On Thursday the 7th March, the University of Oslo held an open day with stands, information and mini-lectures on a wide range of topics. Thousands of eager prospective students flooded the campus to find out more about the various programs offered, and the type of research in which they could one day be involved in.
Clare McEnally, a Master student from our research group, spread the word about the importance of studying biology—specifically toxicology. A full auditorium came to listen as Clare talked about environmental contaminants—where they come from, why there are such high levels in uninhabited places like the Arctic, and why top predators such as killer whales are particularly at risk. She also presented a sneak peak of results from her Master thesis, where seal-eating killer whales contain higher levels of PCBs than fish-eating ones, and females who have recently given birth have lower levels than non-maternal females.
Clare was joined by representatives from microbiology, who discussed the future of plastic-eating bacteria, and the Department of Chemistry, who challenged the audience to consider if microplastics really are a leading environmental problem of today.
Who knows, perhaps some of the audience have been inspired and will one day join our research group!
