Writer & Author Of Flora Britanica)

9 February 2015 - Royal Pharmaceutical Society
Tropical plants in British pharmacy
Dr Mark Nesbitt
FREE, 5.30pm 

12 February 2015,  8pm - Highgate Literary & Scientific Institution
Data security and encryption

16 February 2015 - Kew Gardens, KMIS lectures
The Spring Transformation Of The Western Cape
Alex Hankey (Kew Diploma Student)

18 Feb 2015 - Richmond Scientific Society
Adventures and advances in medical physics as seen from the viewpoint of a small local consultancy company
Dr Alan Calverd

19 February 2015, 8:15 pm - Hampstead Scientific Society
THE HISTORY OF RADAR
Prof. Hugh Griffiths (University College, London)

20 February 2015 - Blackheath Scientific Society
Damascus Steel
Owen Bush, a world renowned Sword Smith.
Damascus Steel is pattern welded steel. The talk describes it from modern and ancient perspectives. Although a modern smith it is a passion for Saxon Swords and in particular their pattern welding that is the inspiration behind the majority of his work.

23 February 2015 - Kew Gardens, KMIS lectures
Buckingham Palace Garden: History, Characteristics & Natural Fabric
Mark Lane MVO (Gardens Manager, London Royal Estate)

March 2015
2 March 2015 - Kew Gardens, KMIS lectures
Compost, Clover & Concoctions, Improving Soil Health By Adding Compost And Growing Green Manures
Ben Raskin (Head of Horticulture, Soil Association)

9 March 2015 - Kew Gardens, KMIS lectures
Plants & People In Turkey
Jamie Innes (Kew Diploma Student)

15 March 2015, 8pm - Highgate Literary & Scientific Institution
Carbon capture and storage

18 Mar 2015 - Richmond Scientific Society
Lecture for National Science Week
100 years of aircraft from Kingston upon Thames
David Hassard (The Hawker Association)

Thurs 19 March 2015, 8:15 pm - Hampstead Scientific Society
BIONIC HEARING
Prof. Ian Shipsey (CERN)

20 March 2015 - Blackheath Scientific Society
The Tooth, the whole Tooth, and nothing but the Tooth
Dr Dharaka Nathan, Dental Surgeon
The dental repertoire has evolved over the years. This talk will cover the types of filling materials that are used commonly in dental practice & their basic principles.

April 2015
8 April 2015 - Linnean Society
17th European Orchid Show and Conference London 2015

15 Apr 2015 - Richmond Scientific Society
Pioneering laser anemometry in the wind industry
Dr Michael Harris (Chief Scientist, ZephIR Lida)

16 April 2015, 8pm - Highgate Literary & Scientific Institution
Quality in science

Thurs 16 April 2015, 8:15 pm - Hampstead Scientific Society
RIGHT HAND, LEFT HAND:
The origins of asymmetry in brains, bodies, atoms and cultures
Prof. Chris McManus (UCL)

17 April 2015 - Blackheath Scientific Society
Restoration & Ecology of the River Cray
Mark Gallant, North West Kent Countryside Partnership
The talk will give a short introduction to the Cray, the associated wildlife, problems on the river and the measures that are currently being undertaken to address these issues.

May 2015
13 May 2015 - Richmond Scientific Society
Half Life: Bruno Pontecorvo, father of neutrino astronomy, but was he also an atomic spy?
Prof Frank Close (University of Oxford)

13 May 2015,  8pm - Highgate Literary & Scientific Institution
Peak car: the future of travel

15 May 2015 - Blackheath Scientific Society
Bees
Mr David Rea, Environment Agency
How Bees communicate to others in a hive where to locate food sources is fascinating. However, bees face threats from pesticides and the parasitic Varroa mite.

Thurs 21 May 2015, 8:15 pm - Hampstead Scientific Society
ROSETTA – A COMETARY CLOSE ENCOUNTER
Roger O'Brien (The Open University & Hampstead Scientific Society)

June 2015
11 June 2015,  8pm - Highgate Literary & Scientific Institution
Puzzle workshop: a fun evening of maths, logic and physics puzzles

Thurs 25 June 2015, 8:00 pm - Hampstead Scientific Society
AGM: Wine & Cheese £3 + scientific entertainment


Talks that have passed in 2014
September 2014
10 Sep 2014 - Richmond Scientific Society
Climate, ocean and the hydrogen imperative
Mike Koefman (Planet Hydrogen) 

Thurs 18 Sept 2014, 8:15 pm - Hampstead Scientific Society
THE SCIENCE of COLOUR
Andrew Hanson, CPhys (National Physical Laboratory)

