The world’s largest festival of public science returned to Sheffield last month, with Dr Lee Pretlove from the Healthy Lifespan Institute sharing scientific discoveries in one of the city’s pubs.
Pint of Science is an annual worldwide science festival that helps researchers share their scientific discoveries with the general public—no prior knowledge is required.
Here’s how Dr Lee Pretlove engaged with this year’s festival.
My pacing is pants!
Dr Lee Pretlove presented a 30-minute interactive presentation about how runners use apps and watches to track their data. He shared research insights, and practical tips, and led an open discussion of participants' thoughts and feelings on the topic.
Lee is also the founder of the podcast, Decoding Digital Fitness. The podcast is aimed at individuals who are curious about the data and technology that's become such a big part of physical activity. He dives into issues such as understanding guests’ experiences of exercising with data, learning how people use tech to complement their active practices and exploring the potential downsides of data-driven fitness.
Speaking about his involvement in the festival, Dr Lee Pretlove said:
"The Pint of Science Festival allowed me to present my research findings about the effects wearable, self-tracking device information can have on runners. The majority of the audience had used Fitbit, Apple Watches and Garmin devices and I felt that they really engaged with the topic, judging by the interactive feedback during the talk.
If anyone is hesitating about applying to appear at next year's Pint of Science Festival, I'd suggest that they consider making an application. The organisation is great as is the idea of public speaking in a pub! Pint of Science really gets you to think about communicating your work away from the academy in an engaging and accessible way. It was also a good opportunity to attract potential research participants as people wanted to engage more about my research after the talk.”
