The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE)

the royal society of edinburgh building

Young People & Schools / Christmas Lectures

An annual talk for school students and a talk for the wider community by a high profile speaker, held at different locations throughout Scotland. Previous Speakers include NASA Astronaut, Dr Bonnie Dunbar, Forensic Anthropologist, Professor Sue Black and "Dolly" Scientist, Professor Ian Wilmut.

The RSE Christmas Lecture 2009 - 16 December 2009

Facing up to Climate Change. Professor Paul Jowitt FRSE, Director of the Scottish Institute of Sustainable Technology, Heriot-Watt University, President of the Institution of Civil Engineers

Lochaber High School

The debate is over – it’s happening. Climate change is real. But what will it mean? What are the challenges? What do we need to do? And who should be doing it? To tackle the looming crisis, 21st Century engineers will be required to re-engineer existing infrastructure and provide first-time infrastructure at a global scale. And simultaneously reduce carbon emissions by up to 80%. So now is the time…for an engineering renaissance, for a golden era of engineering to take us safely through the rest of this century and beyond.
Read Summary of Facing Up to Climate Change

Previous Lectures

2008 Arbroath High School Professor Anne Glover, FRSE	Science and Arbroath in the 21st Century Read Lecture summary
2007 University of Edinburgh Johnny Ball	Wobbling on the Shoulders of Giants Click here to read summary report
2006 University of Stirling Heather Reid, BBC Broadcast Meteorologist	Weather Forecasting In the 21st Century
2005 Elgin Academy Professor Sue Black, OBE, FRSE	Who Are You?
2004 Pitlochry Festival Theatre Professor Ian Wilmut OBE FRS FRSE	Why Clone? Cloning in Biology and Medicine.
2003 Inverness Royal Academy Professor John Brown, FRSE, Astronomer Royal for Scotland	Black Holes and White Rabbits
2002 Lochaber High School, Fort William Heather Reid, BBC Broadcast Meteorologist	Weather Forecasting for the 21st Century
2001 Dumfries Academy Dr Bonnie Dunbar, NASA	Exploring Space Into the New Millennium
2000 Perth High School Dr Steve Jones, University College, London	Nature, Nurture or Neither - what genetics tells us about ourselves followed by a public lecture, entitled Almost Like a Whale: Is Man Just Another Animal?
1999 Kirkwall Professor Aubrey Manning, FRSE	The Animals and Ourselves
1998 Lochaber High School, Fort William Mr John Schollar, National Centre for Biotechnology Education, Reading	DNA: Chemical of the Century, Molecule of the Millennium
1997 Douglas-Ewart High School, Newton Stewart Dr Susan Hartley, Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, Banchory	300 million years of war: the arms race between plants and the animals that try to eat them
1996 North Atlantic Fisheries College, Shetland Professor F Close, Head of Theoretical Physics, Rutherford Appleton Laboratories, Didcot, Oxfordshire	The Cosmic Onion
1995 University of Paisley Craigie Campus, Ayr Professor Trevor Norton, FRSE, Director, Marine Laboratory, Port Erin, Isle of Man	Biologists Underwater
1994 Scottish College of Textiles, Galashiels Dr Oliver Musgrave, Department of Chemistry, University of Aberdeen	Flashes and Bangs
1993 Nicolson Institute, Stornoway and Sgoil Lionacleit, Benbecula Professor M B Wilkins, Department of Botany, University of Glasgow	Are Plants Intelligent?
1992 St Joseph's College, Dumfries and Scottish Natural Heritage, Battleby, Perth Professor C Blakemore, University Laboratory of Physiology, University of Oxford	How the Brain Works
1991 The Highland Theatre, Oban Professor D J Cole-Hamilton, Irvine Professor of Chemistry, University of St Andrews	How Chemists help to Preserve Life on Earth
1990 Carnegie Hall, Dunfermline Professor D J Wallace, Tait Professor of Mathematical Physics, University of Edinburgh	Communicating with Computers
1989 Culloden High School, Inverness and Wallace High School, Stirling Dr P G Debenham, Director of Scientific Services, Cellmark Diagnostics, Abingdon, Oxfordshire (a subsidiary of Imperial Chemical Industries plc),	Genetic Fingerprinting
1988 Universities of Glasgow and St Andrews Professor M S Longair, Astronomer Royal for Scotland and Regius Professor of Astronomy in the University of Edinburgh	Build your own Universe
1987 Universities of Aberdeen and Edinburgh Dr G R Coope, Department of Geography, University of Birmingham	The Natural History of the Ice-age
1986 University of Edinburgh Professor Dr W Burger, Institut fur Theoretische Mechanik, Universitat Karlsruhe, West Germany	An Entertaining Lecture on Physical Toys
1985 Universities of Dundee and Edinburgh Professor R H T Edwards, Head of University Department of Medicine, Royal Liverpool Hospital	Molecules, Muscles and Movement in Man
1984 Universities of Glasgow and Aberdeen Professor R V Jones, CB, CBE, FRS, Formerly Department of Natural Philosophy, University of Aberdeen	Some Principles Common to Physics, Engineering and Life in General
1983 Universities of Glasgow and Aberdeen Dr G Farrow, Department of Geology, University of Glasgow	Reconstructing Ancient Environments
1982 Universities of Strathclyde and Edinburgh Professor G G Roberts, Department of Applied Physics and Electronics, University of Durham	Microelectronics or Transistors from Mothballs?
1981 Universities of Strathclyde and Edinburgh Dr A J Hale, Vice-President, European Pre-Clinical Research and Development, G D Searle & Co Ltd, High Wycombe	Biotechnology: Old and New
1980 Universities of Strathclyde and Edinburgh Professor J I G Cadogan, FRS, Chief Scientist, British Petroleum Company Limited, Sunbury-on-Thames	Organic Chemistry Today

Last Updated 22 December, 2009

The Royal Society of Edinburgh, 22-26 George Street, Edinburgh, EH2 2PQ.
Tel/Minicom/Textphone : +44 (0)131 240 5000. Fax : +44 (0)131 240 5024

Return to Home Page

Scottish Science Advisory Committee

The RSE Scotland Foundation

Science Scotland

Terms and Conditions