18 September 2014, 8pm - Highgate Literary & Scientific Institution
Nuclear energy: the next generation

22 September 2014 - Kew Gardens, KMIS lectures
A Folk Flora: Uses & Folklore Of British Plants
Roy Vickery (South London Botanical Institute)

29 September 2014 - Kew Gardens, KMIS lectures
Why Are Rare Plants Rare?
Tim Pankhurst (Regional Conservation Manager, Plantlife)

October 2014
1 Oct 2014 - Richmond Scientific Society
Graphene-based metrology
Preceded by the Annual General Meeting. Wine & Nibbles after the talk.
Dr J T Janssen (National Physical Laboratory)

2 October 2014 - Linnean Society
Darwin Diagnosed

6 October 2014 - Kew Gardens, KMIS lectures
Plants & People In Oaxaca, Mexico
Ruth Calder (Kew Diploma Student)

10 October 2014 - Linnean Society
Birkbeck Lectures 2014

13 October 2014 - Kew Gardens, KMIS lectures
Engineering Natural Ingredients
Solen Le Davadic (Agricultural Engineer)

14 October 2014 - Linnean Society
The Viral Graveyard

15 October 2014 - Linnean Society
The evolutionary origins of diversity in cancer

16 October 2014 - Linnean Society
Jacquin’s American Plants

17 October 2014 - Blackheath Scientific Society
Medicines from Plants
Dr Henry Oakeley, Garden Fellow at the Royal College of Physicians
An illustrated talk on modern medicines that are, or were, derived from plants, against a background of the their past uses and future potential.

20 October 2014 - Kew Gardens, KMIS lectures
How Botanic Gardens & Zoos Survived Wartime
Mark Norris (Education Manager, Newquay Zoo)

22 October 2014 - Linnean Society
New perspectives on climbing plants

22 Oct 2014 - Richmond Scientific Society
Fisheries: predicting the consequences of ocean management
Dr Stuart Rogers (CEFAS, DEFRA Lowestoft)

Thurs 23 October 2014, 8:15 pm - Hampstead Scientific Society
BLACK HOLES
Dr. Paul Abel (University of Leicester)

27 October 2014 - Kew Gardens, KMIS lectures
The Cycads & Forests Of Mexico
William Burridge (Kew Diploma Student)

November 2014
3 November 2014 - Kew Gardens, KMIS lectures
Introduction To Biodynamic Farming & Growing
Tarry Bolger (Certification Manager, Biodynamic Association)

5 November 2014 - Linnean Society
Forensic Entomology

10 November 2014 - Linnean Society
Radiation and Extinction - Investigating Clade Dynamics in Deep Time

10 November 2014 - Kew Gardens, KMIS lectures
An Evening With Orchids: Species & Hybridisation
Chris Purver (Curator, Eric Young Orchid Foundation)

11 November 2014 - Linnean Society
What on Earth?

12 Nov 2014 - Richmond Scientific Society
Optical radiometry in support of earth observation and climate measurement
Dr Nigel Fox (National Physical laboratory)

13 November 2014,  8pm - Highgate Literary & Scientific Institution
The impact of technology on architecture

November 2014
17 November 2014 - Kew Gardens, KMIS lectures
Tresco Abbey Garden Mediterranean Climate Zones
Mike Nelhams (Curator, Tresco Abbey Gardens)

Thurs 20 November 2014, 8:15 pm - Hampstead Scientific Society
THE POST OFFICE RAILWAY
Chris Taft (The British Postal Museum & Archive)

20 November 2014 - Linnean Society
Land Sparing vs. Land Sharing: Tackling The Greatest Environmental Challenge of the 21st Century

21 November 2014 - Blackheath Scientific Society
The Cassini-Huygens Mission
Dr Chris Arridge, Planetary Science Group, Mullard Space Science Laboratory
Seven years after launch, the mission began in 2004 when a lander reached Titan, a moon of Saturn, and began sending back data about both the moon and the planet.

24 November 2014 - Kew Gardens, KMIS lectures
Plant Hunting. Does It Have A Future?
John Wood (Research Associate, Oxford University & Kew)

28 November 2014 - Linnean Society
In the footsteps of Manton: Spores and early land plant evolution

December 2014
1 December 2014 - Kew Gardens, KMIS lectures
Designing With Plants At Great Dixter
Fergus Garrett (Head Gardener, Great Dixter)

2 December 2014 - Linnean Society
Models and Metaphors Orchids and Primroses

3 December 2014 - Linnean Society
Blaschka - glass creatures of the Ocean

8 December 2014 - Kew Gardens, KMIS lectures
Updating The Flora Of Mull, Coll & Tiree
Lynne Farrell (BSBI Hon. General Secretary)

