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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

anne glover
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

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