One of our Sixth Form students, Subee, writes about her trip to the Rosalind Franklin STEM Conference.

In March, Katie and I attended the Rosalind Franklin STEM Conference at Newnham College, Cambridge.

This was an extremely inspiring two day event, where we enriched our knowledge around the topic of Plastic: Friend or Foe? We were delighted to have obtained our places at the conference as they are fiercely contested for.

The conference consisted of six lectures presented by individuals who were working in the plastic sector and as students we had to reflect upon the information presented in our syndicate discussion groups. This allowed us to portray our own views and opinions on the topic and through using the information from the lectures, we were able to come up with complex questions and answers to use in the final plenary debate.

Engineer and former Vice-Principal Dr Claire Barlow opened the conference, followed by Dr Carlos Ludlow Palafox on the issues of recycling. Winnie Courtene-Jones gave a concerning talk on microplastic and the oceans, and Dr Chris Morley extended the topic to plastic’s effects on humans.

Students heard about the use of plastic and sustainable alternatives in packaging at Marks & Spencer and Tesco, which challenged our preconceptions. Defra’s Briony Coulson spoke with pride about her work to clean up plastic pollution in our oceans.

The conference ended with us and the other students in the hot seats, giving our opinions on how society should use plastic in the 21st century.

Even though the majority of the conference was mainly focused on the idea of plastic, we were also able to explore the college itself and discover what the application process for Oxbridge entails. This was really helpful, as it clarified many of questions we had prior to attending.

To get a feel of what university life is like, we had the opportunity to attend a sophisticated dinner with the founder of Newnham College as well as speaking to current students and also thrillingly, Rosalind Franklin’s sister Jennifer Glynn. Overall, the conference was very informative and has provided us with a once in a life time opportunity.