Wantage


WhereWildwood Cinema, 43 Market Street, Wantage, OX12 8AW
WhenSecond Wednesday of the month (usually)
7.15pm for 7:30pm start
ContactFaith Culshaw
NewsletterSubscribe here

The hidden world of microscopy

 with Gea van der Kerkhof

7.30pm Wednesday 13 March 

From the first reveal of “tiny animals”, microbes that are too small to be seen with the naked eye, through to images of the molecules that make up the world around us, the development of different microscopy techniques has enabled many of the world’s greatest scientific breakthroughs. Here, Gea will talk about advanced microscopy methods at Diamond Light Source. She will explain the working principle behind some of these techniques and show new developments aiming to push the limits of what can be observed. She will then also show how this type of microscopy can be applied for exciting new discoveries in various scientific fields.

Gea van de Kerkhof is a scientist working at Diamond Light Source in a combined role with Johnson Matthey, applying new methods to study dynamics in various systems using a combination of X-ray and electron microscopy.

 If you’d like to have a meal in Wildwood before the talk, please book your table beforehand – by 5pm on the day at the latest – and let the staff know you’re attending the talk. If not, you can just buy a drink at the bar and bring it in to the cinema.

Places limited to seating capacity (there is no booking system so to be sure of a seat please come early, leave your coat on a seat and get a drink at the bar!)



Previous events

21 February 2024: How scientific computing – including the use of AI – helps address the burning science questions of the day, with Marion Samler

10 January 2024: Drone delivery and the future of Urban Air Taxis, with Michael Merritt

8 November 2023: Using the Diamond Synchrotron to shine light on incredible Biological Micro-machines, with David Aragao

11 October 2023: Removing debris: the space sweeper cleaning the orbital highway, with Zoe Tenacci

13 September 2023: Eels and the Thames Catchment Community Eels project, with Anna Forbes

12 July 2023: The Return of the Otter in England, with Lesley Wright

16 June 2023: Solar farms: good, bad or indifferent? with Andy Crawford

10 May 2023: Light for Life, with John O’Hagan

12 April, 2023: Regenerative Agriculture in Oxfordshire, with Ben Harrington

8 February, 2023: Working as a Met man in the Falklands and South Georgia, with Mike Palmer

11 January,2023: Dung beetles, with Sally-Ann Spence

2 November, 2022: Beer: from culture to culture, with James Kwan

12th October,2022: Fusion Energy: Closer than you think, with Valerie Jamieson

14th September, 2022: Walking on Water: how our joints work and why we get arthritis, with Michael Beverley

13th July, 2022: Dentistry for Dummies, with Rhiannon Foster Davies

8th June, 2022: The Plight of the World’s Coral Reefs: A Haphazard Marine Biologist’s First-hand Experiences, with Bryan Wilson

11th May, 2022: The Life and Work of Rosalind Franklin, with Laura Holland

3th April, 2022: To the Moon not Mars, with Mike Curtis-Rouse

9th March, 2022: Achieving Nature’s Recovery in Oxfordshire, with Camilla Burrow

9th February, 2022: Climate Change and the Maths of Methane: turning a Subtraction into an Addition, with Tom Bradshaw and Emma Haskett

12th January, 2022: The exposure and pursuit of Klaus Fuchs, the most dangerous spy in history (the Harwell connection), with Frank Close

10th November, 2021: The Nuts and Bolts of Renewable Energy, with Damian Culshaw

12th October,2021: COP26: Humanity’s Moment of Truth? with Mike Landy

14th September, 2021:  The Natural History Museum is coming to Harwell!, with Tim Littlewood

13th July, 2021: The Challenges of Scientific Uncertainty, with Martine Barons

8th June, 2021: ‘2035 and all that’, with Bill David

11th May, 2021: Quantum Computing: A New Era, with Simon Plant

13th April, 2021: Why did the hedgehog cross the road? And other lessons from the ecological study of the nation’s favourite animal, with Hugh Warwick

9th March, 2021: Oxfordshire’s Living Laboratory: being Kind CAN change the world, with Sally Povolotsky

