Becky Parker

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Becky Parker
Becky Parker (right) receiving the Patrick Moore Medal in 2012
Awards
  • honorary doctor of the University of Kent (2008)
  • Lawrence Bragg Medal and Prize (For her work to energise generations of pupils to take up the study of physics; the commitment to raise substantial sums to provide major facilities in astronomy and other branches of physics in her region; and her positive influence on physics education nationally., 2009) Edit this on Wikidata
Academic career

Becky Parker MBE HonFInstP is a British physicist and physics teacher based in Kent. She is a visiting professor at School of Physics and Astronomy, Queen Mary University of London.

Early life and education[edit]

Parker obtained a physics degree at the University of Sussex in 1980[1] before moving to Chicago to complete as Borg Warner Fellow for the MA in Conceptual Foundations of Science.[2] She worked in the group of Bob Geroch, with Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar attending one of her seminars.[3]

Research and career[edit]

Whilst studying at Chicago, Parker was dismayed at the lack of women in physics.[3] After enjoying a summer working at Adler Planetarium, she returned to the University of Sussex to complete a PGCE in order to encourage more school girls to study it.[4]

Parker was head of physics at Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys in Canterbury, Kent, which accepts girls at sixth form. At the time Parker taught there, it was estimated that 2% of female physicists at University across the UK had attended the school.[5] From 2002 to 2005, she was a senior lecturer in the School of Physical Sciences at the University of Kent in Canterbury, and was also the Schools first Outreach officer, responsible for pioneering its outreach program at a time when Physics and Chemistry undergraduate intake was declining across the UK university sector as a whole, and outreach and public engagement were the exception rather than the rule. She has since acted as an advisor for museums, exam boards and educational committees.[6][7] In 2010, Parker was listed by the Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) campaign as a 'female Brian Cox'.[8]

In 2014 Parker was awarded an honorary fellowship of the Institute of Physics for her contributions to physics education.[5]

The Institute for Research in Schools[edit]

Parker's interest in school research began in 2007 during a school trip to CERN, when her students were inspired to enter a Surrey Satellite Technology competition to design a space experiment.[9][10] After many successful research projects in the Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys, Parker opened The Langton Star Centre.[11]

The Institute for Research in Schools, a national charitable organisation supporting students and teachers to engage in collaborative, authentic research across a range of scientific disciplines was officially launched in March 2016 by Parker.[12] She realised during her own academic career that more school children should be involved in scientific research, with young people being given credit for how innovative and intelligent they are.[4]

What began as an astrophysics project, with school groups using the Faulkes Telescope to make their own astrophysical observations, became something much more elaborate. Today a flagship IRIS projected allows school students to collaborate with CERN (CERN @ School), supported by the UK's Science and Technology Facilities Council, the Institute of Physics and SEPnet. Dr Jonathan Eastwood of Imperial College London described a new style cosmic ray detector designed by school students as the "UK's latest space facility".[13][14] To build the detector, Parker raised in excess of £60,000, using initial funds from the British National Space Centre.[15][16] NASA were so interested in the detector that they took several up to the International Space Station.[17][18][19] Data were collected, analysed and processed by students who were sitting their GCSEs.[20] "Genomic Decoders", launched in partnership with the Wellcome Genome Campus, focuses on the first ever annotation of the parasitic human whipworm genome.[21]

Since its launch, IRIS has expanded, providing several genuine research opportunities for school students.[2] Since its launch, IRIS has since received considerable media attention, and Parker's former role as Director.[22][23][24][25] It was given as evidence for the 2017 House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee report on Science Communication and Engagement.[26]

Awards[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Tremlett, Rose. "University of Sussex graduation brings record numbers to Brighton". The University of Sussex. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
  2. ^ a b c "Rebecca (Becky) Parker MBE - Congregations - University of Kent". www.kent.ac.uk. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
  3. ^ a b Parker, Becky (1 April 2012). "Profile: Becky Parker". Astronomy & Geophysics. 53 (2): 2.11–2.12. Bibcode:2012A&G....53b..11P. doi:10.1111/j.1468-4004.2012.53211.x. ISSN 1366-8781.
  4. ^ a b "Interview with Becky Parker". The Scientific 23. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
  5. ^ a b Physics, Institute of. "Dr Becky Parker". www.iop.org. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
  6. ^ Commons, The Committee Office, House of. "House of Commons - Sessional Returns 2001-02". publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 20 November 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ "Schoolhouse scientists | www.scienceinschool.org". www.scienceinschool.org. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
  8. ^ WISE. "Inspiration | Naming the female Brian Cox". www.wisecampaign.org.uk. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
  9. ^ "Becky Parker: A student research network built on a chip". symmetry magazine. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
  10. ^ "Students prepare to launch particle detector into space". symmetry magazine. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
  11. ^ "Opening of the Simon Langton 'Star Centre'". Imperial College London. 7 December 2011. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
  12. ^ "UK launches Institute for Research in Schools | CERN". home.cern. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
  13. ^ "Lucid | Simon Langton Grammar School For Boys". www.thelangton.org.uk. Archived from the original on 17 July 2017. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
  14. ^ "High school students launch CERN tech into space | CERN". home.cern. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
  15. ^ a b Massey, Robert. "Dr Becky Parker wins first RAS Patrick Moore Medal". www.ras.org.uk. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
  16. ^ Whyntie, T.; Harrison, M. A. (2014). "Simulation and analysis of the LUCID experiment in the Low Earth Orbit radiation environment". Journal of Physics: Conference Series. 513 (2): 022038. doi:10.1088/1742-6596/513/2/022038. ISSN 1742-6596.
  17. ^ "News". www.ogdentrust.com. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
  18. ^ "The students who work for Nasa: why real-world science is a must for schools". Tes. 1 October 2015. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
  19. ^ "Grammar boys in space race to beat Nasa". Evening Standard. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
  20. ^ "First results from LUCID mapping cosmic rays and solar wind". Retrieved 20 November 2017.
  21. ^ Parker, Becky (3 November 2017). "Why don't we let young people contribute to cutting edge science at school?". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
  22. ^ "To think like scientists, students should work like scientists – Jon Butterworth | Aeon Ideas". Aeon. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
  23. ^ "UK launches Institute for Research in Schools | CERN". home.cern. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
  24. ^ "Dr Becky Parker: our 'amazing' universe can get students excited about science". Tes. 21 January 2016. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
  25. ^ "Innovate My School - Becky Parker". www.innovatemyschool.com. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
  26. ^ "Science communication and engagement - Science and Technology Committee - House of Commons". publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
  27. ^ "2009 Bragg medal and prize". Institute of Physics.
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