On the 22nd September 2023, two of the Secondary schools in Wokingham town, The Holt and St Crispin’s took part in the annual online Science with Schools event.
This event aims to show the variety of options for students post secondary education within STEM fields.
This event is now in its fourth year, and this year focused on Food Security with presentations from Sian Deller a research scientist working for the agrochemical company Syngenta, and Caspar Chater a scientist at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Focus on fungi
Sian Deller pursued biology at degree level before specialising in the interaction between plants and other organisms. She talked about the work Syngenta does creating and working with seeds farmers sow to make them more resilient. In particular her work looks at fungi that cause diseases in crop plants and how these can be stopped with targeted fungicides and other methods that minimise disruption in the rest of the food chain.
Working with drought
Caspar Chater talked about his route into the world of food security. He spoke about the research being done looking at the ‘milpas’ farming method in Mexico of companion planting to increase yield and being more sustainable. Additionally about how the world of farming was responding to climate change, in particular increased levels of drought across the world, and how the strains of particular plants are being chosen and encouraged to cope with these changes.
During the Q&A sessions, pupils and speakers discussed the importance of other fields like politics, and social sciences in the field of food security.
Cllr Sally Gurney, Wokingham Town Mayor (who opened the event) said:
“I’d like to thank Sian and Caspar for generously dedicating their time and expertise to engage with our local senior school students. Their talks vividly demonstrated the practical relevance of science and ignited a spark of inspiration within us. I hope that this event will encourage our students to actively pursue a role in shaping a sustainable future, be it as future scientists or through other roles that contribute to the same end goals.”