Róisín Ní Chinnéide, Coláiste an Phiarsaigh
The BEES TY programme began on Monday 27th January, where we were introduced to each other and to the course. I didn’t know what to expect from the week so having a few things explained at the very beginning was a good start.
I found the Plant Science lecture from Professor Peter Jones really interesting, because I learned a lot of unusual facts about plants that I didn’t know before. He was so passionate about his subject that it made the experience really enjoyable.
I also loved the tour of the Boole Library. The books in the Special Collection were really amazing, and I loved seeing Sean O’Riada’s harp, which I found fascinating because I play a lot of music.
The tour of the UCC main campus was really remarkable as well, because there’s so much history attached to it that I didn’t know about. We also got to work on subcultures in the lab which was intriguing, because you had to be so careful not to cause contamination.
I really enjoyed the Environmental Science lecture and practical too, because we got to see a small aquaponics project, which I had never heard of before. The group work in that lecture was fun as well, because we were discussing the placement of a hypothetical nuclear plant in Ireland so we had to decide on pros and cons of the different places.
Overall the week was a great experience, and helpful in choosing what I want to do in the future.