''Soapbox Science'' is a public outreach platform that promotes women working in science and the research that they do. The events turns public spaces into an area for learning and debate, in the spirit of Hyde Park's Speakers' Corner. Soapbox Science encourages scientists to explain their research to members of the public using non-traditional methods (for example, there is no use of a projector or slides). Speakers typically make props at home to explain the processes behind their research. Soapbox Science launched in London in 2011, where it was led by

Seirian Sumner Seirian Sumner (born 1974) Royal Entomological Society , FRES is a British entomologist and Behavioral ecology, behavioural ecologist. She is a professor at University College London and is an expert in social wasps. Education and career Sumne ...

and

Nathalie Pettorelli Nathalie is a female given name. It is a variant of the name Natalie/ Natalia which is found in many languages, and is especially common in French and English speaking countries. Notable people with the name include: * Nathalie, Italian singer * ...

. It aims to showcase eminent female scientists across the world. Youmna Mouhamad Soapbox science

History

Soapbox Science launched in London in 2011, led by

and

and funded by L'Oreal UNESCO For Women in Science Scheme, Zoological Society of London and the Science & Technology Facilities Council. Soapbox Science formed a partnership with Speakezee in 2016. The first three annual events 2011-2013 ran in London, in 2014 events ran in London, Bristol, Dublin, and Swansea. In 2015 more cities joined including Exeter, Manchester, Newcastle, Belfast and Glasgow. In 2016, Cambridge, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Milton Keynes, Oxford, Galway, Reading and Brisbane ran events. By 2021, there were 45 events in 15 countries worldwide.

Impact

Soapbox Science was established to complement other initiatives such as Athena SWAN that tackle the low numbers of women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (

STEM Stem or STEM may refer to: Plant structures * Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang * Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure * Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushro ...

) in the UK.

Awards and honours

Serian Sumner and Nathalie Pettorelli were awarded a Point of Light Award in 2015 from the UK Prime Minister, a Silver Medal from the Zoological Society of London in 2016, presented by

Sir John Beddington Sir John Rex Beddington HonFREng (born 13 October 1945) is a British population biologist and Senior Adviser at the Oxford Martin School, and was previously Professor of Applied Population Biology at Imperial College London, and the UK Gove ...

, and an Equality & Diversity Champion Award from the British Ecological Society in 2017, in recognition of their work on the Soapbox Science initiative.

Notable alumni

* Prof Athene Donald * Dr Sue Black OBE * Prof

Julie Williams Julie Olson Williams is a fictional character and member of the Horton family on the NBC daytime drama, '' Days of Our Lives'', a long running serial about working class life in the fictional town of Salem. The character of Julie was introduced ...

* Prof

Hilary Lappin-Scott Hilary Margaret Lappin-Scott FLS FLSW PFHEA FAAM FRSB (born 1955) is a British microbiologist whose field of research is microbial biofilms. In 2009 Hilary was elected as the second female President of the Society for General Microbiology ...

* Prof

Karen Holford Karen Margaret Holford (born 1962) is a Welsh engineer, Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive of Cranfield University. She was formerly Deputy Vice-Chancellor at Cardiff University. She is also a former Pr ...

* Prof

Sunetra Gupta Sunetra Gupta (born 15 March 1965) is an Indian-born British infectious disease epidemiologist and a professor of theoretical epidemiology at the Department of Zoology, University of Oxford. She has performed research on the transmission dynamic ...

* Prof Georgina Mace * Prof

Lesley Yellowlees Lesley Jane Yellowlees, (born 1953) is a British inorganic chemist conducting research in Spectroelectrochemistry, Electron transfer, Electron transfer reactions and Electron paramagnetic resonance, Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) Spectro ...

* Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock * Dr Victoria Foster * Dr Goedele De Clerck{{Cite web, url=https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/goedele.declerck.html, title=Dr Goedele De Clerck PhD, MA, BA, publisher= University of Manchester, language=en, access-date=2017-09-28 * Prof

Siwan Davies Siwan Davies FLSW is a Welsh professor of Physical Geography in the department of science at Swansea University. Research Davies' research focus is to analyze past climate change and to reconstruct past climate changes. Together with a team of ...

* Prof

Farah Bhatti Farah Bhatti FRCS FLSW is a British cardiac surgeon who is an honorary professor at the Swansea University Medical School. She serves as Chair of the Royal College of Surgeons of England Women in Surgery Forum. She was appointed an Order of the ...

References

External links

Official website of Soapbox Science
Science communication