News Podcast Selection Celebrates STEAM 19.03.2021

Perfectly timed to align with British Science Week, Libby, Hebe and Rojin continue to inspire the school community to think differently about science by collaborating with a team of Lower Sixth students to launch a fifth podcast collection on Biology’s independent learning microsite. The most ambitious podcast collection yet, it cleverly highlights a need to work across a variety of disciplines and combine scientific expertise with creativity to solve the complex global problems of our increasingly interconnected world.   

As part of the School’s 2017/18 annual fundraising campaign, a rare set of lithographs hand painted by renowned Scottish naturalist William MacGillivray were acquired and installed in Biology’s interactive learning space. The new podcast collection not only celebrates MacGillivray’s remarkable achievements, but explores how his approach to science can still teach us a lot about how to advance science today, all the while demonstrating the importance of valuing the natural world around us. True to MacGillivray’s belief in the power of seeing the bigger picture, the podcasts simultaneously draw on multiple wide reaching disciplines – Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics – to highlight the value of interdisciplinary research. 

The podcast collection benefits from a unique collaboration with Sixth Form students pursuing both scientific and creative subjects who consider ‘Did MacGillivray have science “down to a fine art”?’ through the lens of the ‘Global Champion’ to show the power of art to communicate scientific ideas to everyone everywhere. With Harvard University’s support, the lithographs originally published in The Edinburgh Journal of Natural History in 1835 can now also be viewed and closely examined online allowing the podcast collection to bring MacGillivray’s work to life in the comfort of your own home.   

Working behind the scenes for the last three years, Libby, Hebe and Rojin together with a growing team of creators have made a truly exceptional contribution to the school community by creating an exciting and alternative way for all students to informally engage and identify with science.