10 Dec 2014 - Richmond Scientific Society
The long carry: how stretcher bearers of the Great War transformed military medicine
(Christmas meeting with wine and nibbles)
Dr Emily Mayhew (Medical historian, Imperial College)

Thurs 11 December 2014, 8:15 pm - Hampstead Scientific Society
ALIEN ANIMAL INVADERS
Prof. Tim Blackburn (The Zoological Society of London)

15 December 2014 - Kew Gardens, KMIS lectures
The Restoration of Villa La Pietra
Nicolas Dakin-Elliot (Garden Curator, New York University)

19 December 2014 - Blackheath Scientific Society
AGM and Members' Evening


Talks that have passed in 2015January 2015
12 January 2015 - Kew Gardens, KMIS lectures
Diverse Flora Of Sikkim
Matthew Parker (Kew Diploma Student)

15 Jan 2015, 8:15 pm - Hampstead Scientific Society
FRACKING
Prof. Peter Simpson (Imperial College, London)

15 January 2015, 8pm - Highgate Literary & Scientific Institution
Neuro-economics: decision making and the brain
16 January 2015 - Blackheath Scientific Society
This seems to be a talk on chiropractic so I'm not sure I can advertise this one in good conscience as it seems to be evidence-free twaddle.

19 January 2015 - Kew Gardens, KMIS lectures
Island Endemism: Canaries & Balearics
Aaron Marubbi (Kew Diploma Student)

21 Jan 2015  - Richmond Scientific Society
Pollen and forensic science
Dr Michael Keith-Lucas (University of Reading, plant scientist (retired))

26 January 2015 - Kew Gardens, KMIS lectures
Past, Present & Future In A City Garden
Andrea Brunsendorf (Head Gardener, Inner Temple Garden)

29 January 2015 - Linnean Society
Systematics & Botanical Illustration

Climate Camp - Blackheath / Lewisham / Greenwich residents' meeting

Thanks to the Blackheath Bugle's blog I found out that there was to be a public meeting to discuss the recent Climate Camp (Camp for Climate Action) which was held on part of the heath, between Lewisham and Blackheath, over the end-of-August Bank holiday weekend and beyond. I loved having the camp in my back garden, it was like a little slice of Glastonbury - but much tidier and quieter.

Helen, from the camp, was the facilitator - she brought lovely cakes - and James was another camper there to hear our views and answer our questions. Beyond that there were another seven people in the room from New Cross, Lewisham, Blackheath, Greenwich etc.

Generally I hate things that involve sitting in a horseshoe shape and having to 'go round the room and introduce' yourself - but I started enjoying myself when Helen explained how we would use our hands to indicate when we wanted to make a point, correct another's point, make a proposal and show our agreement. I'd heard about this sort of thing going on at the camp and it's a lot less daft than it sounds actually.

Everyone there was in general favour of the aims of the camp and the way that they had conducted themselves on the heath (we didn't really discuss the direct action that took place in various parts of the city).

One lady, Anne, had had some serious concerns about the timing of the camp as it coincided with migratory movement of birds (we have some fantastic birdlife in Blackheath, including a fine bunch of Canada geese). She highlighted that the birds were less able to feed on the insects living underground (presumably larvae and I'm aware that the chafer beetles that swarm around the heath on summer evenings spend plenty of larval time below ground) and that having pitched so many tents would kill off some of these insects.

I've no way of assessing if this is true or not - I can see how the birds would have to go elsewhere for their food, apparently that part of the heath is quite the thoroughfare for migrating birds between August and October - there is a lovely pond there too, one of several in the area. Perhaps having canvas over you for a week might well kill you off if you're an insect larva too!

She also highlighted an indirect problem. In being labelled as a protest (possibly more by the newspapers than the campers themselves) the police response would inevitably be a certain level of surveillance - she suggested that the campers do some homework about police classification of camps, protests etc.

Apparently the surveillance involved some sort of police sonar which interfered with the activities of the local bat population and in the week that the camp was in residence she found two dead bats on visiting the area. I've no idea what the normal death rate is for bats, or if there's any causal relationship between the police signals and bats having difficulty in navigating (or just being deafened perhaps - she said that she has some recording equipment which was 'off scale' during the period of surveillance). I think the police ensconced themselves in the Cadet Training Centre on Wat Tyler Road!

I asked her if the weekend revellers on the rest of the heath, and the Fair, have much impact on wildlife - apparently mostly positive, which surprised me. The muck from the heath does get cleared up fairly quickly, similarly the edible detritus doesn't get a chance to hang around and is probably welcomed by the local wildlife. The location of the fair doesn't have much of an impact and there are no tents - so it might seem as if the camp scored a bit of an own goal there in terms of sensitivity to wildlife.