9th February, 2021: The quiet revolution of numerical weather prediction, with Sam Hatfield

12th January, 2021: Beehives and Space Technology, with Paulette Elliott and Martine Barons

10th November 2020: We are Stardust, with Peter Allan

13th October 2020: Why do Wild Bees Matter? with Roselle Chapman

8th September 2020: COVID-19: A Virologist’s perspective, with Mike Skinner

14th July 2020: Who needs Geologists? with Mike Simmons

9th June 2020: Affordably keeping the lights on in a low carbon world, with Eoin Lees

12th May 2020: Advertising: Art or Science? with Leslie Hallam

10th March 2020: Climate Change: When is an emergency a REAL emergency? with Mike Landy 

11th February 2020: Spaceships in Oxfordshire, with Stephen Ringler

14th January 2020: Our most precious resource is right beneath our feet! with Helen Browning, CEO Soil Association

12th November 2019: Micro-climates: Surface to Air Interactions, with Colin Lloyd

8th October 2019: Fungi: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly, with Jennifer Shelton

10th September 2019: Observing the Earth from space, with Peter Allan, honorary scientist at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory

9th July 2019: Aliens vs Aliens: biocontrol of invasive species, with Dick Shaw of CABI

11th June 2019: A Brief Tour of the Universe, with Tony Hersh

14th May 2019: Clearing the Air: Enabling lower emissions from internal combustion engines, with Alisdair Brown

9th April 2019: Autonomous, connected, electrified and shared transport: the next generation, with Sally Povolotsky

12th March 2019: Oxfordshire going ‘Smart’, with Tony Hart

12th February 2019: Gene therapy: is a cure for blindness in sight? with Laurel Chandler of the University of Oxford

8th January 2019: ‘Hydrotropia’: a post-fossil fuel sustainable energy system? with Kevin Fothergill of the Hydrogen Hub


13th November 2018: The Living Ash Project: securing a future for our ash trees, with Jo Clark of Future Trees Trust

9th October: Earth Observation and Agriculture: Pieces of a Jigsaw. With Mark Jarman of the Satellite Applications Catapult, Harwell.

11th September: Energy: it’s not just about the technology! with Dr Sarah Darby of the Environmental Change Institute, Oxford University

10th July 2018: Osney Lock Hydro with Dr Barbara Hammond MBE, Chief Executive of the Low Carbon Hub

12th June 2018 Valuing the Environment with Professor Rosie Hails,Director of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Science at the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology

8th May 2018 Has Science killed God? with Sharon Dirckx, Academic Tutor at the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics

10th April 2018 Climate Change with Richard Harding, Director of Biogeochemistry at the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology

13th Mar 2018 The Space Sector

13th Feb 2018 Battery Electric Cars

9th Jan 2018: Solar & Wind Energy with Chris Church


14th November 2017: Spotlight on Temperature With Matt Hills

12th September 2017: Do My Genes Make me Sad?

11th July 2017: Wantage: The Last 600 Million Years with Mike Simmons

13th June 2017: Fusion – Why we need it and how to achieve it with Alan Sykes

9th May 2017: Going Viral! with Dr Mike Skinner

11th April 2017: Cryogenics – How low can you go? with John Vandore

14th March 2017: Transforming Chernobyl with Tony Powell

Feb 2017: Kite Technology – Creating a Power Plant with a Difference Dr Lucas Wilkins & Dr James Thorniley

Jan 2017: The 100,000 Genomes Project with Jennifer Whitfield


14th June 2016: Testing for Space: the story from design to launch with Christina McQuirk

12th April 2016 Cancer Immunotherapy Dr Demin Li from the Nuffield Division of Clinical Laboratory Sciences at the University of Oxford talk

8th March 2016 Scientific Computing at Diamond: The challenges of large-scale data collection and processing

9th February 2016 Valentine’s special: The Psychology of Romantic Attraction Dr Martin Graff (University of South Wales)

10th November: Festive Cheer: From Humble Yeast to Brewing Industry
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Tuesday 13th October 2015
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Tuesday 11th Aug 2015
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Tuesday 9th Jun 2015
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Tuesday 10th Mar 2015
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