Author Archives: bethanjohnsonbiology

Hi, my name is Bethan Johnson. I am a third year Biology student with an interest in microbiology. For one of my third year modules I created this blog to discuss seminars and workshops that I had attended throughout the year.

Throughout the year I decided to go to seminars on a range of topics in order to broaden my knowledge so I could ultimately decide on which direction I want my career to go. By doing this I managed to gain an appreciation for the broadness of biology and the number of possible career pathsContinue reading “Final Reflection”

During February I attended a talk by Professor Chris van der Gast from Manchester Metropolitan University in which he looked at what cystic fibrosis is and methods of diagnosis. Cystic Fibrosis Cystic Fibrosis is a ‘common autosomal chronic genetic recessive disorder’. This means that the only way to inherit this disorder is if both parentsContinue reading “Lung Function and Microbiota Diversity in Cystic Fibrosis.”

During February I attended a talk by George Turner who is a lecturer at Bangor University on cichlids, a family of fish that are common in Africa and South America. Cichlids of Lake Malawi Recent work by George Turner has included beginning to sequence the cichlid species in Lake Malawi, this is done via aContinue reading “Cichlid Fish Biodiversity, Speciation and Conservation.”

During February Ian Hawkins, the site manager of RSPB Cors Ddyga Reserve lectured on the Land history of Anglesey and the birds that live Cors Ddyga reserve. The history of Anglesey Anglesey in located on the Bariom fault line, this has caused a difference in rock type between the South East and South West sideContinue reading “RSPB Cors Ddyga Reserve”

In January I attended a seminar by Gary Porter Jones from Public Health Wales NHS Trust on tuberculosis, including treatment and care for patients with the infection. What is tuberculosis? The first section of this talk was dedicated to ensuring that each student in the room fully understood that this particular illness is caused byContinue reading “Tuberculosis”

In November, wildlife conservationist and author, Richard Pierce visited in order to give a talk on two topical issues both of which related to human interactions with animals. The orcas of Dyer Island The first part of the talk consisted of a quick synopsis of the book ‘Orca: the day the great white shark disappeared’Continue reading “Cuddle Me, Kill Me”

During the first semester one of the workshops run by the Science and Employability module was based on how to write a business plan. The business model canvas This business model is split into nine sections as seen above. When filling in this canvas begin with the right-hand side and finish with the left. TheContinue reading “Business Plan Workshop”

During first semester within the Science and Employability module I attended a Career planning and graduate CV workshop. Career Planning The first section of this workshop was used to inform us about the process of planning for a future career. During this time it quickly became apparent that there are four main areas that needContinue reading “Career Planning and CV Workshop”

The first workshop set up by the Science and Employability module was the ‘Interview Workshop’, this was split into two sections with the first hour being a critical thinking task and the second hour being interview practises. Critical Thinking   After being split into small groups a task was presented to the room. This particularContinue reading “Assessment Center Workshop”