My (mild) concern was seeing loads of long grasses / 'weeds' (see comments here) being used as decoration, there were quite a lot of bundles lying around and I wasn't keen on the idea of people having ripped them out for that purpose - however it seems that the council had apparently removed them (and the wrong ones too) and left them there, so might as well use them I suppose.

In writing about this in detail it might sound like there was a great deal of bleating. In fact it was overwhelmingly positive - it's just that I made notes here as there were some perspectives I'd not heard before and I found it interesting.

We all agreed that we liked having the camper folk around who were keen to share a variety of 'do it yourself' skills - and the wind turbine workshop was particularly popular - as well as the talks and debates. Some of us in the room (me!) would rather like Blackheath to be covered in wind turbines but having read a little more into 'acoustic ecology' it might be actually a miserable noisy experience.

This area of South London seems to be a bit of a hub for local green activities such as Transition Towns (one in Lewisham and Westcombe Park) and we had a chat about whether or not there would be any added value, beyond Climate Camp being better known than Transition Towns, in having a specific climate sub-group - and certainly no benefit in duplicating what others are doing.

We have local societies whose focus isn't specifically green activism, but who care about local amenities - a number of these had been supportive of the camp's aims but annoyed, on behalf of the wildlife, at the location and timing of the camp. There was a bit of discussion on how to get everyone back on friendly terms.

The group suggested a regular, perhaps monthly, meeting in Greenwich. There was some chatter about moving the meeting place around - ie going to people, but I think that's still being considered. We've all signed up our email addresses to hear more.

I mentioned that I'd heard about the whole camp 'thing' solely from my being online, following the Bugle's blog and hearing via Twitter about some of the events as they took place in London. My suggestions largely involved 'more online things' - I know we've all shared our email addresses with the camp reps but I'd have been keen to share them within the group as well.
Perhaps they'll read this and get in touch :D

No pictures of the actual meeting but here are some leaves in Greenwich Park...

Public engagement with DIY technology - wind turbines

One of the wind turbines used to power the Climate Camp on Blackheath

I live in Blackheath in South East London and this weekend Climate Camp conveniently parked itself about a half hour walk from my doorstep. In among the climate activism classes there was a ~1.5hr wind turbine workshop which I attended on Saturday afternoon - much of the camp's power has come from a couple of turbines which charge numerous 12V batteries for distribution throughout the camp (Blackheath's very windy). There were also a few static bicyles which provided power by energetic cyclists.

The workshop was packed and I thought it was a really nice example of public engagement with engineering - the people leading the workshop were engineering students (postgraduate) and took the crowd through the principles of how turbines work including wind velocity, drag, torque, rotor blade profiles, magnets, copper coils, currents, voltage and where to find instructions to build one as well as online communities of like minded turbine fans to help you along the way. A lot of the material used came from skips (apparently university engineering department skips are fantastic) even though it's still not cheap to build one in terms of either time (a few hours to carve just one of the rotors) and money (one of the turbines cost around £400 for the parts that didn't come from skips such as magnets and copper coiling for the rotor and the metal braided cables used as guy ropes).

We didn't get to take a wind turbine home with us after school (they're quite large) but I chatted to the people running the course and asked them if, in addition to attending eco-type festivals, they'd ever done anything at the science festivals - I must say I'd be delighted to see them doing workshops at science festivals (assuming it could be accommodated). They haven't, but have done workshops with school pupils doing woodwork classes (the rotors in the models they demonstrated are hand carved) and metalwork etc.

The people behind the workshop are V3power and their website is http://www.v3power.co.uk/ - they use designs from Hugh Piggott, whose website is http://www.scoraigwind.com/. He has written 'A wind turbine recipe book' http://www.scoraigwind.com/axialplans/recipecontents.htm
The writer of a local blog, the Blackheath Bugle, has written a post about the turbines with a couple of pictures of their set up http://blackheathbugle.wordpress.com/2009/08/27/build-a-wind-farm-on-blackheath/

At the end of the session (there were a lot of interesting questions and answers) a few of us helped in getting the turbines up and vertical again which was a lot more exciting than you might imagine.

Of course, now I'm wondering what it would take to turn one of those children's windmill toys into something that could power an LED...

See also the write-up of the post-camp residents' discussion: Climate Camp - Blackheath / Lewisham / Greenwich residents' meeting (19 September 2009) - I learned a bit about effects of camps on wildlife directly (canvas over ground) and indirectly (police surveillance equipment, apparently).