University bat project helps school pupil reach science competition finals
Release Date 04 March 2011
An A-level student has reached the finals of the National Science and Engineering Competition through a project with the University of Reading to protect colonies of bats.
Alice Lightowlers, who is in Year 13 at Kendrick School in Reading, won a bursary from the Nuffield Foundation to spend six weeks with the University investigating the features that constitute a bat-friendly roofing membrane.
Her work earned her a place in the science/maths final at the competition, which will be judged next Friday, 11 March.
Dr Richard Bonser, from the School of Construction Management and Engineering, supervised Alice's work and was impressed by her positive attitude. "Alice has been fantastic," he said. "She is very enthusiastic and hard-working and really helped with the project. She investigated which roofing membranes were too slippery for bats."
Alice said the research was ideal as she wanted a project that would cover both biology and physics, two of her A-level subjects. "This was a really good opportunity to see how the two subjects worked together. I really enjoyed my time in the lab and hope I can do something similar when I finish university."
Alice has an offer from Cambridge to study natural sciences in the autumn.
Alice's research contributed to the work of PhD student Stacey Waring who has been working in partnership with the Bat Conservation Trust. The charity approached the University after numerous enquiries about the best way to protect bat colonies roosting in buildings which needed re-roofing. Some roofing membranes are too slippery for bats to get a grip and others pull apart easily meaning young bats in particular become entangled in the sticky strands left hanging from the membrane and die.
Alice will be travelling up to London for the finals with her fellow pupil Zahraa Ghafoor who is in the engineering finals for her project, A Bladder Scan 'Phantom' For Test and Training Purposes.
ENDS
For more information please contact Rona Cheeseman, press officer, on 0118 378 7388 or email r.cheeseman@reading.ac.uk
Notes to editors
The School of Construction Management and Engineering at the University of Reading is a world leader in teaching and research about the management, design and economics of engineered technologies, primarily in the construction field.
It attained a top international rating of 5 in the most recent Research Assessment Exercise. The School focuses on a multi and interdisciplinary approach to research in areas such as sustainable urban environments, inclusive environments, sustainable technologies, construction management, infrastructure management and innovative procurement.
The Bat Conservation Trust (BCT) is the only national organisation solely devoted to the conservation of bats and their habitats in the UK. Its network of 100 local bat groups and more than 1,000 bat workers survey roosts and hibernation sites, and work with householders, builders, farmers and foresters to protect bats. BCT operates the National Bat Helpline on 0845 1300 228, providing advice for all who come into contact with bats or have questions about them. Bats and their roosts are protected by law. More information can be found on BCT's website, www.bats.org.uk