Kayaks and Camping

Last week was a busy one. It started with introducing students on the In2STEM programme to Arduino, mid week was camping at Knepp and Friday was the final install day for our MSc students over in Marshgate (but more on that next week). I also managed to get a Tuesday paddle up the River Lea since the weather was perfect for a little kayaking.

The A-level students were a lovely bunch and seemed to enjoy the arduino workshop and tours around One Pool Street installations we currently have live. Going from zero knowledge to making an urban heat island sensor within 90 minutes was also pretty impressive.

Urban Heat Island Sensor - sun glows red when there is a heat danger

The mid week trip to Knepp came through an invite by Kate and Dan in CBER lab across the corridor from us in One Pool Street. Kates lab do a camping trip every summer to get out the office and spend a few days in the natural world they are trying to protect. Knepp is an amazing place - look it up if you haven’t heard about it - and the company was wonderful. We were a mix of PhD students, postdocs, lecturers and profs from all over the world. I had three favourite things - the food, each meal was led by one of the CBER members who were typically preparing something from their own cuisine, the second was the open air showers in the trees, you cannot beat a warm shower outside, the third was the company and the conversation, ranging from discussions on identifying moths, birds and various elements of wildlife (my contribution was to identify the red arrows as they flew past in formation) to the competitiveness of board games. This is the second time I have been camping with folk at UCL - both times has been ace. Need to do more of this. Pictures are on Flickr.

Some pictures from the kayaking are below. I must try and do this more.