• Question: what are you working on now/previously

    Asked by kingnazzer786 to Emma, Jen, Joseph, Michael, Mona on 17 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Emma Bennett

      Emma Bennett answered on 16 Jun 2011:

      I’m currently looking at lots of different varieties of oil seed rape which have been grown in the same field to try and work out which varieties are the best and produce the highest yields. At the same time we’ll also be measuring lots of other things such as plant height to see how the different varieties grow. This means that I spent all day earlier this week hole punching hundreds of leaves so I can put them through a machine to see how yellow or green they are – your eyes are not quite reliable enough to tell the difference.

    • Photo: Jen Gupta

      Jen Gupta answered on 17 Jun 2011:

      At the moment I’m looking at galaxies at different wavelengths (using different types of light) to try to work out what processes are making these galaxies emit this energy. I’m trying to work out whether the process that makes these galaxies emit radio waves is linked to the process that makes them emit gamma-rays or if they are independent. It’s kinda like if you look at a photo of yourself and an a x-ray of yourself and try to see if and how your skin and your bones are connected.

      I’m quite early on in my career as a scientist so there isn’t really much that I’ve done previously 🙂

    • Photo: Michael Taggart

      Michael Taggart answered on 17 Jun 2011:

      At the moment, as in this week, it’s how oestrogen compounds might affect the way in which blood vessels can contract and relax. My PhD student just gave his first talk to an audience of about 100 today on it so that was exciting in a nervous sort of way.
      In general, our lab is looking at all sorts of different compounds and mechanisms that change the way smooth muscle cells contract and relax. So, the mini-topic may change but the overall project – to understand the processes of smooth muscle function – remains the same.

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