Easter Bush Campus Open Day drew nearly 800 people to meet researchers and vets and learn about their work in animal health and genetics. Wide eyes and amazed smiles could be seen across campus on Saturday 13th October as people of all ages embraced their inner scientist at the Easter Bush Campus Open Day. With over 40 activities and building tours throughout the day there was plenty of learning and fun for everyone! Our Open Day is part of the Midlothian Science Festival, and this year’s edition was one to be remembered! Over 100 scientists, vets and volunteers from The Roslin Institute, the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, Easter Bush Campus Outreach Centre, Scotland’s Rural College and the Roslin Innovation Centre came together to highlight the exciting and innovative research happening across Edinburgh. A record-breaking number of attendees (almost 800!) spent the day exploring genetics, infectious diseases and animal health and welfare. Activities like "Pipetting Pointillism", "Hostbusters", "Outbreak Investigation" gave participants a peak into what it’s like to be a scientist at The Roslin Institute, and they could even take a 'Cellfie' at the GutTastic table to document their experience. One very popular activity was the new Poo Lab at Easter Bush Science Outreach Center. Here participants explored the world of poo: what makes a good poo, how poo is affecting our climate, and how researchers use DNA sequencing to discover what is in our poo. We all had a blast! It was so fun to watch people of all ages use poo to understand really complex ideas about things like climate change and the gut microbiome! Claire GormleyOpen Day Volunteer, MSc student in Science Communication at the University of Edinburgh, doing her work placement at The Roslin Institute Students, teachers and anyone interested in new developments in biology were also able to attend a series of short talks by the Royal Society of Biology Scotland Branch. This year's symposium focused on the cutting-edge science of Genome Editing/CRISPR. Easter Bush Open Day 2018 was a great success thanks to all the volunteers who helped out with activities and all the participants who came out to learn about the research happening at The Roslin institute. Authored by Communications Officer at the Roslin Institute, Ines Crespo.
