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The Annual Christmas Lecture goes Virtual!

 December 08 2020 | Online | Views: 1602

Online space talk with Libby Jackson

In December each year the Stem Hub team organise an inspirational speaker to come to the university and present a ‘Family Christmas Lecture’. This annual festive event is popular amongst STEM Ambassadors and their families and is a chance for them to share their fondness of STEM with the ones they love! The Christmas talk usually takes place in a lecture theatre, filled with colourful Christmas jumpers, and the smell of complimentary mince pies. However, like most of the events this year, the event went virtual and became an online event on Tuesday 8th December. The response to this event was amazing with 742 people engaged with Libby Jackson’s Space Talk, far more than would have fitted into a lecture theatre!

Libby Jackson is an expert in the field of Human Spaceflight, having worked in Mission Control as a flight director and been a key part of Tim Peake’s team in the UK. Libby has a life-long interest in human spaceflight and first dreamt of a career in human spaceflight when she was 17, following a work shadowing placement at NASA’s Johnson Space Centre in Houston, Texas.
Libby’s latest book, ‘Space Explorers’ has just been published and is a beautifully illustrated anthology of 25 extraordinary stories of space exploration, adventure and human achievement from Britain’s leading expert in human spaceflight. You can buy a signed copy from the bookshop.
In Libby’s talk she discussed amazing stories of people in space.

There was some great feedback from those who took part:

  • The talk was absolutely brilliant! Thank you so much and to Libby too. I watched it with my 9 year old daughter who really enjoyed it and hopefully that will inspire her to think about what jobs she might like to do when she’s older’
  • ‘I wanted to say thank you for organising the talk last night. It was fascinating to hear from Libby and some of those space Christmas stories. My Kids loved to hear a bit more about space, and what life is like for the astronauts’
  • ‘I really enjoyed Libby Jackson’s talk . She is an excellent presenter and very adept at communicating space-related information in a clear and accessible way (especially for younger audience members). Despite the technical gremlins that did their best to disrupt her presentation, I thought the talk was thoroughly engaging and I am glad I had the opportunity to take part. The story of the first manned space flight around the moon was fascinating and has whetted my appetite to hear more. Her book will be on my Christmas list. Thank you and a Merry Christmas to everyone who made the event possible’
  • ‘My daughter watched it at school today (and loved it)’

The versatility of an online talk meant that the talk could also be offered directly to Primary Schools, and on Friday 11th December Libby presented to 556 Primary Schools across the South East of England!

More than 1400 questions were asked by the audience and the answers will be provided on the STEM hub website early in the new year. If you missed this event, you can watch it on our website.

We would like to thank everyone who has engaged with Libby’s talk, and of course to Libby herself for taking the time to produce this exciting event.


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