“You can do it!” Those were the words a group of graduate students I had gone hiking with somewhere near Loch Lomond had said to me. Why, you wonder? Well, I had joined them on a 90-minute hike around the Scottish Centre for Ecology and the Natural Environment (SCENE), and those hills are not for the faint-hearted! Okay, well, to be fair, I should have heeded the warning of a shorter and easier walk!
This post isn’t about hiking or my lack of ability to keep up. You may call it an international student’s memoir of the Infectious Disease Ecology (IDE) research theme Away Day. An “Away Day” is a dedicated day for a specific group of people (in this case, IDE theme members) to get away from their laptops and research, connect with fellow researchers, and unwind! If you weren’t there and are curious about what went down, I’m about to spill the tea.
I moved to Glasgow from Nigeria in August 2024 and haven’t done much sightseeing since arriving here in Scotland. This trip was my first time visiting SCENE. The 79-year-old centre is the University of Glasgow’s teaching and research facility focused on understanding nature and human interactions. Breath-taking seems a good word to describe the centre – the facility sits on the banks of Loch Lomond, the largest loch (lake) in Scotland, and is surrounded by woodland, pasture and hills! Not forgetting the nice kitchen/reception area, with a setup prettier than what we have at Graham Kerr Building (oops, sorry dear old GKB 😅).
Dr. Taya Forde – the IDE theme lead – was such a lovely coordinator and she anchored the day with such ease and class. The day started with a round of introductions; this time, each person had to introduce themselves to their neighbours and their neighbours in turn introduced them to the broader group. I was so pleased to be in a room full of veterinarians, mathematical modellers, statisticians, ecologists, engineers (I was surprised by that one!), political scientists, social scientists, epidemiologists, parasitologists, vector biologists and a lot of ‘omics researchers. Show me a more diverse group of researchers 😉.
We had two talks from Dr. Chris Syme and Prof. Heather Ferguson. Dr. Syme spoke about ‘Supporting Translational Research at the MVLS’, during which he emphasized the role the Translational Research Initiative (TRI) plays in helping MVLS (College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences) researchers with the translational impact of their work and funding for such. If you need help identifying and realising how your research can drive impact and engagement with relevant stakeholders or want to know more about what they do, you may contact mvls-innovation@glasgow.ac.uk for more information.
Prof. Ferguson’s talk was centred around how the WHO Advisory Committee on Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) works. Interestingly, the day was also World NTDs Day. Nice coincidence, if you’d ask me. We all know that the WHO provides the authority on global health matters, but many of us don’t know how policies are really formulated. We learnt that the WHO makes policies based on the recommendations of the experts in the various Strategic and Technical Advisory Groups (STAGs). Her talk was really illuminating, especially in the areas of policy formation, the hard work the committees/advisory groups put into every meeting, and the opportunities that can be explored as an early career researcher (ECR). We also learnt about a new gangrenous (causing the decay of affected body tissues) infection called Noma that has just been added to the list of NTDs. You can learn more about Noma here. My key takeaway from her talk (apart from the opportunities to explore) was that if you’re a member of the STAG, you had better be ready to put in the work!
After the talks came the opportunity to take in the beauty of nature. Many took walks – long and short, some stayed back, but overall, the vibe at SCENE was giving! If I’m being honest, I felt more relaxed. It felt nice not to open my laptop in the morning, indeed get away, and just connect with humans. The SCENEry was so good, and I didn’t want to leave.
Written by Praise Adeyemo, a first-year PhD student (Infectious Diseases) at the Lamberton lab, researching how policies influence the implementation of schistosomiasis interventions in Uganda.
Banner photo courtesy of Dr Sandeep Kasaragod.
