MSPs mingle as science mixes with politics
Scotland Regional Group: Science and the parliament
Our Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh, UK
 The fifth Science and the Parliament event was held at Our Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh on 2 November. Over 300 attendees, including around 30 MSPs, enjoyed an afternoon of events at the earth and environmental sciences visitor centre adjacent to the Scottish Parliament Building, making it the ideal venue for the gathering. The opening session, chaired by Brian Adam MSP, began with opening remarks by Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) president Simon Campbell followed by an interesting speech by Nicol Stephen MSP, deputy first minister and science minister.
Breakfast sessions
There was then an opportunity to question MSPs at one of four breakout sessions covering education, enterprise and lifelong learning, the environment and health. Members of the Scottish Science Advisory Committee answered questions on a variety of topics. The Institute of Physics and RSC made a number of presentations including one by Janet Mullen, who has the rare honour of having her picture on the back of Bank of Scotland £20 notes, representing Scottish scientists at work.
The meeting finished with a buffet held in the exhibition area. The SCI stand, manned by John Lewis, Hamish Anderson and Tom Clarkson, members of the SCI Scotland Committee, attracted much attention throughout the event.
SiGen, which is helping the SCI Scotland Group run a series of mini-symposia on fuel cells, exhibited the hydrogen-powered car built by pupils at Mackie Academy, Stonehaven. The GH2OST car (pictured) attracted much interest at the SCI stand.
Once again the event was well organised and the Scotland Group would like to thank Willie Rennie and staff for the opportunity to attend this meeting.
Tom Clarkson
Scotland Regional Group
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