Sci-mplify: Science, Simply told, Amplified
Science outreach through Stories and Art
The Mission
Dr Francis Wamonje (PhD)
Plant Virology, Entomology and Genomics
At the Plant Science Centre, our goal is to grow the visibility of plant and insect research.
How will we do this? Through a Storytelling blog, Books and converting science facts into Art.
We shall write and share inspiring, witty and incredulous stories and infuse those with links to the ‘state of the art’ in research. Think of it as ‘science fiction’ -where the science is real, and the stories may be real. After all, nothing beats the lived experience of making science real, accessible and enjoyable.
Stories of Jaba Blog
Founder’s Note
Dr Sirengo’s signature: How one man’s gift keeps giving, almost 40 years on The careers that define us can at times come about through unplanned incidences. Such was the story of a young lady, with a months old baby and pregnant with another. She wanted to be a teacher. By
FINDING DICISTRO (pronounced ~ die-sees-tro)
My PhD mentor, Professor John Carr and I were raring to go. It would be our first fieldwork experience since I began my PhD at the University of Cambridge in the Molecular Virology Lab. We were on a virus discovery mission and primarily looking to catch viruses transmitted by aphids.
Farming Stories: A three-part conversation with Kairo Kiarie
Part 1: Cabbages: The glut, grit, and grind The idea to go into commercial farming occurred by happenstance- someone had land, a lot of it and good land at that. Kairo had the ‘dare’ factor and fortune favoured the brave. Part of the allure was undoubtedly the drive to the
Part 2: Lehman brothers has crashed…with the snow peas
On September 15 2008, Lehman Brothers, a giant US investment bank, went bust precipitating a global financial emergency. Three days later, Hank Paulson, the US Treasury Secretary accompanied by the chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, addressed the US parliament with a stark message. If they did not authorize
Part 3: That lorry is old, but it carries excellent potatoes
There was no plan to buy a lorry, at least not on that day. But there it was. The engine started in a ‘half-kick’, and Kairo was sold. There was the little matter of explaining to his wife that he had ‘randomly’ bought a lorry. When he excitedly announced it’s